Brewing mishap. Thoughts?

[Brulian]

Hi all,

So yesterday I attempted my 1st ever brew. Im using a beer brewing kit with hops and barley extract. In the instructions it says that a minimun size pot of 5L should be used(stainless steal), which I have (next time im going to buy a larger pot).

I placed 3L of water to boil and then added the 1.5kg Ale kit and 1kg of brew hancer, lowered the temp to bring boil to a simmer. Everything was going well then all of a sudden a huge amount of foam from the boil appeared and the liquid started to boil over, not wanting the thick liquid to spill all over my stove and kitchen i threw an amount of the boil into the sink, im not sure of how much but maybe around 700ml to 1L.

Off to a bad start. The way i tried to compensate was to fill my fermention bucket to around 21L instead of the recommended 22L.
My OG was 1033 (ideal for this kit was 1036). This morning I woke up at 5am and i wanted to check the temp and noticed that my airlock was bubbling (im assuming thats a good sign considering what happened).

What do you think the affect of this will have on the final outcome? Any thoughts?

 

[madscientist451]

Congratulations on your first brew and welcome to HBT. Looks like you're on the right track since you've taken a gravity reading, have fermenter with an airlock and have gotten the fermentation going. Your beer will still be beer, but just a little lower alcohol. If this first attempt doesn't have the best flavor, don't let that stop you from brewing, kits that use all extract have their limitations.
My 2cents: Get a BIAB and some grain and jump into all grain brewing right away. After a larger pot, your next purchase should be small scale to weight out your hops (and eventually your grain when you get a mill). Getting away from kits will reduce your costs and provide you with better beer.

 

[Brulian]

Congratulations on your first brew and welcome to HBT. Looks like you're on the right track since you've taken a gravity reading, have fermenter with an airlock and have gotten the fermentation going. Your beer will still be beer, but just a little lower alcohol. If this first attempt doesn't have the best flavor, don't let that stop you from brewing, kits that use all extract have their limitations.
My 2cents: Get a BIAB and some grain and jump into all grain brewing right away. After a larger pot, your next purchase should be small scale to weight out your hops (and eventually your grain when you get a mill). Getting away from kits will reduce your costs and provide you with better beer.

Thanks for the response.
Yeah im assuming the ABV will be around 3.5 to 4%, hopefully it has a good taste at least and isnt to bland.

Yes the next step is to start brewing with actual grains and get the full set up, so far its been a lot of fun not only the action of brewing but learning and watching videos on brewing. Getting into a new hobby is always fun.
Especially now, in South Africa alcohol is banned by law during quarantine and I have been wanting to start brewing for a while but this has pushed me to actually start.

Just a quick question: what is a "BIAB"?

 

[Shaika-Dzari]

BIAB is brew in a bag.

You put a small nylon bag (you can get one online or at your local shop) in you kettle and add grain. You mash these instead of using an extract.
It is cheaper to use grain instead of extract. A bit more complicated but not much to be honest; you are mostly doing a porridge.

For you boil over, I always keep a cup of cold water to dump in my kettle if I am "losing control". It kills the heat and the boil over stop immediately.

 

[Brulian]

BIAB is brew in a bag.

You put a small nylon bag (you can get one online or at your local shop) in you kettle and add grain. You mash these instead of using an extract.
It is cheaper to use grain instead of extract. A bit more complicated but not much to be honest; you are mostly doing a porridge.

For you boil over, I always keep a cup of cold water to dump in my kettle if I am "losing control". It kills the eat and the boil over stop immediately.

Thank you for this, ill attempt to implement this technique for my next brew.
Ill definitely keep a cold glass of water next to me in the next boil but hopefully by then ill have a larger pot especially to hold the extra space that the grains will take.

 

[IslandLizard]

Congrats on your first brew and welcome to HBT!

Ill definitely keep a cold glass of water next to me in the next boil

Actually a spray bottle filled with water works better to kill the foam. But you do need to turn the heat off or low, ASAP, or it will continue to surge.

A larger kettle is surely a good investment.
But don't just buy any. Think about your next kettle carefully. Size and kind. Any used stuff around?

Keep in mind:
Your goal of brewing!
BIAB, as @Shaika-Dzari explained needs a good size kettle, and an adequate heating source to boil that whole volume for an hour. Then it needs to get chilled down to 20C.

