Brewing Steps Critique and Corrections

[MyCarHasAbs]

As promised earlier in a previous thread, here's the step by step "tweaked" instructions for the initially brewing process I followed. If ANYONE sees any thing to be corrected or a blank filled in, don't hesitate to speak up. This was after all only my third batch and I'm sure there's still room for improvement.

First off, to all those who replied in the previous thread, thanks.

This was an IPA that I added rosemary to. Brewers Best kit.

1) Added 2.5 gallons of water to a 5 gallon pot. Turned the burner on high. 30 minutes later, still not boiling. Switched over to a bigger burner. 15 minutes later it hit 160 degrees.

2) steeped the grains in for 20 minutes. I'm not doing anything to the temperature at this point. Though I checked after ten minutes of the steeping and realized I'm hitting well past 165 degrees. So I turned the heat down a tad.

3) After the 20 minutes and a rolling boil was achieved I added 20% of the DME and LME. During this part I rarely stopped stirring. It probably took about 10-15 minutes based on moderate memory for it to return to a rolling boil.

4) I added 1oz of cascade hops. Still continually stirring occasionally. The directions say to let it boil for 30 minutes.

5) I added 2oz of columbus hops. Once again, letting it boil and stir on and on for 30 minutes.

6) As soon as the 30 minutes had passed, I added the remainder of the LME and DME. I probably gave this about 10-15 minutes of a boil.

7) I added both the 1.5oz of cascade hops and rose mary with 5 minutes left.

8) boil terminated. Ice bath prepped and clothes pins attached to the lid. I let that sit in murky ice cold water and ice for about 25-30 minutes.

Total boil time: about 1 hour and 45 minutes

 

[WayFrae]

I have never used a Brewers Best kit but most of the kits I have used are a 60 minute boil and I assume this was as well. Your steeping method seems fine but the boil is a little off. Here is how it should have been if it was a 60 min boil:

1.) Once you get to a boil, kill the heat so you don't scorch the extract. Add your 20% of extract (it doesn't have to be 20% of each, just 20% of the total weight; for example, if you have 8 lbs of LME and 2 lbs DME, you can just add all the DME at first since it is 20% of the weight of extract.). Turn the heat back on. Add your first hop addition, in this case 1 oz cascade. This is considered the bittering hop addition.

2.)After 30 minutes have passed add the 2 oz of columbus.

3.) After 15 minutes have passed add the rest of the extract and wait 10 minutes.

4.) After 10 minutes have passed add 1.5 oz of cascade and your rosemary.

5.) After five minutes, kill the heat and begin cooling. If using an ice bath it is a good idea to stir the ice water and stir the wort (with a sanitized spoon) every few minutes to help it cool faster.

6.) Add the top up water and the wort to the fermentor and aerate. I like to aerate by pouring back and forth from the pot to the bucket a few times. It is much easier than shaking.

7.) Pitch yeast once the wort gets to about 70F degrees. Cooler is better. I like to chill mine to 62F.

8.) Add airlock and wait!

The total boil time should be 60 minutes. With your method you will still have beer but it might not be what you are expecting. Some IPAs use 90 minute and 120 minute boils so it isn't unheard of to boil for that long but most kits aren't for long boils like that. Hope this helps!

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

I think there's only one thing that's not clear, when you go to add the 20% extract, how long are you stirring for before you turn the heat back on for the hops?


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I once dated a girl who told me I will not drink beer in front of our children. I dumped her the next day.

 

[WayFrae]

I think there's only one thing that's not clear, when you go to add the 20% extract, how long are you stirring for before you turn the heat back on for the hops?


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_____________________________
I once dated a girl who told me I will not drink beer in front of our children. I dumped her the next day.

Just until it is all the way dissolved. You should be good to go after stirring for 30 seconds to a minute. If it is dry extract then be sure there are no clumps.

 

[MyCarHasAbs]

Oh! Yea I was def stirring for a good 10-15 minutes. Those BB directions so suck..


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_____________________________
I once dated a girl who told me I will not drink beer in front of our children. I dumped her the next day.

 

[Tombstone0]

From your description it sounds like you stirred a lot during the boil. You don't need to stir during the boil.

The way most recipes are written you'll see hops listed at different minute additions. So you'll see add hops at 60 minutes or 30 minutes and so on. What I recommend you do is you add the extract and bring it back to a boil then set a timer for the length of the boil, in most cases that's 60 minutes. Then you add the hops when the timer reaches those times. So you'll add the 60 minute hops immediately the 30 minute hops when the timer reaches 30 minutes and so on.