I brewed a favorite recipe today

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Woof, this has NOT held up very well. Starting to taste a kind of "ashy", as if I'd used way more than 5% black patent. 💩 And the chocolate is barely noticeable. It was really nice for a good 2 week window, tho -- any ideas?
I personally wouldn't ideally carbonate a beer like that to 2.8 volumes. That's about where I typically take my Belgian abbey ales. I would assume keeping the CO2 volumes at 2 or below would soften the beer and present it as a bit more "cask-like". Otherwise I could see it coming off as too sharp on the palate.

3 lbs Briess Golden Light DME at end of steep, and bring to boil
How much water did you steep the grains in initially? If it was your full pre-boil volume, that could also be a culprit. If that was the case, you might want to try adding your DME before the steep. That could create a better environment to mitigate the extraction of astringent qualities from those roasted grains. Plus you're probably not looking for a ton of fermentables from those specialty grains anyway, but the pH of wort as opposed to just water might create a better medium for smoother flavor extraction.
 
Nice looking beer! That's the color that I still prefer for my pale ales and IPA's over the modern straight pils malt stuff. If you were to brew a similar batch with some steeping grains do you think you'd still use the Amber DME or would you prefer to use one of Muntons' lighter DME's in that case? Do you have a favorite DME from them?

Thanks! I think have one more bottle of this in the back of the fridge.

The amber DME has specialty malts in it. If I wanted to use my own mix of specialties, I'd choose one of their lighter DMEs, presumably ~100% base malt.

The amber DME let's me streamline the extract brewday. When I want more control of the recipe I go all-grain.
 
I personally wouldn't ideally carbonate a beer like that to 2.8 volumes. That's about where I typically take my Belgian abbey ales. I would assume keeping the CO2 volumes at 2 or below would soften the beer and present it as a bit more "cask-like". Otherwise I could see it coming off as too sharp on the palate.
I take your point, but I think mostly, it was just a weird recipe! I've already made two more, tweaking some things, first one is really tasty, second one still bottle carbing. Kinda wish I could go back and just delete that post (#157), it doesn't belong in a "favorites" thread at all. But maybe it can still serve as a warning to any who follow along. :eek:

How much water did you steep the grains in initially? If it was your full pre-boil volume, that could also be a culprit. If that was the case, you might want to try adding your DME before the steep. That could create a better environment to mitigate the extraction of astringent qualities from those roasted grains. Plus you're probably not looking for a ton of fermentables from those specialty grains anyway, but the pH of wort as opposed to just water might create a better medium for smoother flavor extraction.
Yeah, full 3 gallon volume for the steep, no DME prior.
 
I take your point, but I think mostly, it was just a weird recipe! I've already made two more, tweaking some things, first one is really tasty, second one still bottle carbing. Kinda wish I could go back and just delete that post (#157), it doesn't belong in a "favorites" thread at all. But maybe it can still serve as a warning to any who follow along. :eek:


Yeah, full 3 gallon volume for the steep, no DME prior.
The recipe doesn't look weird to me at all. If I had to guess I'd say the issue was likely steeping in 3 gallons of plain water. I'd give the recipe another shot if I were you, and try mixing the DME into your water first. (Should dissolve just fine at room temp.) From there you can either start the steep cold and let it hang out while you bring the wort up to 155F, or you can bring it to temp first and then start your steep.

You could play around with cold steeping as well. Some prefer the character it provides. The day before you brew, take your roasted malts (and even the crystal malts too if you want I suppose) and put them in a jar or bowl with a lid, and cover them with a quart or two of water. 2:1 quarts per pound is a good ratio to aim for. Just let that sit at room temp until the next day. Then just decant the liquid off of the grains (a fine mesh sieve, your grain steeping bag, or cheese cloth all work) and add that liquid at the very end of your boil. Some people swear that the less heat you expose your dark grains to the better, but that's debatable IMHO.

Anyway, lots of fun to be had. Cheers!