 

[Shaika-Dzari]

Actually a spray bottle filled with water works better to kill the foam.

Good to know and less plain water in the wort

 

[Brulian]

Congrats on your first brew and welcome to HBT!


Actually a spray bottle filled with water works better to kill the foam. But you do need to turn the heat off or low, ASAP, or it will continue to surge.

A larger kettle is surely a good investment.
But don't just buy any. Think about your next kettle carefully. Size and kind. Any used stuff around?

Keep in mind:
Your goal of brewing!
BIAB, as @Shaika-Dzari explained needs a good size kettle, and an adequate heating source to boil that whole volume for an hour. Then it needs to get chilled down to 20C.

Hi,
Thank you IslandLizard for your input.
Do you think a regular stove will be an appropriate heat source for a larger pot?

And to get the wort temp down to 20C I used ice, placing the pot in the sink with ice & water and I put about 2kg of Ice in the fermentation bucket which I poured my wort over to cool it down even more. I got to 20C in less then 10minutes however do you think that technique will work for a larger pot? Maybe just increasing the volume of ice in relation to the volume of hot wort.

 

[IslandLizard]

Hi,
Thank you IslandLizard for your input.
Do you think a regular stove will be an appropriate heat source for a larger pot?

And to get the wort temp down to 20C I used ice, placing the pot in the sink with ice & water and I put about 2kg of Ice in the fermentation bucket which I poured my wort over to cool it down even more. I got to 20C in less then 10minutes however do you think that technique will work for a larger pot? Maybe just increasing the volume of ice in relation to the volume of hot wort.

Some stoves do have a lot of boiling capacity, but most kitchen stoves have trouble boiling a kettle containing 6-8 gallons of wort. There are several ways to augment a small heating shortage by keeping the lid on part ways, using a separate heat stick (immersion heating coil), (safely) insulating the kettle, boiling 1 kettle on 2 burners (if they're close enough so the kettle can straddle both), or use 2 medium size kettles on 2 burners, etc.

Many homebrewers brew outside, using a large propane burner.

I use an induction plate in the kitchen. It's 3500W and can boil 7 gallons easily, even done a few 13 gallon brews with it, but that was pushing it, it took some time and hoops to jump through. There are a few other, electric options too.

What's your stove like?
What batch size are you looking at to brew mainly?

Chilling in the sink doesn't work with a 8 or 10 gallon kettle. That's a big kettle for any sink, with a lot of hot wort in it. Just mere lifting it is a threat or even a hazard to your health and wellbeing.

Look around on this forum and elsewhere, to get an idea what people use to brew with and what equipment they use.

 

[Saunassa]

If someone has a large stock pot 3 or more gallons then you will have a better chance to contain everything if you keep doing extract. Nothing wrong with extract while you get the hang of all the steps and the equipment.
What matters is that you like what you make.

 

[Brulian]

Some stoves do have a lot of boiling capacity, but most kitchen stoves have trouble boiling a kettle containing 6-8 gallons of wort. There are several ways to augment a small heating shortage by keeping the lid on part ways, using a separate heat stick (immersion heating coil), (safely) insulating the kettle, boiling 1 kettle on 2 burners (if they're close enough so the kettle can straddle both), or use 2 medium size kettles on 2 burners, etc.

Many homebrewers brew outside, using a large propane burner.

I use an induction plate in the kitchen. It's 3500W and can boil 7 gallons easily, even done a few 13 gallon brews with it, but that was pushing it, it took some time and hoops to jump through. There are a few other, electric options too.

What's your stove like?
What batch size are you looking at to brew mainly?

Chilling in the sink doesn't work with a 8 or 10 gallon kettle. That's a big kettle for any sink, with a lot of hot wort in it. Just mere lifting it is a threat or even a hazard to your health and wellbeing.

Look around on this forum and elsewhere, to get an idea what people use to brew with and what equipment they use.

Great thanks for this advice, a lot of good information. Ill need to search for the best option for me in terms of a heating sources, perhaps the coil that way you can adjust and control the temp better.

 

[Brulian]

If someone has a large stock pot 3 or more gallons then you will have a better chance to contain everything if you keep doing extract. Nothing wrong with extract while you get the hang of all the steps and the equipment.
What matters is that you like what you make.

