Beginner extract brewing howto

any one who has interest
just did a heavy malt spice beer be damned if i was gonna put 2lbs of grain into muslin bags
steep bare back pass it through a paint straining bag into the wart
sparge through the bag and into the wort
worked for me

Hey guys been lurking for a while and just brewed my first beer solo. I've had experience with mead/wine and brewed beer in the past with a mentor. Looking through this thread I see a lot of discussion about late extract addition and the pros/cons. I'm by no means an expert but my understanding was that (besides hop utilization) you also needed to boil your malt extract to produce a hot protein break (around 20 mins as quoted by Palmer). Wouldn't late addition of extract contribute to chill haze etc. I know it doesn't bother some (myself included), good beer is good beer. Just wondering if any of you late addition advocates could weigh in. It would seem to me adding your remaining extract at 20 left in the boil would solve this, provided it's an issue. Apologies if it's been covered in this thread and I missed it.

CountryBrewster89 said:

Hey guys been lurking for a while and just brewed my first beer solo. I've had experience with mead/wine and brewed beer in the past with a mentor. Looking through this thread I see a lot of discussion about late extract addition and the pros/cons. I'm by no means an expert but my understanding was that (besides hop utilization) you also needed to boil your malt extract to produce a hot protein break (around 20 mins as quoted by Palmer). Wouldn't late addition of extract contribute to chill haze etc. I know it doesn't bother some (myself included), good beer is good beer. Just wondering if any of you late addition advocates could weigh in. It would seem to me adding your remaining extract at 20 left in the boil would solve this, provided it's an issue. Apologies if it's been covered in this thread and I missed it.

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Several years ago Basic Brewing Radio interviewed Bob Hansen from Briess on malt and malt extract: http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/mp3/bbr08-25-05.mp3

Malt extract is malt that has already been mashed, boiled and turned into wort, then concentrated and/or dried. It doesn't have to be boiled again. A lot of kits are "no boil", where the hopped extract is just added to hot water. Late addition offers several advantages. I haven't seen any clarity differences between early and late addition of the extract in my beers.

dkevinb said:

Several years ago Basic Brewing Radio interviewed Bob Hansen from Briess on malt and malt extract: http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/mp3/bbr08-25-05.mp3

Malt extract is malt that has already been mashed, boiled and turned into wort, then concentrated and/or dried. It doesn't have to be boiled again. A lot of kits are "no boil", where the hopped extract is just added to hot water. Late addition offers several advantages. I haven't seen any clarity differences between early and late addition of the extract in my beers.

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I really should have thought about that lol. Thanks for the reply though. I think I'll give this a shot on round 2 as my pale ale isn't very pale, but I'd imagine it will taste just fine.

dkevinb said:

Several years ago Basic Brewing Radio interviewed Bob Hansen from Briess on malt and malt extract: http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/mp3/bbr08-25-05.mp3

Malt extract is malt that has already been mashed, boiled and turned into wort, then concentrated and/or dried. It doesn't have to be boiled again. A lot of kits are "no boil", where the hopped extract is just added to hot water. Late addition offers several advantages. I haven't seen any clarity differences between early and late addition of the extract in my beers.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I feel like that should have occurred to me lol :facepalm:
I believe I'll give this a try on my next brew simply to keep a lighter color. I don't dislike darker beer but my pale ale looks more like an Irish red lol.

dkevinb said:

Several years ago Basic Brewing Radio interviewed Bob Hansen from Briess on malt and malt extract: http://www.basicbrewing.com/radio/mp3/bbr08-25-05.mp3

Malt extract is malt that has already been mashed, boiled and turned into wort, then concentrated and/or dried. It doesn't have to be boiled again. A lot of kits are "no boil", where the hopped extract is just added to hot water. Late addition offers several advantages. I haven't seen any clarity differences between early and late addition of the extract in my beers.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I feel like that should have occurred to me lol :facepalm:
I believe I'll give this a try on my next brew simply to keep a lighter color. I don't dislike darker beer but my pale ale looks more like an Irish red lol.

Apologies, my phone decided once wasn't enough.

Late extract additions also lower or prevent "extract twang", that cooked-extract sort of flavor as well. It also allows for better hop utilization in partial boils in my experiences.

unionrdr said:

Late extract additions also lower or prevent "extract twang", that cooked-extract sort of flavor as well. It also allows for better hop utilization in partial boils in my experiences.

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Not to mention less darkening of the wort.

Yup. Works real well to get lighter colored beers.I do it all the time...