Edit: One last thought I had... You also might not need that sugar addition either. I think a chocolate porter like that might actually benefit flavor-wise from a bit less fermentabilty. A bit more residual sweetness might compliment the chocolate and the roast. @BrewnWKopperKat often recommends brewer's crystals if you want to play around with something different. Otherwise maybe just use more DME or perhaps even some lactose instead of table sugar could be worth playing with.
 
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I originally started out cold-steeping all my dark roasts, but found that left me with not enough roastiness. Lately, I've been doing steeping grains in a bag, in 1 gallon of water pre-heated to 155F, remove from heat, and let sit for 30 minutes, and then skimming as many floating husk bits as I can before bringing to a boil with 1/3 of my DME and then hops. (pretty much like DBMoody describes his reduced volume boils).
 
@Hoochin'Hank : did you brew that recipe with RO/distilled water, your tap water, or a blend?
aside, the idea of steeping in wort, rather than just water, can also be found in How to Brew, 4e. The reasoning presented in the book is that steeping in wort helps with wort pH, moderates temperature swings, and reduces the risk of tannin extraction from grain husks.​
 
did you brew that recipe with RO/distilled water, your tap water, or a blend?
aside, the idea of steeping in wort, rather than just water, can also be found in How to Brew, 4e. The reasoning presented in the book is that steeping in wort helps with wort pH, moderates temperature swings, and reduces the risk of tannin extraction from grain husks.​
Half RO + half tap water (w/ tiny pinch of potassium metabisulfate). Tap water is quite basic (like 239 HCO3). But I think you guys are misunderstanding my complaint about the beer -- I'm not getting "harsh or acrid", I'm getting "ashy". My hunch is once most of the chocolate flavor started fading, it stopped covering up the black patent, and I don't like it as much as I thought I did.

The good news, is I drank MOST of the bottles while they were still very tasty. Got 4 left, I'll try them this summer, to see if RM-MN's advice is any good! :D
 
Half RO + half tap water (w/ tiny pinch of potassium metabisulfate). Tap water is quite basic (like 239 HCO3).
Thanks.

I'm not certain of the impact of the high (100+ HCO3) and 10%-ish black malt.

I've done couple of 'side experiment' steeps with a pH meter and Brewers Friend - the models matched reality pretty close. When I modeled steeping black malt with water that has a high CaC03 (yes, I found a conversion from HC03), I didn't like what I saw. Maybe it's nothing more than me misusing a tool.
 
I've done couple of 'side experiment' steeps with a pH meter and Brewers Friend - the models matched reality pretty close. When I modeled steeping black malt with water that has a high CaC03 (yes, I found a conversion from HC03), I didn't like what I saw. Maybe it's nothing more than me misusing a tool.
Since I'm too lazy to mix all my water into a bucket, I usually use it like so:
Pour first 1 gal RO jug into steeping pot @ 155, remove from heat, wait 30 mins
Pour second 1 gal RO jug into spaghetti pot, to dissolve the bulk of the DME unattended
Fill those two jugs with water from the tap, add pinch of metabisulfite, and then use them (and the last gallon from tap barely gets used)...
 
what is this wait for?
I did word that a little oddly! I bring the "first" 1 gallon jug of RO water up to 155F, add the ground-up steeping grains, cover with lid, remove from heat, set a timer for 30 minutes, and tend to other things, like putting 2/3 of my DME into a separate pot, re-filling the store-bought RO water jugs with tap water, treating them for chloramine, weighing hops, sanitizing the fermenter and siphon and so forth.
 
