Frogger the Food Giants in B'ham have it. I deliver to them. There's one in Roebuck and one out in Moody. Also Aporto Madrid. Bessemer and Hueytown. You won't find it in Piggly Wiggly or Winn Dixie. Just the Mom and Pop stores.
Premier malt extract
- Thread starter fishnfever
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Frogger, sorry no reply--somehow I didn't see the recent activity on this thread. Been brewing some apfelwein lately and following the wine/cider threads I guess. Anyway, I'm quite a bit farther north of you. The Foodland is the one at Priceville, near Decatur. The last exit heading north before the Tennessee River. Get off I-65, take a right, about 1/2 mile on left. Also Dave R, the Piggly Wiggly here carries PME as well--just about 5 miles down the road from the Foodland. I've been driving 30 miles to the LHBS in Huntsville and I'm surrounded by malt!
Cool, Dave, I'll try to do that sometime. Hoping to try an extract version of "Brandon O's Graff" with PME sometime soon. If it tastes as good as I hope I'll be stopping by the Foodland or the Piggly Wiggly regularly!
derailedgtr
Member
I kegged this stuff last night after about 3 weeks in the carboy. it is insanely bitter, but I was expecting that after the other batches of premier based beers were also initially too bitter to drink. The others mellowed to drinkable in 2 to 3 weeks, so I am excited to taste what I have. Considering the overwhelming amount of hop extract, I might need to give it a month. I will report back then with a comparison between my brew and arrogant bastard.
derailedgtr
Member
i poured about one half of a pint last night and WOW! is this stuff great! The bitterness I have experienced with previous batches of premier was not there or it was covered up by the sweetness from the 120L crystal and the spiciness of the Chinook hops. whatever the case, i did not have an arrogant bastard to compare it with directly but it tastes pretty spot-on to me. I will get an arrogant bastard to compare it with asap and post a follow-up
Charlie Papazian's Joy of Home Brewing has a recipe called Wise Ass Red Bitter using this very same light hopped Premier malt extract. I've made it several times and it's still one of my favorite easy drinking beers. And it has a beautiful coppery-red color. I've been brewing for 17 years and this book is absolutely the best there is. I still refer to it constantly, and if you follow his simple, clear advice and tips, you can't help but make great beer. This book is worth its weight in gold, and the best money you'll ever spend on brewing. His other book, the Homebrewer's Companion, is really good, too, and has a lot more info on all grain brewing.
Just came back from a trip and headed out to the "brewery/winery" (workshop) to check my PME extract Graff. Bubbling happily and smells awesome! I had just about given up on brewing beer in favor of apfelwein & Graff, but if this PME Graff ends up as good as it's starting out, I think I'm going to give a batch of beer a whirl. The price is certainly right--the same store that has the PME has spring water for $1.20 a gallon, in nice tall jugs that make perfectly fine one-use carboys. Do a one-gallon boil, mix it all in my 5-gallon bottling bucket, pitch the yeast, and pour it back into the the jugs to ferment. Including the extra sugar, a one-can 5 gallon batch will run about $14. If you get 50 bottles in a batch, (allowing for racking and sampling) that's about 28 cents a bottle! I realize that the object of homebrewing is to make good beer, not cheap beer, but if you can make a decent, drinkable "lawnmower" beer for just over a quarter a bottle, why not brew a batch? Or several?
derailedgtr
Member
I have tried stretching one can of PME plus sugars out to 5 gals and didn't like it at all. i suggest using at least 2 cans of PME and a corn syrup/honey combo like golden eagle or alaga yellow label. your mileage may vary though...
... i forgot to mention that my buddies and i drank it anyway.
That's funny! I did exactly the same thing once, tried making the one can of Premier + a whole lot of sugar make 5 gallons. Man, did it suck! But yeah, we got hard up and drank it anyway.
jcobbs, I had a similar period years ago when I was feeling what I think are the same type of thoughts you may be having. Years ago I noticed my beer brewing was gradually getting worse, until I finally made a batch that me and the boys couldn't drink. It was contaminated with some strange yeast or bacteria. One of my friends "accidently" left a case of the stuff in the back of his little Nissan station wagon in his front yard out in the sun with the windows rolled up. And that was the end of that horrible swill. (Lucky it didn't happen when someone was in the car!) So I reassessed my homebrew situation, and thought, this is not what brewing's supposed to be all about, and gave it up for a while. Then later I got the itch again, and so I went back to the basics, back to Charlie's book, and this time paid attention more to sterility, good quality ingredients, and tried to keep things simple and basic, trying fancier recipes gradually. This approach works great for me now. He's absolutely right when he says "Relax. Don't worry." I might add "Don't get in a hurry, and try to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible." You can't help but make great beer!
