Munton's Extract

Can I get some reviews from you guys on the Munton's extract beers. Thanks in advance.

 

Good stuff. Slightly more caramel flavor than the equivalent Briess product, at least in my opinion. I use both depending on what I want.

 

Muntons is a quality maltster from Great Britain. It's good for almost all styles, including American IPAs. European malt tends to be more characterful than American malt, so you get an added toastiness/maltiness. I strongly prefer their Extra Light DME, but Light DME also works (and their Wheat DME is also great). I generally skip the darker varieties and LME.

 

I also like Munton's plain DME's. I use mostly there plain light,but have also used plain extra light & the plain amber in my dark ale.

 

I noticed that the Bries label states that the extract is "unhopped". Does that mean the Muntons is hopped?

 

I think they make hopped and unhopped.

 

Does the metal can the Muntons LME comes in effect the flavor of the extract? I've heard extracts in metal containers have a weird "twang" flavor...

 

On my first brew I dropped the can into my pot and it tuned out fine with no off flavors.

 

I've used both metal cans and plastic jugs for LME, to me I've gotten a strange flavor when I added all the malt at the beginning versus a couple pounds at the beginning and the rest after flame out.

 

I've made a few of their can kits and have no complaints, all turned out good.

 

Thanks for the reviews guys. Muntons will be my next batch. I tried Coopers, but wasnt impressed.

 

muntuns is not all that different from coopers so i hope your not disappointed

 

Just keep in mind that un-hopped extract is referred to as "plain" by Munton's.

 

Do you recommend pre-hopped or unhopped extract? Is there a difference in taste? Sorry for all the questions. Im a newbie!

 

Unhopped. Then you can pick what hops you want and have more control. Think of it as using a can of tomatoes and fresh sauteed onions and garlic vs one of those cans of tomatoes with all the spices and onions already in it.

 

How much hops do I need? What varieties as well?

 

That depends entirely on what kind of beer you want to make. I recommend you go to your local homebrew shop or one of the many great online retailers and buy a kit for a beer style you enjoy drinking. My first was a red ale that came out great! This will come with grains, extract, hops, yeast, bottle caps etc. Everything you need except a pot and bottles!

Also check out www.howtobrew.com. The book is great but so is the free online first edition. That will answer many of your initial questions.

 

If you have not made a batch of Muntons before, you might want to add a lb of light DME toward the end of the boil. I have not done an extract batch in a while but I remember muntons connisouer kits instruction had you add table sugar. I added the DME to give it more body as the sugar made it a bit thin. Also the yeast that comes with the muntons kit may not handle the added dme, my LHBS always gave me a packet of Coopers gold yeast in it;s place.
About the hopped/unhopped question...if you are fairly new to this you may want to stick with the hopped version for a few batches, then play around with adding your own hops to see how you like it.
Also, be careful not to scorch the extract, it will change the taste, and you won't like it.

 

High AA% hops are used for bittering. How much depends on how much bittering for the recipe. You could try a 2.5-3 gallon boil with 1.5-2lbs plain DME. Then set the timer for 1 hour,& add .5oz of high AA% hops. Then ad flavor hop additions at 20 & 10.
Then add the remaing 1.5lb or so of DME,& 3-3.3lb of LME at flame out. This is pretty basic,but works well for a good average ale.