I did not crush my grains as specified in the instructions in here. The instructions that came with my extract kit did not specify this. Is there any risk my brew will not come out as planned? It has been fermenting for 9 days now. My air stop only bubbled for about 24 hours and at times it was very sparse...

iahomebrew said:

I did not crush my grains as specified in the instructions in here. The instructions that came with my extract kit did not specify this. Is there any risk my brew will not come out as planned? It has been fermenting for 9 days now. My air stop only bubbled for about 24 hours and at times it was very sparse...

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Odds are your brew will be fine. Depending on where you got your kit the grains may have already been crushed. It won't drastically change your gravity or the fermentation. May effect color or flavour slightly if it turns out they weren't crushed but it will by no means ruin your beer. Let it sit there and do its thing. RDWHAHB.

Cheers

As countrybrewster89 said, it isn't much to worry about, it may not be perfect as the recipe was supposed to deliver, but it will not impact the fermentables in any significant way. You'll also not see heavy fermentation for the entire timeframe, usually somewhere between 24-48 hours after pitching yeast it will start heavy fermentation but if the temperatures are low enough it may never even get very aggressive. So long as it isn't too cold it will still do its work.

Each yeast has a temperature range they should generally live in, and you'll want to read the yeast's packaging to ensure it is in that range.

GOOCHY said:

One thing I didn't adhere to when I just finished my first batch was the hydration of the yeast. I just pitched the dry yeast directly into the cooled wort (~70 deg). That won't cause any problems will it?

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MAYBE, I DO MINE AROUND 86f. LOW TEMP KIND OF GOES DORMANT A BIT. HELP EXCITE THE LITTLE BUGGERS, I SIMPLY FINGER TEST. Used to use a therm. Experience doesn't need it. FEELS WARM? ALRIGHT FOR PITCHIN, GET SLOTTED SPOON AND AIERATE.(Should never have touched grease,) DEPENDING UPON AMBIENT TEMP- AND COOLER IS LONGER- I'VE DONE IT FROM 84f TO 55. MID RANGE IS BEST FOR FERMENT. YOU COULD HAVE SOME BATCHES THAT DON'T SEEM TO BUBBLE AT ALL-THEN OTHERS THAT BUBBLE MERRILY! I'VE PITCHED YEAST TWICE. STEVEE.
[email protected]

Steve, Not sure if this was a capslock issue or not, but generally online forums prefer not to use caps, just an FYI. Pitching too hot for a yeast (84 is pretty hot for most and can give off flavors, excepting some belgian and german yeasts) so you'd do better pitching at least around low 70's, but again, read your manufacturers description of optimal pitching temperature. It should be right on the package or available online. Here's an example from Wyeast's website for a yeast I love:

YEAST STRAIN: 1056 | American Ale™

Back to Yeast Strain List

Very clean, crisp flavor characteristics with low fruitiness and mild ester production. A very versatile yeast for styles that desire dominant malt and hop character. This strain makes a wonderful “House” strain. Mild citrus notes develop with cooler 60-66°F (15-19ºC) fermentations. Normally requires filtration for bright beers.

Origin:
Flocculation: Medium-Low
Attenuation: 73-77%
Temperature Range: 60-72F, 15-22C
Alcohol Tolerance: 11% ABV

Note the temperature range. This yeast likes only low 70's or 60's for its best flavor profile.

Each yeast is a bit different. Some Belgian and Germans do better warmer as that gives off more of the esters like banana, clove, spices etc naturally at those temperatures.

Just brewed my first batch (5 gal) yesteday, and today I found a second dry yeast packet that came with my kit. whoops. The kit instructions (by my LHBS) don't mention using 2 packets (it just says rehydrate & pitch), and I thought Palmer's book mentioned pitching one packet (11.5g); though his website mentions using 2 packets... I do have airlock activity after 24 hours, though it is low (a few bubbles/minute). I rehydrated the yeast for 20 min in 100F water, then pitched when the wort and starter were at 75F (Safbrew T-58), and continued to cool to 66F; fermometer on the outside of my water bath currently reads 68F. EG was 1.069 though I came in low at 1.064 (corrected for temp). I've read that this yeast can be stressed with gravities in the 1.06x's. So, do I risk opening my bucket to pitch the second pack, or just leave it be since the 1 packet is at least showing activity (for now)? Thanks

And I just read fermentis' website.... should have rehydrated at 80F and keep temps <68F. Dang

Update: I know that airlock activity can't be completely relied on for signs of fermentation, but my airlock activity stopped around 6PM (after only about 4 hours of light activity).

