Malt usage rate?

[brandoncox]

I'm ordering up supplies to brew my first batch of pumpkin. It notes "Use 5-10% for enhanced body and malt character." Does this mean I should only use 5-10% of the 1LB malt I'm ordering (as to not overdo it) or is this referring to the entire batch in general? It will be a 4 gallon batch.

If it helps, here is the link:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/weyermann-caramunich-iii-2.html

Sorry if this is a ridiculously stupid question.

 

[Yooper]

They're talking about that as a portion of the fermentables in total. Up to a pound or so in a 5 gallon batch is fine!

 

[brandoncox]

They're talking about that as a portion of the fermentables in total. Up to a pound or so in a 5 gallon batch is fine!

Thanks!

Also, should I use 3LBS of liquid malt extract or 6 for the batch? Debating if 3 will be to less and if 6 will be too much.

 

[cmoon]

Down the road you'll probably want to think about brewing software which makes all of this simple.

For right now, just start I'd start by figuring out what gravity you want to hit, and then calculating the amount of base malt extract you want to use. For instance, in a 5.5 gallon batch, 1 lb DME seems to add 1.008 when I play with it in beer smith, meaning if I wanted a beer of 1.050, you'd need 6.5 lbs DME. If you need to, look at the last recipe you made and divide the OG by the lbs of DME/LME you used to get some sense of how much OG each lb of extract adds (for whatever your batch size is.)

Knowing the total lbs of extract you'll need should allow you to ballpark the rest (very unlikely you'll use more than a 1-2 lbs of speciality malts.) Imagining a lb of specialty grains, this is now a 7.5 lb grain bill. Obviously 10% of that is gonna be .75 lbs.

Hope I didn't make too many assumptions, but as your 'first batch', I'm assuming your doing extract. I've run into people that started all-grain though for some reason.

 

[brandoncox]

Down the road you'll probably want to think about brewing software which makes all of this simple.

For right now, just start I'd start by figuring out what gravity you want to hit, and then calculating the amount of base malt extract you want to use. For instance, in a 5.5 gallon batch, 1 lb DME seems to add 1.008 when I play with it in beer smith, meaning if I wanted a beer of 1.050, you'd need 6.5 lbs DME. If you need to, look at the last recipe you made and divide the OG by the lbs of DME/LME you used to get some sense of how much OG each lb of extract adds (for whatever your batch size is.)

Knowing the total lbs of extract you'll need should allow you to ballpark the rest (very unlikely you'll use more than a 1-2 lbs of speciality malts.) Imagining a lb of specialty grains, this is now a 7.5 lb grain bill. Obviously 10% of that is gonna be .75 lbs.

Hope I didn't make too many assumptions, but as your 'first batch', I'm assuming your doing extract. I've run into people that started all-grain though for some reason.

Thanks, that helps a ton! The software is something I will surely look into as I get more advanced. I'm still sifting through the John Palmer book trying to learn the science behind brewing.
This is actually my third batch and it will be a partial mash like my last. My breakfast stout had an OG of 1.076, which is kind of high right? I used 2LBS of grain, 3LBS of LME, and 8.5oz of pure maple syrup. Brewed 3 gallons in the kettle hoping to have it as a full boil but I didn't take in account that some of the brew would evaporate (this tells you how novice I am)... so after chilling the wort to pour in my fermenter I screwed up big time by missing the Mr. Beer airlock causing some of the wort to go down the drain (buying a handy funnel for this batch!). I luckily got a gallon in but had to fill to the 2 gallon mark... ending up with only 2 gallons of a partial boil. Was that way too much grain and adjuncts?

 

[cmoon]

The computer software can be very useful early on, even while doing extract. It remains one of my best investments (beer smith), but learning the theory/formulas is important too. If you think you're gonna stick with the hobby, I actually couldn't make a stronger recommendation for picking up the software.

 

[kappclark]

The brewing sw helps to formulate recipes, and change/swap ingredients..shows expected gravity based on ingredients and assumed mash efficiency...also helps with record keeping...

unfortunately, the sw tells me I am below 65% efficiency, but the beer still tastes great

 

[cmoon]

unfortunately, the sw tells me I am below 65% efficiency, but the beer still tastes great

Yeah, I keep hitting around 68%, which I guess isn't bad. At least it is predictable. All those BIAB people getting 90% LOL