jcobbs, I had a similar period years ago when I was feeling what I think are the same type of thoughts you may be having. Years ago I noticed my beer brewing was gradually getting worse, until I finally made a batch that me and the boys couldn't drink. It was contaminated with some strange yeast or bacteria. One of my friends "accidently" left a case of the stuff in the back of his little Nissan station wagon in his front yard out in the sun with the windows rolled up. And that was the end of that horrible swill. (Lucky it didn't happen when someone was in the car!) So I reassessed my homebrew situation, and thought, this is not what brewing's supposed to be all about, and gave it up for a while. Then later I got the itch again, and so I went back to the basics, back to Charlie's book, and this time paid attention more to sterility, good quality ingredients, and tried to keep things simple and basic, trying fancier recipes gradually. This approach works great for me now. He's absolutely right when he says "Relax. Don't worry." I might add "Don't get in a hurry, and try to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible." You can't help but make great beer!
I've read through the posts on this thread and seems like different folks have different opinions on one can vs. two; some say it has a lot of bitterness, some say not, etc. I probably will try it with two cans since it seems more people advise that direction.
Revbish, the short time I've been trying my hand at homebrewing/winemaking I've enjoyed experimenting. I don't have a lot of equipment, room, money, or time for brewing or any other hobby, but I like having a little something to dabble with. I'm just trying a few things looking for a handful of easy, inexpensive recipes that give decent results. Right now I've got some nice apfelwein, a couple of gallons of pear wine from our backyard tree, a gallon of Joe's Ancient Orange Mead, and a batch of Graff made with some apple juice and a can of PME. All of them are coming along really nice and are smelling/tasting pretty good. I'd like to do something along the same lines with a beer--don't want to make hooch, but at the same time not out to win a contest or duplicate some commercial style. Just make something kinda nice and drinkable that doesn't cost a lot and I can say "I made that." I'm hoping to give away some of my wines and meads for gifts, but the beer is just for my own enjoyment, and to see if I can do it. If it comes down to making quarter-a-bottle junk or spending a little more to make something drinkable, then I'll either spend what I need to or stick with apfelwein. But I'm hoping since I can get the PME right down the road here, that I can come up with something fairly tasty and easy to make that's easy on the pocketbook as well.
Revbish, the short time I've been trying my hand at homebrewing/winemaking I've enjoyed experimenting. I don't have a lot of equipment, room, money, or time for brewing or any other hobby, but I like having a little something to dabble with. I'm just trying a few things looking for a handful of easy, inexpensive recipes that give decent results. Right now I've got some nice apfelwein, a couple of gallons of pear wine from our backyard tree, a gallon of Joe's Ancient Orange Mead, and a batch of Graff made with some apple juice and a can of PME. All of them are coming along really nice and are smelling/tasting pretty good. I'd like to do something along the same lines with a beer--don't want to make hooch, but at the same time not out to win a contest or duplicate some commercial style. Just make something kinda nice and drinkable that doesn't cost a lot and I can say "I made that." I'm hoping to give away some of my wines and meads for gifts, but the beer is just for my own enjoyment, and to see if I can do it. If it comes down to making quarter-a-bottle junk or spending a little more to make something drinkable, then I'll either spend what I need to or stick with apfelwein. But I'm hoping since I can get the PME right down the road here, that I can come up with something fairly tasty and easy to make that's easy on the pocketbook as well.
captianoats
Well-Known Member
OK, I'm crying uncle...
I've got some hops and grain lying around, and picked up 2 cans of the PME light malt after work. Here's what I'm doing.
1 lb of crystal malt (steep for 20 minutes @ 160 degrees)
bring to boil
1 can malt and 1 oz cascade @ 60 minutes
1/2 oz willamette @ 30 minutes
1 can malt @ 20 minutes
1/2 oz willamette @ 15 minutes
1 oz of cascade @ flameout
No idea how it will turn out, but I've got less than 20 bucks into this, so no harm no foul. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
I've got some hops and grain lying around, and picked up 2 cans of the PME light malt after work. Here's what I'm doing.