Opening your fermenter is inviting trouble. That said, it can be done quite safely. You have two options.

1) RDWHAHB and let it ride. Airlocks are terrible indicators. If I question my fermentation I'm more likely to use my thermometer. Your beer (actively fermenting) should be a few degrees above room temp. I find the sticker thermometers on the side of your fermenter helpful here.

2) Open the bucket. If I have to open my fermenter I sanitize everything as best I can. Get a sprayer bottle (New like a dollar new at Wal-Mart) mix up no rinse sanitizer like star San and thoroughly sanitize all around the lid etc. Open her up and take a gravity reading to confirm if your fermentation is stuck or finished.

Good luck

I pitched the second packet after proofing; took a SG reading and got 1.037 (OG 1.064, TG 1.014), so it's certainly moving along. While the lid was open I took sniff - it smelled like beer but was very sharp/painful on my nose/sinuses (like burning the inside of my nose). Any idea about this? Just the high concentration of CO2?

Yep, just the CO2.

Getting fed up with brewing now! 4th attempt and still I am struggling to get the ABV over 4%

Ive only used ever used Woodfordes ale kits... Admirals reserve (twice), Nelsons Revenge, and Now Wherry.

The first 3 attempts went from fermenter to bottles and the most recent attempt has gone from fermenter to pressure keg.

With the bottles I found it was hard to get the exact amount of priming sugar into each bottle to keep them all the same, so the taste varied from bottle to bottle...

With the pressure keg I found it easier to chuck a couple of handfuls of brewing sugar in... however whichever way I do it, I cannot get the ABV above 4%

Every batch I have done tastes 'watered down'... Now at this point I am stuck with 20 something litres of weak ale just sat in my keg.

Genuinely pissed off.

I am starting to think the measurements on the side of my fermenter are totally out. Every time the instructions say fill it up to 20 or 22 litres or whatever, I always follow suit and end up with watery beer.

I reckon next time if it says 20 litres I will just fill it up to 16 or 18.... maybe then I will get actual stong ale/beer that is worth drinking.

Any advice or suggestions are more than totally ****ing welcome!!!!!!!

thank-you.

Noodleface84

Sorry to take over the thread but ebert had someone start a brew then pass out leaving you to finish at 3:30 in the morning? Can't oet a good beer die!!!!

noodleface84 said:

Getting fed up with brewing now! 4th attempt and still I am struggling to get the ABV over 4%

Ive only used ever used Woodfordes ale kits... Admirals reserve (twice), Nelsons Revenge, and Now Wherry.

The first 3 attempts went from fermenter to bottles and the most recent attempt has gone from fermenter to pressure keg.

With the bottles I found it was hard to get the exact amount of priming sugar into each bottle to keep them all the same, so the taste varied from bottle to bottle...

With the pressure keg I found it easier to chuck a couple of handfuls of brewing sugar in... however whichever way I do it, I cannot get the ABV above 4%

Every batch I have done tastes 'watered down'... Now at this point I am stuck with 20 something litres of weak ale just sat in my keg.

Genuinely pissed off.

I am starting to think the measurements on the side of my fermenter are totally out. Every time the instructions say fill it up to 20 or 22 litres or whatever, I always follow suit and end up with watery beer.

I reckon next time if it says 20 litres I will just fill it up to 16 or 18.... maybe then I will get actual stong ale/beer that is worth drinking.

Any advice or suggestions are more than totally ****ing welcome!!!!!!!

thank-you.

Noodleface84

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Don't get discouraged with brewing, it can take time. I was 14 when I started homebrewing, I'm 41 now and own a small brewery. I spent years screwing stuff up at the very beginning, but it was mainly due to not having access to the right ingredients or know how....and oh no! No internet. Any way,

Are the kits you are using malt extract or is it an all grain brew? It might be a good idea if you got yourself a copy of say, Beersmith or go online to Beer Calculus. These applications can help you with formulation.

How long is your boil? Sure you can top off in a fermenter, but I don't encourage that. All your water should be boiled and then chilled properly. I highly recommend getting a heat exchanger and not use an ice bath.

To me it sounds like you are watering the wort down way too much. And the bit about handfulls of sugar etc... okay, first off, you should be boiling that sugar prior to adding it to your fermenter. Also, sugars like brewing sugar will bump up the gravity, but it will also thin out the beer. As far as bottling goes, unless you are using carbonation drops, what you should be doing is racking to another container onto a sugar solution. Check for volumes. It seems pretty standard for 5 oz per 5 gallons, though in higher voulmes of beer, you should recheck it. Its not as easy going fro. 5 gal to say 1 barrel. If you over carb, expect bottle bombs, its happened to all of us.