Definitely, I want to get the hang of it and experience of brewing beer and then jump to the better equipment.
Ill probably do 1 or 2 more brews with extract (just buy a bigger pot) and once ive nailed it down ill take these guys advice and begin using grains and getting the necessary equipment.

 

[Brulian]

@IslandLizard
@madscientist451
@Saunassa
@Shaika-Dzari

I started the (ale) brew on monday and last night around 12am (wednesday) I noticed a smell, not as bad but a smell like rotten eggs. I read up online and the forum and many say that it could be the type of yeast (more common in lagers) which releases a lot of sulphur however it could also be an indication of bacteria contaminating the brew. I just checked up on it and it still smells, not horrible but not great at all.


My questions to you is :
*Does this yeast (ale) tend to smell like sulphur in general?
*Have you experienced this?
*Personally what do you think?

Thank you.

 

[Shaika-Dzari]

I have, sometime, a bit of smell but it is usually subtle. I'll let more experienced brewer respond (I still quite new to brewing) but I think you should just let it do its thing and wait.

Something I learned around here: time fixes a lot of issue with beer. Wait a couple of days, the smell will probably go away and you beer will be fine.

 

[WesBrew]

Did you sanitize everything coming into contact with beer After boiling? If not an infection is likely. Ale yeast shouldn’t smell like eggs
Bigger pot needed. you can make a dipstick out of your spoon for free. Search online for formula.
an immersion chiller would be better To cool the beer down . Plate chiller or a counter flow is best but you need a pump and a valve at bottom of your kettle.

 

[Brulian]

Did you sanitize everything coming into contact with beer After boiling? If not an infection is likely. Ale yeast shouldn’t smell like eggs
Bigger pot needed. you can make a dipstick out of your spoon for free. Search online for formula.
an immersion chiller would be better To cool the beer down . Plate chiller or a counter flow is best but you need a pump and a valve at bottom of your kettle.

Hi,

Yes i did sanitize everything as far as i am aware. The only concern about the sanitizer is that the supplier i got it from comes in the form of powder. Mix 15ml of sanitizer powder with 2L of warm water and while cleaning the equipment I noticed the sanitized liquid had almost no smell, I did ask the store if it was normal and he said it was fine but maybe the powder lost strength over time? The powder was over 2 years old. Maybe it is normal for "beer sanitizer" to not have any smell or indication that it is a sanitizer.

Hopefully it is not an infection however ill finish the brew. Is there anything I can do to test or see whether it is an infection or just the sulphur from the yeast.

 

[Shaika-Dzari]

If it is an infection, you will clearly see it: mold, stuff floating with strange color, etc.
There is a post on this forum with horrible picture if you need example

 

[Brulian]

If it is an infection, you will clearly see it: mold, stuff floating with strange color, etc.
There is a post on this forum with horrible picture if you need example

To inspect should i then open the fermentation lid? it isnt a clear container so i would have to open the lid to see.
Im 'worried' to open the seal in case there is no infection and then i introduce a lot of oxygen to the brew or is it not that big of a deal?

 

[Shaika-Dzari]

Introducing oxygen is bad.
And anyway, the infection will takes time to develop so you may not see anything currently. Also, I don't think it can be fixed (at least not by me, I'm not a chemist).

I would just wait until I'm ready to bottle (I usually wait 2 weeks) and then check. If you see a lot of floating stuff on top (not just krausen residue on the side) or if the smell is not good, post a picture here and people would probably be able to tell if it is bad or not.

 

[Brulian]

@Shaika-Dzari

Yeah I guess Ill just need to wait until the fermentation process is done and once I start bottling the truth will be revealed.
I'm nervous
But nothing I can do but wait.

Goodluck to me...

 

[IslandLizard]

I started the (ale) brew on monday and last night around 12am (wednesday) I noticed a smell, not as bad but a smell like rotten eggs. I read up online and the forum and many say that it could be the type of yeast (more common in lagers) which releases a lot of sulphur however it could also be an indication of bacteria contaminating the brew. I just checked up on it and it still smells, not horrible but not great at all.

My questions to you is :
*Does this yeast (ale) tend to smell like sulphur in general?
*Have you experienced this?
*Personally what do you think?

Thank you.

Yeah, fermentation can generate some really putrid smells. Ciders are among the worst you can imagine! Don't worry, they will all get purged during the "heat of fermentation" by the generated volume of CO2.