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I did word that a little oddly! I bring the "first" 1 gallon jug of RO water up to 155F, add the ground-up steeping grains, cover with lid, remove from heat, set a timer for 30 minutes, and tend to other things, like putting 2/3 of my DME into a separate pot, re-filling the store-bought RO water jugs with tap water, treating them for chloramine, weighing hops, sanitizing the fermenter and siphon and so forth.
Okay, I get it. I do the same thing when I'm steeping grains. The recipes I post say steep for 30 min at 150-160, but what I really do is get the water to 160, then add the grains and turn off the heat.I can add heat if it starts to fall under 150
 
Steeping your grains can be done from less than 120 to near boil. The temperature for steeping isn't critical at all. The main reason to steep at 150 to 160 is to practice for when you intend to do all grain and then the temperature is critical as the enzymes for making the sugars only work in that range.
 
If steeping is practicing for mashing, then flying a RC plane is practicing for being an airline pilot.

In a BIAB mash, the weight of the grains, in combination with a properly insulated kettle, will stabilize the mash temperature. No amount of adjusting the water temperature during previous steeps will change that fact.

As for the results of steeping at various temperatures, that was well covered by a Zymurgy magazine article back in ~ 2002. Different temperatures / techniques will yield different results.

Is the beer ruined if the temperature graph of the steep looks like a cosine graph vs a line at 153.234*? Of course not.
 
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They did not taste alike. Breiss lacked taste. It wasn't bad, just too bland. Muntons had enough character to be a nice session bitter. My conclusion, as @DBhomebrew found in his comparison in post #122, is that Muntons is worth it.
This is from your post #146. I understand the water Briess uses in their mash for making extract is somewhat high in sodium. Do you use distilled/RO water or tap water for your extract batches? I ask because if your water has much sodium at all, it would make the problem worse. Using distilled or RO water might improve beer brewed with Briess extract.

Edit: I see that DBhomebrew made a post (#122) similar to D.B.Moody's post that I referenced. I have the same question for you - distilled/RO or tap water?
 
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Do you use distilled/RO water or tap water for your extract batches?
I use tap water, but I run it through an old NSA water filter to remove chlorine. It removes other stuff as well, so my fairly neutral tap water becomes even more so.

Also, please note that I only brew ales. I favor British style bitters and pale ales. I do use Briess for two of my recipes: Summer Ale that features Centennial and Cascades hops and my American Brown ale that tries to emulate Civil Life Brown,
 
Woof, this has NOT held up very well. Starting to taste a kind of "ashy", as if I'd used way more than 5% black patent. 💩 And the chocolate is barely noticeable. It was really nice for a good 2 week window, tho -- any ideas?
Just drinking the last bottle from this batch... It is slightly less ashy, but definitely not going to brew this one again.
 
I brewed a favorite recipe today. I again brewed my brown ale that is intended to be like Civil Life American Brown Ale, a wonderful local (St. Louis) brew.

5 1/2 gal. water
6 lbs. Briess Pale Ale DME
1/2 lb. Thomas Fawcett brown malt
1/4 lb. Weyemann Carafa II Special chocolate malt
11/2 oz. Cascade alpha 6.2 (BOIL) 10.2 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz. Cascade (FLAVOR)
1/2 oz. Cascade (AROMA)
1 US05 ale yeast

Dissolve 3 lbs. DME in 1/2 gal. water fo4 late addition
Dissolve 3 lbs. DME in 1 gal. water for boil, begin heating
Steep grains in 1/2 gal. water for 30 min. at 150-160
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min boil
10 min. flavor hops
0 min. add late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal. pitch at 70

HBUs adjusted: -10% for the 30 minute boil and +20% for the late addition

This brew will celebrate a home leave.
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I brewed a favorite recipe today. I again brewed my brown ale that is intended to be like Civil Life American Brown Ale, a wonderful local (St. Louis) brew.

