Saving a little extract- 1st time brew

[WiscoCK]

I've read in "How to Brew" that the author recommends saving a little of the extract to add only about 15 min prior to cooling. Apparently it's enough time to pastuerize the malt while leaving a good amount for the yeast. Obviously this is not list on the recipe but the book says to do it anyway.

Am I understanding this correctly? How much malt should I save 1/4 of it?

Thanks.

 

[Skelator]

Boiling extract for 60 minutes can lead to a darker beer than hoped/planned/wanted/called for. Adding, say, half of the extract at 60 and half at 15, you should get a beer that isnt as dark as if you were to put all the extract in at 60.
Also, hop utilization is greater when you split the extract. For example, adding 1 ounce of Cascade to a wort with 5 pounds of extract already in it will give you (for the sake of example) 10 ibu's, where if you were to add 1 ounce of Cascade to a wort with only 3 pounds of extract will give you 15 ibu's. (No this is not exact nor calculated, just an example)

Personally, I dont do this often (if at all) since i dont care too much about the color of the beer and the amount of hops i 'save' due to the greater utilization isnt enough for me to care. Also, I have not found any noticable taste difference if you were to split the extract or dump it all in at once.

 

[WiscoCK]

Thanks for the clarification.

Signed,

The n00b.

 

[Yooper]

I LOVE adding the bulk of the extract late in the boil. It makes a much better tasting beer to me. Instead of a "cooked extract" taste, the beer tastes more like a commercial beer with a lighter color and less maillard reactions that cause a "thicker" taste. I'd highly recommend doing it!

 

[lawle102]

Listen to what skelator and Yoop said. My first extract batch ended up with a caramel taste because of the extract being in the entire 60 min boil. Next batch was an IPA that I did the late addition on. No caramel taste and it turned out to be very hoppy as I had wanted.

 

[Skelator]

Best. Avatar. Ever.

 

[solbes]

My first batch had extract all added at the beginning. My amber ale looked as dark as a brown ale. Not good. Switched to "late addition" for extract and no more issues. Smart of you to pick up on prior to your 1st batch.

 

[WiscoCK]

Great. I plan to keep good notes and I will post the results. Thanks everyone. This forum has been just awesome for a guy like me!

 

[Pezman1]

I started the half extract at 15 minutes thing last year with all my beers, and I agree with the above comments. Lighter pales, less caramel taste.

Leads me to wonder if this might be at least partially the cause of the infamous "extract twang" often reported by folks..... Pez.

 

[unionrdr]

Yes it is,esspecialy with LME. I use 3lb bags of plain DME in my recipes,half of which goes in the 3G partial boil for hop additions. The remaining DME & all the LME at flame out while it's still hot. Far over the 162F needed for pasteurization. Lighter color & cleaner flavor results. & no more twang.