If your cleaning and sanitation regimen was thorough, you pitched a healthy yeast, and you had signs of active fermentation (krausen, foam forming on top) start within 24-72 hours there's little chance a bacteria can take hold in that short time. Yeast will simply crowd out any infection vectors by sheer numbers and creating a hostile environment for them.

Which yeast strain did you use?
How do you control your ferm temps?

RDWHAHB!

 

[Brulian]

Yeah, fermentation can generate some really putrid smells. Ciders are among the worst you can imagine! Don't worry, they will all get purged during the "heat of fermentation" by the generated volume of CO2.

If your cleaning and sanitation regimen was thorough, you pitched a healthy yeast, and you had signs of active fermentation (krausen, foam forming on top) start within 24-72 hours there's little chance a bacteria can take hold in that short time. Yeast will simply crowd out any infection vectors by sheer numbers and creating a hostile environment for them.

Which yeast strain did you use?
How do you control your ferm temps?

RDWHAHB!

I think its fine because its not "rotten egg" smell its just unpleasant so hopefully its just the fermentation process.

As far as temp control Im using a very sophisticated system: storing the bucket in my closet
I have a thermostat "sticker" on my bucket as well as a thermostat that i placed next to the bucket so with both im able to plus minus tell what the temp is.
Luckily the weather in South Africa right now is perfect around 22 to 24 C during the day and at night ill turn on a heater to maintain the temp. Ive been able to maintain the temp at around 20C for the past 3 days.

Im not sure what the yeast strain is ill add a picture maybe you will be able to identify it.

 

[IslandLizard]

I think its fine because its not "rotten egg" smell its just unpleasant so hopefully its just the fermentation process.

As far as temp control Im using a very sophisticated system: storing the bucket in my closet
I have a thermostat "sticker" on my bucket as well as a thermostat that i placed next to the bucket so with both im able to plus minus tell what the temp is.
Luckily the weather in South Africa right now is perfect around 22 to 24 C during the day and at night ill turn on a heater to maintain the temp. Ive been able to maintain the temp at around 20C for the past 3 days.

Im not sure what the yeast strain is ill add a picture maybe you will be able to identify it.

You could get way more sophisticated than that... Look up "swamp coolers."

Most of us use a dedicated (spare) fridge to control ferm temps, controlled by an Inkbird temp controller.

Or a water jacket of some sort. I often use a large beverage (Igloo) cooler, in which I can place two 6.5 gallon buckets side by side. Then fill the space around it with cool water and add a few frozen bottles of water to it every 12-24 hours. It's in a cool part of the house and I pack a sleeping bag around it to keep it even more insulated. That keeps it nicely and steadily at 64-66°F (18-19°C).

21°C (~70°F) is about the MAX temp for most ale yeasts to produce a good clean beer. There are exceptions, sure, the most notable being Kveik, Saison yeasts, etc., which actually ferment clean and better at higher temps, all the way up in the 30s°C (90s°F).

Not counting those super hot fermenting yeasts, the higher the temps the more the yeast feasts (binges, overindulges), the more fermentation byproducts are created. That manifests itself in bad tasting fusel/solvent alcohols and other off-flavors and off aromas in the final beer.

Therefore we like to ferment toward the cooler end of a yeast strain's recommended (or documented) optimal range.
For US-05 the sweet spot lies around 64-66°F for most of the fermentation, rising temps toward the end to keep her engaged and finish out.

Now that yeast label reads 15-20°C. So 20°C is the high end, I'd stay well below that, no higher than 18°C, but probably would target 16-17°C and taste the results. Then when it's nearly done raise temps a few degrees (3-5°C) over a few days. Then let condition out a few days to a week at that higher temp. If you're fermenting in a bucket, keep the lid on.

Maybe contact your supplier for the strain used in that package? There are only a few dry yeast manufacturers, but they do produce quite a few strains.

 

[IslandLizard]

Ill probably do 1 or 2 more brews with extract (just buy a bigger pot)

I'm not badgering you, I just want to revisit that idea, it's not a good one.

Don't just buy a "bigger pot" for that sole reason to accomodate you next few extract brews.*
Because... chances are you'll be buying another (even larger) one as the one you bought first will turn out to be too small once you move onto all-grain.

* You can brew extract beers with a fairly small pot. You just top up with water in the fermenter.

 

[Brulian]

I'm not badgering you, I just want to revisit that idea, it's not a good one.