1 lb of crystal malt (steep for 20 minutes @ 160 degrees)
bring to boil
1 can malt and 1 oz cascade @ 60 minutes
1/2 oz willamette @ 30 minutes
1 can malt @ 20 minutes
1/2 oz willamette @ 15 minutes
1 oz of cascade @ flameout
No idea how it will turn out, but I've got less than 20 bucks into this, so no harm no foul. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
hoggharley
New Member
www.premeirmaltextract.com this is good stuff i made lots of beer with it i used the can that says natrual hopped flavor light1kg code #7026100002 you just cant beat the price if you go to there site you will see the pabst blue ribbon malt can same stuff i used it good luck with your brewing
A refreshing lager
Yield: 5 gallons
Ingredients
2 cans 2.2# Premier Hopped Light Malt Extract
1# Corn sugar
1 1/2 oz. finishing hops (e.g. Hallertauer, Tettenanger, Saaz)
1 pkt Lager yeast
Method
1. Mix the contents of the Premier cans, the corn sugar and 1 gallon of boiling water in the primary fermenter
2. Make the volume of the wort up to 4 gallons with cold water and add the finishing hops. Stir well.
3. Check the temperature before adding the yeast
4. Ferment and bottle as usual.
Yield: 5 gallons
Ingredients
2 cans 2.2# Premier Hopped Light Malt Extract
1# Corn sugar
1 1/2 oz. finishing hops (e.g. Hallertauer, Tettenanger, Saaz)
1 pkt Lager yeast
Method
1. Mix the contents of the Premier cans, the corn sugar and 1 gallon of boiling water in the primary fermenter
2. Make the volume of the wort up to 4 gallons with cold water and add the finishing hops. Stir well.
3. Check the temperature before adding the yeast
4. Ferment and bottle as usual.
We're supposed to *finally* get a cool snap next week, which means my un-airconditioned workshop can get back down to brewing temps. So I had just wandered over here to the PME thread to peruse the recipes for something very simple that could be easily resized for a 2.5 gallon batch. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but this recipe (and eight tiny reindeer, but that's another story...). Still won't be cool enough for lagering--anybody have an idea how this will work with an ale yeast? Looks like there's a batch of beer in my future--thanks to rosey17. Something for ME to drink while I bottle up the wine & mead I'm giving away for Christmas...
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
just walked down the same path you did previously. brewing first batch of premiere malt extra beer...bubbling stopped in 3 days wondering if it was the same for you. i have a dirty ring where the top of foam was concerned with that otherwise i have no idea what this is going to taste like. Did the back off to 4 gallons and the corn syrup versus the granulated and hoped it will be like an english style ale
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
the corn syrup is sure fine wondering what this stuff will be like...was rather a purist...1 can of PME light (hopped)(that is what the grocer had), 1.5 cups of corn syrup, 4 gallons of water and what ever yeast they had in the lid of the can. The hope is a english style ale. have no clue what this will taste like...open to hints ....
captianoats
Well-Known Member
OK, it's still young (about 3 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in bottles) but this turned out GREAT!! If you're a hop head and looking for a cheap session beer, this one is it. OG was 1.036, FG 1.008, so the alcohol isn't as high as some beers I've brewed, but this could be altered by using more malt. I am very happy w/ the results, and I think I'll be trying to make some more PME recipes.
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
the basic brew came out the following blonde in color. taste I guess the bubble would have helped right now just flat. Can see the hints of apple to the taste..sorta like a weakened still cider. Cptoats your brew will have more flavors I am sure this pure by the can recipe with what they provided is a bit watery even after cutting it back. I will hope the sugar prim will add the bubbles and make it a bit better...then it will be off to find hops and other things to throw int eh next bucket of the stuff...
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
no hydrometer just yet so we merely poured off the brew into pint glasses to "sample" . Will be getting one but i can say it does give a rather warm sensation to the face ...much like still cider does
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
but it is still a blonde ale
captianoats
Well-Known Member
I am guessing the apple you are tasting is the "cidery" flavor that so many guys talk about. It happens when you add sugar to the malt. If you omit sugar and use either another can of the PME or use dried malt extract this flavor will be avoided.
Sounds like the main issue with PME is that in spite of the instructions one can is just not enough to make a proper 5-gallon batch. I'm getting ready to do a half-batch (2.5 gal) of the "refreshing mountain lager" mentioned a few posts back. I'm thinking that a smaller batch will be more satisfactory than trying to stretch it out with added sugar, etc. Although I bet if you used honey instead of sugar you could come up with a decent braggot. I used PME to make an all-extract version of Brandon O's Graff and it's real drinkable. It seemed to take a long time to bottle condition but once it carbed it makes a really nice head. Really refreshing. I'll post results of the mountain lager when it's done.