5 1/2 gal. water
6 lbs. Briess Pale Ale DME
1/2 lb. Thomas Fawcett brown malt
1/4 lb. Weyemann Carafa II Special chocolate malt
11/2 oz. Cascade alpha 6.2 (BOIL) 10.2 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz. Cascade (FLAVOR)
1/2 oz. Cascade (AROMA)
1 US05 ale yeast

Dissolve 3 lbs. DME in 1/2 gal. water fo4 late addition
Dissolve 3 lbs. DME in 1 gal. water for boil, begin heating
Steep grains in 1/2 gal. water for 30 min. at 150-160
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min boil
10 min. flavor hops
0 min. add late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal. pitch at 70

HBUs adjusted: -10% for the 30 minute boil and +20% for the late addition

This brew will celebrate a home leave.
View attachment 819631

@D.B.Moody you shared this recipe with me a while back. Civil Life Brown is one of my favorite beers. I brewed it and should be kegging this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out! Cheers!
 
Civil Life Brown is one of my favorite beers. I brewed it and should be kegging this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out! Cheers!
I wouldn't mind seeing those HBU thingies adjusted to regular "X oz cascade (6.2% aa) @30 for Y ibus", if you went to the trouble of figuring them out! Oh, and any gravity readings you happened to record!
 
I brewed a favorite recipe today. Today we, a visiting grandson and I, brewed "Summer Ale," which will be ready for drinking while that grandson's father is visiting this summer.

5 1/2 gal. water
3 lbs, Briess amber DME, 1 1/2 lbs, Briess Pale Ale DME, 1/2 lb. corn sugar (This is usually 5 lbs. amber DME)
2 tsp. gypsum
1 oz. Centennial, alpha 10.7 (BOIL) 11.8 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz. Cascade (AROMA)
1 US05 ale yeast

Dissolve 2 1/2 lbs DME on 1/2 gal. water for late addition
Dissolve 2 lbs. DME, 1/2 lb. corn sugar, and 2 tsp. gypsum in 1 1/2 gal. for boil
30 min boil
0 min. add late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal.and pitch at 70F.

HBUs adjusted down 10% for the 30 min. boil and up 20% for the late addition of extract.
BTW: the grandson is a 21-year-old college student..

summer ale.png
 
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"Light Color Extract IPA Challenge" - Centennial Single Hop
Revisiting a favorite recipe from 2021 using Muntons DME and Centennial hops
  • 35 min boil; rapid chill (3 min) from flame-out to 170F.
  • 2.5 gal (end of boil); split fermentation (Nottingham and Apex San Diego Ale)
  • ABV 6.3% (est); OG 62; FG 13 (est); IBU: 50-ish; SRM: 3? 4? 5?
Ingredients
  • 3 lb Muntons Extra Light DME; 8 oz sugar
  • 1.0 g CaS04; 0.1 CaCl; 0.2 g NaCl
  • Centennial (10.7 AA): 1 oz @ 30; 1/2 oz at 0
  • yeast (split batch): Lallemand Nottingham & Apex San Diego Ale
Process
  • heat 2.75 gal water to 140F, add flavor salts; sugar; DME
  • 35 min boil with hop additions @ 30 and @ 0
Comments
  • side experiment/observation: when adding ingredients, basically poured (little stirring) 3 lb Muntons DME into 2.75 gal water @ 140F with heat off; got some clumps which pretty much dissolved on their own (minimum stirring) over the next 5 to 10 minutes (heat was off).
  • side experiment/observation: the usual 'watch for flakes / 'hot break' when heading DME/LME from 140F to boil. Confirmed (again) that with with Muntons DME, I don't see those "flakes"; with Briess DME, Briess LME, and Williams LME I will see "flakes. Either way doesn't seem to impact the quality of the beer - so it's probably nothing more than "just an observation".
 