Don't just buy a "bigger pot" for that sole reason to accomodate you next extract brews.*
Because... chances are you'll be buying another (even larger) one as the one you bought first will turn out to be too small once you move onto all-grain.

* You can brew extract beers with a fairly small pot. You just top up with water in the fermenter.

Perhaps you are correct, I just need to ensure I dont boil over again and ill just ensure i follow this advice of yours
"Actually a spray bottle filled with water works better to kill the foam."

 

[Brulian]

You could get way more sophisticated than that... Look up "swamp coolers."

Most of us use a dedicated (spare) fridge to control ferm temps, controlled by an Inkbird temp controller, or a water jacket. I also often use a large beverage (Igloo) cooler, in which I can place two 6.5 gallon buckets side by side. Then fill the space around it with cool water and add a few frozen bottles of water to it every 12-24 hours. It's in a cool part of the house and I pack a sleeping bag around it to keep it even more insulated. That keeps it nicely and steadily at 64-66°F (18-19°C).

21°C (~70°F) is about the MAX temp for most ale yeasts to produce a good clean beer. There are exceptions, sure, the most notable being Kveik, Saison yeasts, etc., which actually ferment clean and better at higher temps, all the way up in the 30s°C (90s°F).

Not counting those super hot fermenting yeasts, the higher the temps the more the yeast feasts (binges, overindulges), the more fermentation byproducts are created. That manifests itself in bad tasting fusel/solvent alcohols and other off-flavors and off aromas in the final beer.

Therefore we like to ferment toward the cooler end of a yeast strain's recommended (or documented) optimal range.
For US-05 the sweet spot lies around 64-66°F for most of the fermentation, rising temps toward the end to keep her engaged and finish out.

Now that yeast label reads 15-20°C. So 20°C is the high end, I'd stay well below that, no higher than 18°C, but probably would target 16-17°C and taste the results. Then when it's nearly done raise temps a few degrees (3-5°C) over a few days. Then let condition out a few days to a week at that higher temp. If you're fermenting in a bucket, keep the lid on.

Maybe contact your supplier for the strain used in that package? There are only a few dry yeast manufacturers, but they do produce quite a few strains.

Yeah i decided on 20C because on my extract instructions it says to ferment between 18 to 22C and online it said similar so i just went with 20 to hit the middle.
However you are correct if the yeast says between 15 to 20C i should try hit around 17.
There is just so much info and a lot contradicts each other in small ways such as the temp so i just didnt know which one to follow.
Ill try lower the temp down.

 

[IslandLizard]

Perhaps you are correct, I just need to ensure I dont boil over again and ill just ensure i follow this advice of yours
"Actually a spray bottle filled with water works better to kill the foam."

Depending on the extract you buy you may not need to boil at all. Some extracts are pre-hopped already. Not saying they make the best beer, they surely do not, but most of those should never be boiled.

I placed 3L of water to boil and then added the 1.5kg Ale kit and 1kg of brew hancer,

That ^ makes me believe you brewed with a pre-hopped extract. It's strange they tell you to boil it, but who knows, only one way to find out. Be aware, brew instructions are notoriously bad (and sad), misleading, or even completely wrong.

If you're serious about home brewing read John Palmer's How to Brew. Here's his old, 1st Ed. online version to get started. Now his book, currently in it's 4th Ed., is much modernized and fairly up to date with newer homebrew techniques. Very recommended!

For the future, if you really want to brew good ( better) beer:

• Buy unhopped extracts, either as Liquid Malt Extract (LME or "malt syrup") or Dry Malt Extract (DME). If the syrup is fairly fresh and was stored cool, it's probably OK. But dry malt extract (DME) is preferred as it keeps much better.
• You won't need "brew enhancer."
• You will need to buy hops. Pellets preferred. They should come pre-packaged in mylar bags, vacuum sealed or nitrogen flushed, and have been stored refrigerated or better, frozen all the time. There are many, many different hops, all with their own flavor and aroma profile. See what's available, and fresher the better.

Or go into all grain brewing right away. For that, you'll need to able to buy malted barley of good quality.

 

[Brulian]

Depending on the extract you buy you may not need to boil at all. Some extracts are pre-hopped already. Not saying they make the best beer, they surely do not, but most of those should never be boiled.