If you are looking for more mouth feel, try using flaked barley. You do not want to boil it, this would go into the mash. If you are doing extract, get your hands on a cheese cloth bag. Put the flake, maybe some paleale malt into the bag and steep it in 150 water for about an hour. Use this liquid to boil your extract in. DO NOT SQUEEZE THE BAG. Squeezing the grain to get that extra liquid out will result in tannins and other off flavors. I hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply.

Firstly I have only been doing Malt Extract kits (pre-hopped) so in theory it is the simplest form of brewing, yet I cant get it right!

With the Malt Extract kits they don't require a boil as such... instead you are supposed to boil up a certain amount of litres, use that boiled water to dissolve the malt extract syrup and then use cold water to bring the water level up to say 22/23 litres depending.

Like I say, Its a pretty basic way of brewing.

The kit says to let if ferment for 5 to 7 days, I leave it for 2 weeks to try and drop out as much yeast as I can...

then, having checked the hydrometer readings I will either draw it off via the valve at the bottom of my fermenter into sterilized bottles or...

I will siphon it out into a sterilized pressure keg.

The brewing sugar was something I thought i'd try this time after being told its better than normal sugar. and Ive also been told that I don't need to boil it!!

I did admittedly use quite a bit of brewing sugar at both stages (primary and conditioning) because I wanted to bring the ABV up... but like you say, perhaps it has thinned out the beer and made it almost flavourless?

Hard to get a balance between taste and strength.

I am personally a big fan of stuff like London pride, old speckled hen, forty niner, hobgoblin.....

just want to be able to make stuff that tastes like that!!!!!

I'm unfamiliar with the kits you mentioned but have used coopers kits (before abandoning them). If you follow the instructions on a coopers kit and brew to 23 liters, you will get 4% ABV by design. A lot of brewers instead fill to 19 liters (ie 5 gallons instead of 6) and by doing so you get over 5% ABV. bit more flavour too.

Two things I've learned that you may not know. I was boiling the hop kits thinking I was sterilising everything. I was actually boiling off hop aroma. Don't do it.

Second, NEVER add boiling water to the fermenter first. Fill it with your cooled water (I just buy a 15 liter jug from costco since it's easier). Fill half way, dump your kit in, then top up. I should add that I did use a kettle to bring hot water to a boiled just to get the malt dissolved. But honestly, I'm not sure if it's better than just dumping in the kit and costco water. Seen you tube videos doing just that.

Third thing, which I've never done but heard tale of....Some people will add two kits and top up to 23 liters. Gives higher ABV and a richer flavour. Though obviously twice the cost. You will need both yeast packs.

I'm in my second year of this hobby and can honestly say I prefer my stuff to what's available commercially. However I had to drink a lot of crap before I figured it out. Also I'm working with limited availability of ingredients. And the internet as my only guide, so stick to it, try different things, you will get it. It's a learning experience. Anyone who tells you their first brew was the best they ever had is delusional, drunk, or can't remember due to brain damage from all that drinking.

Have a laugh at my expense. Here's a thread I started with others lamenting about how bad their first brews were...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/how-bad-your-first-home-brew-374749/

I should add that I've moved on from kits to buying malt extract, steeping grains and hops and I have no plans to go back. It's more work but a beer I'm not afraid to offer a friend. Based on your likes, you should try making a simple porter. Mind you the nut brown kits I bought were pretty good too.

Sounds like Husher has it nailed. You need to know the amount of sugar the kit has to know how much ABV it makes. If it is too strong, lower the water quantity and you'll get a stronger beer. I think you may want to try moving off of the coopers kits and try from extract and boil with your own hops etc. Most Local Home Brew Stores (LHBS) will help you get the right mix of extract ingredients and then mix it with the right hops (many even have the extract kits with it all together) so you get bigger and better, more complex beers.

Give it a go, I'm sure you'll do great.

Dear Genuinely,
First You must remember to watch how much water you use, following the directions. Do you end up with more beer than expected? Do you boil for the recommended amount of time. does the wort reduce? When you boil you concentrate the wort. How long do you let it ferment? What temp to you ferment at? I just read that the kits you are using don't require a boil... Again when you boil the wort it reduces and concentrates.
Now about your bottling problem. Get another bucket. Food grade with a spigot. Boil the amount of priming sugar you need in 1 -2 cups of water cool and add to "bottling bucket then siphon in your wort. allowing it to mix naturally. Then bottle. Place in cool dark place for a few weeks then fridge condition for a couple weeks and enjoy.
I also found that you have MUCH more control when all grain brewing. It takes more time but you can tweek it to taste.