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I brewed a like-my-favorites recipe today. Back in March @shoreman posted about brewing a "Landlord inspired" ale on the "English Ales - What's your favorite recipe" thread. It used Fuggle, East Kent Goldings, and Stryian Goldings hops. I have favorite recipes that pair Fuggle and East Kent Goldings; East Kent Goldings and Stryian Goldings; and Stryian Goldings and Fuggle; but I do not have the three together. So I brewed this "Three Hopper":

5 1/2 gal. water
5 lbs. Muntons Amber DME
1/2 lb. Thomas Fawcett 45L crystal malt
2 tsp. gypsum
1 oz. Fuggle alpha 4.7 & 1/2 oz. alpha 5.6 (BOIL) 8.25 HBU adjusted
3/4 oz. East Kent Goldings (AREOMA)
1 oz. Stryian Goldings (AROMA)
1 Muntons ale yeast

Dissolve 2 1/2 lbs. DME in 1/2 gal. water for late addition
Dissolve 2 1/2 lbs DME and 2 tsp. gypsum in 1 gal. water fro boil, begin heating
Steep grain in 1/2 gal. water at 150-160 for 30 minutes
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min. boil
10 min. flavor hops
0 min. add late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before transferring to fermenter
Top to 5 gal. and pitch at 70F.

HBUs are adjusted down 10% for the 30 min. boil and up 20% for the late addition of half the extract.

304 three hopper.png


This batch was designed to be like the favorites that pair these hops. Landlord does not use crystal malts, but it does use sugar. Next year when I brew this again (and I'm pretty sure I will) I'll use some invert sugar and no crystal.

7/8/23 Transferred to secondary
7/15/23 Bottling put off, still cloudy & foam on top
7/22/23 Bottled with 3/4 cup corn sugar
 
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5 lbs. Muntons Amber DME
1/2 lb. Thomas Fawcett 45L crystal malt
I had some email correspondence with Muntons. Their reply included "we do not design a grist to give the complexity of flavour you ordinarily get from a using a host of different malts. For this purpose I would direct you towards our liquid range" So I'm wondering if you also find a lack of complexity of flavor, and that's why you also add the 1/2 lb of crystal malt.
 
a host of different malts.

This is key.

I've made a few simple bitters with just Munton's amber DME and some homemade invert or even just raw turbinado. I find it to be a delicious easy drinking beer with mildly pleasant flavor. Similar to my typical all-grain ordinary bitters which these days are merely UK base grain plus invert.

No, Munton's amber DME by itself won't make an American amber ale nor a BJCP competition winning ESB.
 
I had some email correspondence with Muntons. Their reply included "we do not design a grist to give the complexity of flavour you ordinarily get from a using a host of different malts. For this purpose I would direct you towards our liquid range" So I'm wondering if you also find a lack of complexity of flavor, and that's why you also add the 1/2 lb of crystal malt.
In this case the grain was to make this recipe like the three favorite recipes that pair those three hops. They use amber or light DME, 1, 3/4, or 1/2 lb crystal malt, and two specify gypsum. IMO Muntons can make a nice British bitter or pale without grain(s). @DBhomebrew has mentioned that Muntons Amber is fairly close to Golden Promise. Since Landlord is made with 100% Golden Promise, I had to use it here and will again when I brew this with invert next year.

I have no experience with the various liquid malts from Muntons.
 
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We, a visiting son and I, brewed a favorite recipe today. We brewed my porter recipe. I haven't brewed this recently, because Mt. Rainier hops went missing, and I'd been using them from 2011 to 2014. I decided to try it with Columbus hops.

4 1/2 lbs amber & 1 1/2 lbs dark Muntons DME
1/2 lb. turbinado cane sugar
1/4 lb. carabrown malt, 1/4 lb. chocolate malt, 1/4 lb. 45L crystal malt, 1/8 lb. black malt
1" licorice stick
1/2 oz. Columbus alpha 16.2 (BOIL) 8.9 HBU adjusted
3/4 oz. Columbus (FLAVOR)
3/4 oz. Columbus (AROMA)
1 S33 ale yeast

Dissolve 3 1/4 lbs DME in 1/2 gal. for late addition
Dissolve 2 3/4 lbs DME and 1/2 lb.cane sugar in 1 gal. of water for boil
Steep grains in 1/2 gal. of water for 30 min. at 150-160 F
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min. boil
15 min. add licorice
10 min. add flavor hops
0 min. add late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal, pitch at 70 F

p2.png


8/22/23 Transferred to secondary
9/5/23 Bottled with 3/4 cup corn sugar
 
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I brewed a favorite recipe today. I brewed Toad Hall Stout that is based on Charlie Papazan's Toad Spit Stout.

