Hey All, 1st Post, 1st Beer, Ideas?

[ebaker]

Hey all. Just joined the forum, seeking some advice.

Would like to start some beer this week. I have some experience with wine, cider and equipment already. As for the equipment I don't have (kettle, chiller, mash tun, BIAB bag, no chill cube etc.) this is where I'm at a bit of a loss as to where to start..

Eyeing up the 15 Minute Cascade APA. It's a DME recipe, seems like minimal equipment would be needed, and people are happy about the results. Definitely a style I enjoy.

Is this something I can get away with doing a partial boil in a 16qt stock pot? I've read in a few places that DME doesn't need to be boiled at all. I've also heard it suggested that DME can go in cold, as even skipping pasteurization presents very low infection risk for an unopened bag. Another tip I've seen is bittering hop tea in a pressure cooker. Stuff like that. Or are these just bad ideas that will make me wish I bought a kettle?

Also, thoughts on DME and how far will it go towards getting good results vs AG?

I like really good beer, and not afraid to try AG early on. But I do need to be reasonable about investment in equipment.

Thanks!

 

[MaryB]

Hop utilization changes with how much sugar it is boiled with... so a partial boil while acceptable can change the beers hop flavor. I would follow a recipe exactly the first time out to get a feel for how it all works. There are 1 gallon kits on the market to learn from too... I know I can bring a full 5 gallon batch to a boil on my stove so that is what I use for extract brewing(rarely used these days, I brew all grain). I tested using 2 1/2 gallons of water and topping up with the same recipe on the same day. Both fermented the same amount of time, both carbonated the same amount of time and there is a noticeable difference in how bitter the partial boil was to the full boil. Less bitter and less flavor from the later hop addition.

 

[neverfadeaway86]

I am a Partial mash brewer and I have a 28 qt(7 gallon) pot that I use. I start by putting 3 gallons of water in and bring it up to my Initial mash temp add my grains in a Muslin bag and hold at whatever temp for whatever time needed, then once I am done Mashing i put the grain bags in a strainer and pour the remaining 3 gallons of water over the grains to sparge the excess sugars.Then I will bring to a full boil this is when I add my 60 min hops(bittering hops) and then will add additional hops at time increments required for recipe. I use LME or DME and general will add it with about 30 minutes left in the boil and stir frequently to make sure the bottom of the pot does not caramelize the sugars.I also put my wort chiller in the boil for the last 10-15 minutes to sanitize it, I add any flavors/spices with 5-10 minutes left. I then hook up the wort chiller to get under 100 degrees as quickly as possible, usually down to the 60's in 10-20 minutes. Once the wort is at the temp needed to pitch the yeast in it goes close the lid put the airlock on and your making beer !!!!

 

[ebaker]

Thanks for the replies.

Mary, I agree following the recipe exactly would be best, good advice. Interesting observations on the differences in flavor. I wish a 6 gallon would be possible on the stove here, but it's a glass-top, not sure it would take it. Smaller batch is sounding like a good idea in that case.

neverfadeaway, I'm liking the sound of your method. Bag mash and strainer sparge. Good point about the caramelization, perhaps this is why some complain about extract sweetness? They've lowered the attenuation by caramelizing.. Still would need to get the kettle, burner and chiller to do full boils, but it seems like things are leading there anyways.

 

[ebaker]

Success! Went with 1oz each Citra and Cascade in the dry hop. Great stuff.
Now about that hop debris..

 

[seatazzz]

If you want to avoid the hop debris (are you using whole leaf or pellet?), hop bags are the way to go. They are usually .50-.75 each at most LHBS. Shot glasses can be put in the bag first to weigh them down and get more of the hops into the beer, although I've had good luck just letting them float (as long as I used a sanitized spoon to thoroughly wet them first). The gauze hop bags work best with whole leaf; if you're using pellets, consider getting bags made from tulle (if you're handy and have a sewing machine, or know someone who does, they're dead easy to make yourself in whatever size you desire), make sure it's the finer stuff so not as much hop gunk gets through. Also need to sanitize them first, soaking them in your sanitizer bucket (if you don't have one, you should get one!) works well. You'll still have a bit of hop debris but not nearly as much.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I just recently used the muslin bags that seatazzz referred to in the above post. Worked great! I used sanitized stainless steel freezer cubes to sink the bags to the bottom of the fermenter. This worked really well for me. Another option is if you have the ability to cold crash. If you have a fridge or freezer or something you can put it in for 24 hours, this will cause everything to kind of fall to the bottom.

 

[ebaker]

Thanks for the tips!

I'm using pellets. Will definitely try the hop bags.

Went on a bit of a bender and brewed three batches over the last few days. All of them are APA/IPA style, experimenting with different hops. Planning to do some dry hopping for each of them.

No fridge (yet) but I'm looking forward to try the cold crashing outside once the temperature starts to drop this fall.