That ^ makes me believe you brewed with a pre-hopped extract. It's strange they tell you to boil it, but who knows, only one way to find out. Be aware, brew instructions are notoriously bad (and sad), misleading, or even completely wrong.

If you're serious about home brewing read John Palmer's How to Brew. Here's his old, 1st Ed. online version to get started. Now his book, currently in it's 4th Ed., is much modernized and fairly up to date with newer homebrew techniques. Very recommended!

For the future, if you really want to brew good ( better) beer:

• Buy unhopped extracts, either as Liquid Malt Extract (LME or "malt syrup") or Dry Malt Extract (DME). If the syrup is fairly fresh and was stored cool, it's probably OK. But dry malt extract (DME) is preferred as it keeps much better.
• You won't need "brew enhancer."
• You will need to buy hops. Pellets preferred. They should come pre-packaged in mylar bags, vacuum sealed or nitrogen flushed, and have been stored refrigerated or better, frozen all the time. There are many, many different hops, all with their own flavor and aroma profile. See what's available, and fresher the better.

Or go into all grain brewing right away. For that, you'll need to able to buy malted barley of good quality.

Well thats just fantastic Hopefully this brew will come out okay then.

Be aware, brew instructions are notoriously bad (and sad), misleading, or even completely wrong.

Ill look into that book, im wanting to learn and have the ability to craft good beer so im sure this book will help a lot.

What do you think about the instructions saying to ferment the brew for 7days? Should it be 2 weeks?

How would you change the instructions as a whole from the fermentation time stage and beyond ?

 

[HomebodyBrews]

Sounds like your quick boil over was the hops..I get that everytime! What I do is move my kettle off the burner and it quickly goes back down ( I have an electric range). If you have gas just shut your burner off. I also have a full rolling boil going for the whole 60 minutes. I've never heard of dropping the heat to simmer. Anyway I'm sure you'll have beer! "Relax and have a Homebrew"

 

[bwible]

“ You can brew extract beers with a fairly small pot. You just top up with water in the fermenter.”

yes you can but not ideally and there are a couple things you need to know. (1) your color is always going to be darker when you do a concentrated wort boil. (2) your hop utilization suffers and you will actually need to use more hops in a concentrated boil to achieve the same bitterness.

That said, many of us started out doing concentrated extract boils. The first time I ever made beer I thought I could make a clone of Molson Golden. That was one of my favorite beers back then. It was redder than Killians and the flavor was awful. But I was happy then just to have made beer.

 

[IslandLizard]

“ You can brew extract beers with a fairly small pot. You just top up with water in the fermenter.”

yes you can but not ideally and there are a couple things you need to know. (1) your color is always going to be darker when you do a concentrated wort boil. (2) your hop utilization suffers and you will actually need to use more hops in a concentrated boil to achieve the same bitterness.

That said, many of us started out doing concentrated extract boils. The first time I ever made beer I thought I could make a clone of Molson Golden. That was one of my favorite beers back then. It was redder than Killians and the flavor was awful. But I was happy then just to have made beer.

Extract doesn't need to be boiled, it has been boiled sufficiently at the maltster already before it was condensed to LME or DME. Pasteurization will suffice, but may not even be required.

Therefore, most modern extract brewing instructions (e.g., How to Brew) and various threads here on HBT and elsewhere, will tell you to boil with only half or smaller amount of extract, and add the balance at flameout. That's to reduce caramelization, which reduces wort darkening, while making for a potentially more fermentable wort and fresher tasting beer in the end.

Boiling lower gravity wort also increases hop utilization (bittering reactions), creating the same or higher IBUs at lower hop dosages and/or shorter boil times.

 

[bwible]

Extract doesn't need to be boiled, it has been boiled sufficiently at the maltster already before it was condensed to LME or DME.

It does if you want hops in it

 

[IslandLizard]

It does if you want hops in it

No, extract itself doesn't need to be boiled. The hops do need to be boiled or at least heated above 150-170F,* if you want bitterness (IBUs).

But you can do that in plain water, then add all your extracts at "flameout."

* The higher the temp the faster the alpha acid isomerization reactions, the more bitterness gets generated.

 

[bwible]

No, extract itself doesn't need to be boiled. The hops do need to be boiled or at least heated above 150-170F,* if you want bitterness (IBUs).

But you can do that in plain water, then add all your extracts at "flameout."

