DME & Hops Brew - Beginner needs help!

[CharlieMopsBarleyHops]

Hi Everyone,

I'm quite a newbie to brewing but ever since I've successfully brewed two kits I've become more and more interested!

I do hope to eventually move onto AG brewing but for the time being I've decided to move away from kits and try to experiment with small batches using DME and hops only.

I hope to brew a 2gallon batch. The first "experiment" I want to do is very simple and I know what ingredients I want etc Im just unsure of the process (boil times, litres of water to start with)

Ingredients:

500g Dark DME
500g Light DME
28g Fuggles Hop Pellets
Safale US04 English Ale Yeast

I think these "measurements" will be fine for the size batch I want to produce now I just need an expert to tell me about the process.

How much water do I need to put in my pot to start off with? Do I need to boil? When do I add the hops to the wort?

If anyone has any comments about the weights used etc please let me know its all appreciated!

I want to get a few experiments like this done and then one day add some steeping grains. When im doing good stuff I want to do all grain!

Thanks so much for reading!

CharlieMopsBarleyHops

 

[flars]

I put your basic numbers in the free version of Brewtoad.
If you were to call it an American pale ale.
OG 1.047
2.2 gallon boil; add top off water as needed.
60 minute boil
11 SRM
32 IBU 0.6 gram for 60 minute 0.4 gram for 10 minutes
FG 1.014
ABV 4.3%
Could use more hops.

Whoops! Not an expert.

 

[CharlieMopsBarleyHops]

I put your basic numbers in the free version of Brewtoad.
If you were to call it an American pale ale.
OG 1.047
2.2 gallon boil; add top off water as needed.
60 minute boil
11 SRM
32 IBU 0.6 gram for 60 minute 0.4 gram for 10 minutes
FG 1.014
ABV 4.3%
Could use more hops.

Whoops! Not an expert.

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply!
Could you explain what you mean by 11SRM?

I appreciate your help.

CharlieMopsBarleyHops

 

[Ski12568]

You only have to boil for the hops when using DME. So you can boil your hops for 60 minutes for more bitterness OR boil your hops for only 15 minutes for more flavor and aroma and less bitterness.

Found this photo on the forums, might help with deciding on how long you need to boil

 

[Ski12568]

SRM is referring to the color of your beer.

http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/04/29/beer-color-understanding-srm-lovibond-and-ebc/

 

[CharlieMopsBarleyHops]

Thanks Ski!

You mentioned that I only need to boil the hops with DME. So I can add DME in warm water and then only bring to a boil when I want to add hops?
From what you said I was thinking to add half the hops for about 30mins and then towards the last 15mins of the boil put in the rest of the hops. So I'd have hops boiling for longer to add some bitterness and hops boiling for 15mins for a little extra flavour/aroma..

A mate of mine suggested boiling the hops separately and then just mixing with the Water and DME... Any feedback on that?

Thanks again! Sorry for all the questions...

CharlieMopsBarleyHops

 

[Yellowirenut]

this graph would be a great help when friends say "I don't like hops..I smell hops...did you put hops in this beer?" my reply would be "I do not like extreme bitterness but I did add them - see lookie at this chart"

 

[Ski12568]

Thanks Ski!

You mentioned that I only need to boil the hops with DME. So I can add DME in warm water and then only bring to a boil when I want to add hops?
From what you said I was thinking to add half the hops for about 30mins and then towards the last 15mins of the boil put in the rest of the hops. So I'd have hops boiling for longer to add some bitterness and hops boiling for 15mins for a little extra flavour/aroma..

A mate of mine suggested boiling the hops separately and then just mixing with the Water and DME... Any feedback on that?

Thanks again! Sorry for all the questions...

CharlieMopsBarleyHops

Either way should work. Since this is an extract brew, the boil really only needs to happen to extract what you need from the hops whether its bitterness or aroma/flavor. Dont apologize, I am learning too so answering and researching is helping me out as well.

Here is a post I read today by an experienced brewer. Here he says he steeps his specialty grains and then boils to add his hops. He adds DME at flameout then top up water. Adding the DME to hot water will help it dissolve.

 

[Ski12568]

Yeah, right when I saw the chart I saved it to my desktop.

 

[unionrdr]

Well, with an ounce of hops, you could add half @ 60 minutes & half @ 15 minutes to get bittering & some flavor. #0 minute addition would give some bittering, but not as much as 60 minutes would. Especially with only one ounce of hops.

 

[morticaixavier]

I'll just add that you are a lot better off using all light DME and steeping some medium crystal malt for color and complexity. You'll end up with a crisper, drier, more drinkable beer.

 

[flars]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply!
Could you explain what you mean by 11SRM?

I appreciate your help.

CharlieMopsBarleyHops

Even though your question about SRM has been answered, i'll add this link to an SRM chart. The site also offers loads of information and brewing calculators.
http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/02/28/beer-styles-srm-color-chart/

 

[CharlieMopsBarleyHops]

Wow

A HUGE thanks to everyone who replied. This was my first time on this site and you all exceeded my expectations! I wasn't expecting this many answers...

From everyone's replies I've decided to go with light DME, steeping a little crystal and the hops...
Just need to sort out how much crystal, water etc...

I will be doing this in a week or two and once i'm done I'll make sure to let you all know how it went...

Once again, thank you all!

CharlieMopsBarleyHops