Mike
Mojave Desert Brewers Guild

noodleface84 said:

Getting fed up with brewing now! 4th attempt and still I am struggling to get the ABV over 4%

Ive only used ever used Woodfordes ale kits... Admirals reserve (twice), Nelsons Revenge, and Now Wherry.

The first 3 attempts went from fermenter to bottles and the most recent attempt has gone from fermenter to pressure keg.

With the bottles I found it was hard to get the exact amount of priming sugar into each bottle to keep them all the same, so the taste varied from bottle to bottle...

With the pressure keg I found it easier to chuck a couple of handfuls of brewing sugar in... however whichever way I do it, I cannot get the ABV above 4%

Every batch I have done tastes 'watered down'... Now at this point I am stuck with 20 something litres of weak ale just sat in my keg.

Genuinely pissed off.

I am starting to think the measurements on the side of my fermenter are totally out. Every time the instructions say fill it up to 20 or 22 litres or whatever, I always follow suit and end up with watery beer.

I reckon next time if it says 20 litres I will just fill it up to 16 or 18.... maybe then I will get actual stong ale/beer that is worth drinking.

Any advice or suggestions are more than totally ****ing welcome!!!!!!!

thank-you.

Noodleface84

Click to expand...

Not getting over 4% ABV - I guess you're calculating this from OG and FG? The low ABV can be caused by either low OG or high FG. Your fermenter volume markings are probably not real accurate, but shouldn't be off enough to give you a big error. If you're putting in the right amount of fermentables but measuring a low gravity, it's probably due to not getting thorough mixing in the fermenter after topping off. I don't worry about this reading any more - I just calculate the OG from the published formulas.

If the FG is too high, you might just be stuck with it - extract often ferments down to 1.020 and stops. If that's the case, you can leave it as-is, but add a little more fermentables to start with. Or you can make a slightly smaller batch size, as you mentioned. Either of these will increase the OG and get higher ABV with the same attenuation. Another option is to add a little sugar (I don't use more than 10 - 15% of the fermentables) to accomplish the same thing.

Good luck.

Complete newb question,
but are those priming pills/tabs a good alternative to the priming sugar process?

For some reason the idea of adding priming sugar and bottling baffles me.
Especially when I try to reconcile it with using my vacuum pump!

Pyg said:

Complete newb question,
but are those priming pills/tabs a good alternative to the priming sugar process?

For some reason the idea of adding priming sugar and bottling baffles me.
Especially when I try to reconcile it with using my vacuum pump!

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I've never used the pills (mostly because I can't buy them here), but adding priming sugar is really simple. For 5 or 6 gallons of beer, measure 3/4 or 7/8 a cup of dextrose(corn sugar). I buy mine at bulk barn (cheaper than the HB shop here).

Transfer to a small pot and run a kettle. Then add a cup of boiling water and stir with a steel spoon to ensure mixed. You won't need a whole cup of water. I use a Turkish coffee pot (tiny) to prep mine. I then let it cool a bit while I get my fermenter and bottling bucket ready. When transferring the beer from the fermenter to the bottling bucket, I pour in the dissolved sugar when there's about an inch of been in the bucket. The then give a slight stir in one direction (with the siphon wand) as the wort fills. When done, I give it another stir. I then wait another 5 minutes or so for osmosis to ensure the sugar is evenly distributed, then I bottle and everything works out fine.

The benefit is that the formula never changes based on the size of bottles I use (sometimes 500 ml, sometimes 750 ml). I should add that I use swing tops which apparently can take a lot of pressure. But 3/4 of a cup is standard for carbonating a brew. Did a full cup once. I'd pour half a bottle and wait for the head to die down before drinking. I've heard some people use 1.5 cups (and my brew shop recommended it for some reason and sell it in that volume for priming), but I've never been brave enough to go there.

Oh and if you don't know, apparently darker beers call for more carbonation. If you care about conforming to a style. I don't.

I've read that the bulk density of corn sugar can vary quite, so it's better to weigh it rather than go by volume. I use table sugar, and whenever I check it. the bulk density is the same. Can't really say from experience about corn sugar - just passing on what I've read.