* The higher the temp the faster the alpha acid isomerization reactions, the more bitterness gets generated.

You are entitled to your opinion, even though you are wrong

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Therefore, most modern extract brewing instructions (e.g., How to Brew) and various threads here on HBT and elsewhere, will tell you to boil with only half or smaller amount of extract, and add the balance at flameout. That's to reduce caramelization, which reduces wort darkening, while making for a potentially more fermentable wort and fresher tasting beer in the end.

FWIW, Chapter 9 of HtB, 4e covers full volume boils of extract.

 

[IslandLizard]

FWIW, Chapter 9 of HtB, 4e covers full volume boils of extract.

I was referring to partial boils. That's brewing method the OP is following currently.
Pre-hopped extracts should never be boiled, AFAIK.

 

[MayBrew]

Hi all,

So yesterday I attempted my 1st ever brew. Im using a beer brewing kit with hops and barley extract. In the instructions it says that a minimun size pot of 5L should be used(stainless steal), which I have (next time im going to buy a larger pot).

I placed 3L of water to boil and then added the 1.5kg Ale kit and 1kg of brew hancer, lowered the temp to bring boil to a simmer. Everything was going well then all of a sudden a huge amount of foam from the boil appeared and the liquid started to boil over, not wanting the thick liquid to spill all over my stove and kitchen i threw an amount of the boil into the sink, im not sure of how much but maybe around 700ml to 1L.

Off to a bad start. The way i tried to compensate was to fill my fermention bucket to around 21L instead of the recommended 22L.
My OG was 1033 (ideal for this kit was 1036). This morning I woke up at 5am and i wanted to check the temp and noticed that my airlock was bubbling (im assuming thats a good sign considering what happened).

What do you think the affect of this will have on the final outcome? Any thoughts?

I can't really give any advise, but it seems like we using the same product from the same seller, luckily I didnt have the same issue but another one. Hope your brew comes out right, I have noticed that the brewers instructions is quiet strict, but from the bat I always used my own common-sense. From the sounds of it, its going ot be all right

 

[Brulian]

I can't really give any advise, but it seems like we using the same product from the same seller, luckily I didnt have the same issue but another one. Hope your brew comes out right, I have noticed that the brewers instructions is quiet strict, but from the bat I always used my own common-sense. From the sounds of it, its going ot be all right

I got my supplys from NFP in Johannesburg. Yeah hopefully it comes out alright and drinkable, thats the main thing
How long do you leave it to ferment because on the instructions it says 7 days however most info i see on the internet says to leave it for at least 2 weeks so im not too sure.

Goodluck with your brew, how much time do you have left on it?

 

[MayBrew]

I got my supplys from NFP in Johannesburg. Yeah hopefully it comes out alright and drinkable, thats the main thing
How long do you leave it to ferment because on the instructions it says 7 days however most info i see on the internet says to leave it for at least 2 weeks so im not too sure.

Goodluck with your brew, how much time do you have left on it?

Same here, they selling pretty good stuff, I'll be starting a Windhoek clone some from them, im hoping to leave extracts at my third brew. Looks like it will come out right, looks like NDZ (die doek) has plans for ban till December. I my lager for 8 days at 17 D.Celsius, seems as if I should have left it longer maybe 10-12 days, so two weeks is just about there.

My brew is in the conditioning phase, about 3 days in now and its already way to carbonated (1F wasnt fully done) but I am "burping" now till who knows when

 

[Brulian]

Same here, they selling pretty good stuff, I'll be starting a Windhoek clone some from them, im hoping to leave extracts at my third brew. Looks like it will come out right, looks like NDZ (die doek) has plans for ban till December. I my lager for 8 days at 17 D.Celsius, seems as if I should have left it longer maybe 10-12 days, so two weeks is just about there.

My brew is in the conditioning phase, about 3 days in now and its already way to carbonated (1F wasnt fully done) but I am "burping" now till who knows when

Oh wow...
Banned till December, that is crazy! Hopefully they decide to allow sales again soon, also to help out the economy.
But in any case we will be set with our brews .

Do you think its over carbonated due to the short fermentation time? I reckon ill leave it for 10 days and then add the finings making it 12 days in the fermentation bucket (maybe ill leave it for 14 days total) and then proceed to bottling, hopefully that will sort out any issues.

Is the windhoek clone an extract as well? Do they have Castle & castle lite extract clones?