Extract brewing process question

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tmurph6

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If I steeped .75# of specialty grains in 2 gallons of water in my brewpot at 155 for 30 minutes, could I remove the grains, and add 2 more gallons of cold water then bring the approximate 4 gallons of wort to a boil for my 60 minute boil?
 
Cool, that's good to know. I also read something that was posted on this forum about adding some of the malt extract at the beginning of the boil, then adding most of the rest of it at flameout and letting it sit for about 10 minutes. Is this recommended?
 
Late extract addition is not automatically better or worse, but it will change the recipe some. Your best bet is to follow the instructions that your kit comes with on this one.
 
Cool, that's good to know. I also read something that was posted on this forum about adding some of the malt extract at the beginning of the boil, then adding most of the rest of it at flameout and letting it sit for about 10 minutes. Is this recommended?

Adding LME at flameout (most of us, or at least me, do 1/3 of the extract at beginning of boil, then last 2/3rds at flameout) often increases the percieved bitterness (and maybe actual bitterness) of the finished beer. So, for hopheads its a win win to do so, and with an IPA recipe I tend to think its the only way to go. YMMV
 
Just make sure that after you add the 2 gallons that you still have enough room to add all your extract w/ out it spilling over the top.
 
I put together a recipe for a pale with 35 ibu and a lot of late hop additions for flavor/aroma. I was thinking the late extract would do 2 things.

1. Keep the extract from caramelizing and allow me to make a lighter beer

2. Keep away any "extract taste" and make the beer taste a bit fresher.

3. Impart my calculated ibu instead of an ibu slightly lower due to a partial boil

I have a 5 gallon pot. I'm hoping I can do a 4 gallon boil with 7 lbs lme if I do late extract addition

Thanks for the replies.
 
I put together a recipe for a pale with 35 ibu and a lot of late hop additions for flavor/aroma. I was thinking the late extract would do 2 things.

1. Keep the extract from caramelizing and allow me to make a lighter beer

2. Keep away any "extract taste" and make the beer taste a bit fresher.

3. Impart my calculated ibu instead of an ibu slightly lower due to a partial boil

I have a 5 gallon pot. I'm hoping I can do a 4 gallon boil with 7 lbs lme if I do late extract addition

Thanks for the replies.

Rather than cut and paste my answer from a previous post, take a look at this thread. My response is #19.

Late addition will make a lighter colored beer compared to early addition. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing depends on the recipe.

This is a controversial topic, but I personally don't buy the "extract twang". I make both AG and extract beers, and they stand up well to each other. I believe extract twang to be a just a stand-in of poor technique and stale LME. Others will have other opinions on this one.

Calculated IBUs are a very rough approximation. But, if you want to get the bitterness intended by your recipe's designers, you need to do late or early as the recipe calls for. The thinking on the relationship between bitterness and wort gravity is changing, too, though the formulas don't reflect this yet.
 
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