Beginer with DME! any help loved

ok, so I have a straight LME pilsner (not hopped) with 300g dextrose in bottles... it tastes and smells like egg, and the dextrose did NOT give it any good mouthfeel or head retention.. it was my first brew and I am bitterly dissapointed with the LHBS that sold me the LME + dextrose... my second brew was an experiment in hopping with LME, I used a can of toohey draught LME, a pack of hops that you steep in hot water for 10mins like a tea bag then add to the wort just before pitching, and an enzyme that breaks down carbs to give you a dry finish... that beer is MUCH better (I added a mix of dextrose, some small malt etc pre mixed package) but I am still not convinced that is as good as I can get it, not by a long shot.

So I decided for my next step up in brewing, I am going to go for a DME route. I am also intending to rack into secondary ontop of raspberries. So, this is my plan as it stands at the moment, please, any recipe corrections or suggestions would be VERY much apreciated!

Kads Pale English Ale - Raspberry (PEAR)

__ 5 gallon batch __

6 lbs. of Pale Malt Extract - DME
1/2 lb. of Crystal 60L Malt

boiled at 152 F

1oz Bullion hops - used for bittering boiled for 60

1/2oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) - used for aroma boiled at 30 mins
1/2oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) - used for aroma and flavour, boiled 10 mins

and an english style ale yeast like Wyeast London ESB

Let ferment out or untill bubbling slows, rack off into glass carboy, also racking off onto 1.5kg (3 pounds) of frozen raspberries (allowed to warm to room temp so as not to shock the yeast)

let condition for 2 weeks or so and then bottle...

Will I need to add campden tablets to the raspberries 24 hours before racking off to kill any nasty yeasties in there? also, will the 6 pounds DME and 1/2 crystal 60L malt be enough to kick up the ABV? also, would it not be a better idea to just add raspberry puree to the primary? any suggestions would be awesome! thanks in advance

 

You could try boiling the raspberries in a bit of water to sanitize them, then add the boiled concoction into the secondary. Just make sure to boil it long enough to get ALL the insides of the fruit up to the right temp. About 20 mins or so, I'd guess.

Or you could just use extract...

 

First off, with 6 lbs DME in 5 gallons you'll get an OG around 1.054. With extract brewing, the steeped grains contribute flavor/color but almost no fermentable sugar. So extract recipes you control the ABV with the DME. (lbs DME * 45 / gallons of wort = estimated OG). With that yeast you'll probably ferment down to around 1.012, which would give you an ABV of around 5.5%. ([OG - FG] * 105 = ABW; ABW * 1.25 = ABV).

As far as the fruit is concerned, you basically need to pasteurize the fruit so that you aren't contaminating your brew with other yeast/bacteria. The canned fruit usually is already pasteurized, so you can just sanitize the can and then pour it into the secondary. With fresh or frozen fruit, you need to first pasteurize it by boiling it with water for ~15-20 min. The choice of when to add the fruit is up to you. The thought is that the later you add the fruit (in secondary) you will hopefully retain more of the more aromatic and volatile compounds contributing to aroma. Adding it during the boil is sometimes more convenient though, and it also pasteurizes it at the same time.

Have fun!

Marc.

 

thanks guys! gave me some great advice, I will let you know how this progresses! probably start this brew in two weeks or so! thanks!

 

If you boil the fruit, you will set the natural pectins and your beer will come out hazy. To avoid this, pasteurize by slowly bringing up to 170 degrees and holding for 10-15 min.