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
this batch was followed pure to the recipe included for a english style beer...and used corn syrup versus granulated. The yeast was what was included on the can. I have learned that certain things can change the flavor of it and that is good...but for a rookie starting out and not knowing just what this is to look like taste like or will it hurt me if i drink it was the purpose of the brew. It tastes fine just have to add carbonation to it to make it feel more like beer than cider. I think that i will do the two cans and no sugar this next time and see what happens eventually do a gruit instead of hops to see...but for a rookie this blonde ale with a cidery taste in an english style is nice..it was $7.50 to make 4 gallons and is basic...not bad for a first timer.
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
this sugar in the bottle thing is perplexing understand it but odd...I do miss the bubble tho
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
do you think starting the yeast before the brewing on the double can will have positive effect
+1 on the yeast, revbish--I got my 2.5 gal batch going this evening. I debated using the yeast that came with the PME but decided not to risk it--went with my old standby Munton's Ale Yeast. Not fancy but I know what to expect. I did save the packet--might play with it one day if I'm in the mood to experiment--see what kind of hooch it might cook up 
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
the yeast as well as hop is to what is local. oh here in the sticks I doing great with the malt extract. Yes I can not do that as of yet..I do have some champange yeast. wonder if? still will look into better yeast and hops when in bham that is the closest place.and that is 3 hrs from here
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
carbonation is helping this batch along...tight bubbles now. Rev thanks for the coaching. I wish I knew of a place closer than Bham for yeast and such you can get now versus a few days to a week mail/ups/fedx/...
Oltradplanter, are you north or south of Bham? Don't know which direction you are in AL, but Werner's in Cullman has a nice selection of homebrew supplies, although they seem to cater more to wine than beer. I think you can order from their website as well. I go to an old health food store in Huntsville that has a fair selection of brew stuff, although their prices are higher than Werner's. I know there's supposed to be a LHBS in Mobile, but don't know anything about it.
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
Near Auburn
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
second brew batch...listening to my peers did the following:
1 can of PME hopped LIGHT + 2 gallons of water to a boil for an 45 minutes then added 1.5 pounds of brown sugar and the 2nd can of PME hopped light turned off heat and let the heat in the pot bring it to a boil. Removed from heat and put into a ice bath cooling it down. then poured it off after 15 minutes into awaiting 5 gallon carboy containing 2.5 gallons of cold water...added yeast that had been activated in warm water to the mix toped out the carbooy at 5 gallons airlocked and aggitated..looks a lot better than first batch smells better too. The yeast was what can with the cans and it was two colors cream and brown..who knows what we get but when in bham will be getting some yeast as well as hops.
1 can of PME hopped LIGHT + 2 gallons of water to a boil for an 45 minutes then added 1.5 pounds of brown sugar and the 2nd can of PME hopped light turned off heat and let the heat in the pot bring it to a boil. Removed from heat and put into a ice bath cooling it down. then poured it off after 15 minutes into awaiting 5 gallon carboy containing 2.5 gallons of cold water...added yeast that had been activated in warm water to the mix toped out the carbooy at 5 gallons airlocked and aggitated..looks a lot better than first batch smells better too. The yeast was what can with the cans and it was two colors cream and brown..who knows what we get but when in bham will be getting some yeast as well as hops.
Checked my batch today--fermentation has started although not as strong as other batches I've made. I think it's because it's a bit cooler than before. Nice smell & color though--can't wait to see how this turns out.
derailedgtr
Member
hey guys! i'm still drinking on this one and all i can say is DAYYUUUMMM!!!!!
this beer is awesome. i usually only have one at a time though.
i have progressed on to all-grain but will continue to brew this one up when i only have time for shorter brewdays or when the mood strikes or for my buddies to drink on at cookouts and parties.
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
please keep me posted I will do the same here on this one..So far the fermenting has been off by an hour the first ever brewed batch started at an hour after pouring into the fermenter this time it was two but the foam and gas off is stronger. The smell was amazing as it cooked.
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
drailed that recipe worked DAng I was wondeering if you were going to pull that one off.Curious glad if worked.
oltradplanter
Well-Known Member
update on the ferment..we are rolling added the two packets of yeast that came with the cans...this is the first time the foam blew out the air lock...cleaned it and now have it in an overflow bottle and the bubbles are still rolling...I think the beer got to warm but most of the day its been rocking along the cat keeps guard of it
