Been given loads of extract - What to brew?!

[RippaBitta]

Hi Fellow HB's,

I have been given the following FREEBIES:

Amber Malt Extract- 7kg (15.4lb)
Dark Malt Extract - 7kg (15.4lb)
Pale Malt Extract - 2kg (4.4lb)

My last 3 brews have been All Grains and before that I was a Kit and Kilo kinda guy. I have not used extract ever before on it's own.

I want to get a few ideas on what sort of brews I could whip up with the above ingredients, I'm not sure whether Amber and Dark malt can be used as the majority in a brew, I thought it would be much like speciality grains and used in moderation along with a pale malt extract making up most of the wort.

I'm also curious to know what hops favour well with the amber and dark malts.

I would like to make a amber ale or stout so I think these ingredients may be able to be used quite generously to obtain those styles.

Any help or recipes would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

RippaBitta

 

[Hello]

You can use dark and amber extract even as a base. I'd use those in stouts, porters, and browns since the color will affect any light beer. Pale I'd do a partial mash with 4.4lbs and other grains in an IPA or APA.

Not sure any particular hop pairs better or worse with the malts. I always added my LME at 15 minutes anyway. I could be wrong, but I don't think LME is to be treated like a speciality malt. Someone much wiser will weigh in.

 

[thespiff]

Is this Dry or Liquid extract?

I'm by no means an expert (I'm just an extract brewer at this point) but if I were doing all-grain and came into a bunch of extract I would probably use it to turn an all-grain regular-strength IPA/Stout recipe into an Imperial version. Basically, chuck an extra 3LB of extract into the pot (and bump up my IBUs and specialty grains where appropriate for the Imperial style) to get a nice big OG without the extra mash effort.

And if making big beers you should use some of that extract to make a yeast starter too.

 

[unionrdr]

Imperialising an AG recipe is a good idea. Or some pipeline-filling extract with steeping grains or partial mash beers. Browns, pale ales,stouts & porters can all be made from those.

 

[RippaBitta]

Thanks Guys,

I'm doing an All Grain this weekend and will be utilising some of the dark malt extract to add extra flavour/colour etc.

Might pop on a simple American Pale Ale with Mosaic hops in between the boils of the All Grain

Cheers,

RippaBitta!

 

[pricelessbrewing]

I'd probably just keep some around for bumping og and for using for starters. My brew days sitting at around 3-3.5 hours so extract wouldn't really help a whole lot. Maybe sell some to another brewer?

Be sure to split your extract between beggining of boil and end of boil if you do all extract, otherwise you may end up with that beloved extract twang.

 

[Calder]

What is the brand? You might get some information on what is actually in it from them. Briess has it for most of their extracts (their amber being the exception). Mailard malt is basically repackaged Briess.

Pale is probably 99% Pale or 2-row, 1% Cara-pils.

Amber is probably 90% base malt, and 10% C60.

Dark could be a mixture of many different malts.

Extract tends to be less fermentable than you expect. Might want to supplement it with 10% sugar if using it in quantity.

 

[Qhrumphf]

If it's dry extract, I would agree with keeping some around for bumping gravity if your efficiency dives for some reason (a friend had their mill loosen on them and didn't catch it until it was too late, ended up at 60% efficiency instead of 80% efficiency). Use the appropriate extract based on style (ie I wouldn't bump a pilsner or pale ale with dark extract, but would be fine in a stout). I'd especially save pale DME for starters.

If it's LME, well, that's a lot to use, and it's best to use that stuff sooner rather than later. I'd probably whip up a few strong ales. Aim for 1.100 or so, with about 90-95% extract, and 5-10% sugar. Use the amber and dark extract as is, and hop both judiciously as desired, going for American Barleywine for the amber and RIS for the dark. If you wanted to steep grains on the top that'd be ok, but unless you know exactly what went into the extract, you need to be careful with specialty grains lest you go overboard.

 

[RippaBitta]

Cheers everyone,

It's Briess LME (Dark Growler, Sparkling Amber, Pilsner Light Malt) Calder is spot on.

I'll be using pretty much the lot of the light LME this weekend in my APA and will be using a kilo of each (Amber and Dark) in an all grain brew (10kg pale malt + 1.5kg vienna) 50 Litre batch.

I will have to look into making a few strong ales and a RIS, I just need to source a few good recipes and buy extra bottles as I will be running out of room shortly!

Thanks for all the feedback

RippaBitta

 

[Lager_Meister]

That's interesting Rippa as I am an all grain brewer and came across a very cheap ( and fresh) 33lb growler of Briess Gold LME.

I can say I DO not like the long brew day of all grain and always have trouble with large volume boils even on my large BTU turkey fryer type gas burners.

So the idea of doing some quick easy brews with LME and partial grains, appealed to me very much! I confess I had to fight my (self-imposed) downward look upon extract brewing but it just plain makes sense.

Brewing good beer is brewing good beer, and to keep my fermenters and kegs full, Extract brewing shortens the brew day and makes really good beer. That's all that really matters in the end! :rockin:

 

[RippaBitta]

I couldnt agree more Lager_Meister, recently I made an AG Amber ale an extract American pale ale.

My AG amber ale has mixed reviews but my pale ale is an absolute favorite with everyone and it was so easy to brew.

I think using extract should not be frowned upon as extracts have come along way and can now produce good quality beers.