Here's a priming sugar calculator if you're interested: http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

I'm new to brewing, so far I've done an American Brown Ale that's right now a week into the bottling phase and a witbier that's still fermenting. This thread has been a great education. We are doing LME full boils in 5 gallon batches. I've got 2 questions still:

1. I read about late additions of LME, but it seems that was for partial boils. I assume with the larger pot the concerns of carmelization and darkening are less. Is that correct?

2. Does it matter if you add the sugar before or after putting the wort in the bottling container? Assuming we mixed it slowly to avoid oxidation.

Thanks

Daddylawman said:

I'm new to brewing, so far I've done an American Brown Ale that's right now a week into the bottling phase and a witbier that's still fermenting. This thread has been a great education. We are doing LME full boils in 5 gallon batches. I've got 2 questions still:

1. I read about late additions of LME, but it seems that was for partial boils. I assume with the larger pot the concerns of carmelization and darkening are less. Is that correct?

2. Does it matter if you add the sugar before or after putting the wort in the bottling container? Assuming we mixed it slowly to avoid oxidation.

Thanks

Click to expand...

For #2, you dissolve and boil the priming sugar in two cups of water, let it cool, then add it to the bottling bucket and rack the wort onto the priming solution. No need to stir, if you are racking the wort directly into the priming solution.

Rezilynt said:

You are on your way!
I put together a set back in August of last year. I pieced together the best instructions from different sources along with my own experience. Feel free to add or omit as you feel necessary.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/ignore-instructions-do-not-bottle-after-5-10-days-78298/

Click to expand...

We'll, I've pulled a lot of info from these threads and I'm ready to give it my first go! We'll see how it turns out but it'll be beer, right?

Daddylawman said:

I'm new to brewing, so far I've done an American Brown Ale that's right now a week into the bottling phase and a witbier that's still fermenting. This thread has been a great education. We are doing LME full boils in 5 gallon batches. I've got 2 questions still:

1. I read about late additions of LME, but it seems that was for partial boils. I assume with the larger pot the concerns of carmelization and darkening are less. Is that correct?

2. Does it matter if you add the sugar before or after putting the wort in the bottling container? Assuming we mixed it slowly to avoid oxidation.

Thanks

Click to expand...

I see you got #2 answered. For #1, I agree with your understanding, but it seems there are always different opinions.

After reading this thread I almost felt saddened. Then I realized I have a great local brew store and extremely knowledgable staff. But when you think about it, if your trying to do something your not use to....ASK A DAMN QUESTION! But I also realize there are people that are only trying to make a buck. I also realize, some people are conditioned to think that a store in a strip mall is the end all, be all of knowledge.
Here's my advice. I can still post so....
You are making a decision to brew beer. Whether that is a biab, extract, all grain, or what ever. YOU ARE SPENING YOUR MONEY TO BREW YOUR BEER! If your looking to buy a work truck are you looking at a porche? No, your looking at diesels. (Ok, just me!) but it's the idea. The same idea holds true while your spending the time and effort to make a beer. Sure, you can spend half the time and effort on buying some junk at your local store. But let's look at this another way.
You are who you are. You want your beer your way. Why ask or frequent someone who has no idea about the process but want to sell you something?
Ask questions! You'll know when you meet someone who has done the same thing your trying to do and they have the knowledge. Making beer is more main stream than most people realize. Find those guys, make a great beer...FOR YOU! Worry about everyone else later, cheers.

When i bottle beer with corn sugar as an effervescent, i never use table/cane sugar! It makes it too winey tasting--- use only for brewing wine! For 5 gal beer, mix 7/8 cup heated in one cup water, corn sugar in siphoned brew, to blow the froth off a couple of heads or simply go to 3/4 cup. I've had bottles explode in my junk room in the middle of the night from too much in the mix! Thought somebody was shootin a gun in my front yard!!! He-l of a mess! Had to run the rest outside!
Stevee.

Or better yet, use a priming sugar calculator like this one & weigh it to style on a cheap digital scale; http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html Then make sure the beer is at a stable FG before bottling. This will help prevent bottle bombs from over-carbing due to too much sugar or the beer not quite done fermenting yet.

Well, I'm a noob too so bare with me. The process for them is the same but with a Partial Mash you are actually using base grains to convert starches to sugars just like an All Grain method but are using a smaller bill of gains and using less extract to makeup the rest of the wort.

That's basically it. The less grains you mash, the more extract you need to make up the recipe OG. You just have to make sure you have enough base grains with enough diastatic power (Amount of enzymes, basically) to convert the rest of the grains in the mash.