5 gal. water (I have found that there's so little boil off, that I don't need to start with extra.)
6 lbs .Muntons dark DME
1/3 lb. roasted barley
1/3 lb. black malt
3/4 lb. 45L Thomas Fawcett crystal malt
2 Tbsp. gypsum
3 oz. East Kent Goldings, alpha 4.4 (BOIL) 14.4 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz. East Kent Goldings (FLAVOR)
1 S33 ale yeast

Dissolve 3 lbs. DME in 1/2 gal. water for late addition
Dissolve 3 lbs. DME and gypsum in 3/4 gal. water for boil, begin heating
Steep grains in 3/4 gal. water for 30 min. at 150-160F
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min. boil
10 min. flavor hops
0 min. late addition
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal., pitch at 70F

HBUs adjusted down 10% for 30 min. boil and up 20% for late addition.

306 TOAD.png


9/14/23 Transferred to secondary
9/24/23 Bottled with 3/4 cup corn sugar
 
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I brewed a (hopefully soon to be) favorite recipe today. American Brown ale. Tentatively named “Brown With the Sickness” or “Brown on the Upside”

4.2gal/16L batch size.
1.064 OG, SRM ~ 25

5gal distilled water.
6 Lbs Muntons Extra Light DME

Steeping Grains: 152*F for 30min.
0.5 Lb Bairds Carastan
0.5 Lb Simpsons Golden Naked Oats
0.5 Lb Briess Caramel Malt 120L
0.25 Lb Simpsons Coffee Malt
0.25 Lb Bairds Chocolate Malt

Boil/Hops: (60 minute boil)
0.5 tsp Gypsum
0.5 tsp Calcium Chloride
0.5 oz. Chinook @60min
1.0 oz. Northern Brewer @ flameout
1.0 oz. Centennial @ flameout
(Steeped flameout hops for 20min.)

Yeast: 11g Lalbrew Verdant IPA
Set to ferment at 66*F

This is a totally new recipe for me. Never used Verdant before but I’ve heard good things. I’ve been on a brown ale kick lately. I thought maybe the stone fruit esters of this strain might play well with a brown ale. We shall see!
 
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I brewed a (hopefully soon to be) favorite recipe today. American Brown ale. Tentatively named “Brown With the Sickness” or “Brown on the Upside”

Steeping Grains: 152*F for 30min.
How do you get to and hold exactly 152? Why did you pick 152?
 
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How do you get to and hold exactly 152? what did you pick 152?
I have been brewing all grain on a 6.5gal Anvil Foundry the past few years, but have been moving back to extract lately for time sake and simplicity. 152 was almost always my go-to mash rest temp, so now when I steep specialty grains for extract I just sort of stick to that out of habit. I just do 30 minutes assuming that’s more than enough time to get what I need out of them.
 
I have been brewing all grain on a 6.5gal Anvil Foundry the past few years, but have been moving back to extract lately for time sake and simplicity.
I was guessing it was something like that. So you're the Back To Basics thread guy; I should have checked before I asked my quetion.
 
I was guessing it was something like that. So you're the Back To Basics thread guy; I should have checked before I asked my quetion.
Haha yeah. Ive been all over the place lately when it comes to process modifications. I’ve been sort of bouncing back and forth between different ideas to make brewing simpler and more fun. I was thinking of sticking with all-grain but as of late have been really liking the idea of extract better overall. I realized that I could still use the foundry for extract brewing. I can utilize the mash basket and temp control for steeping grains. I also like that I can bring my water up to about 120*F before mixing in DME, which I find makes dissolving it easier while also not being hot enough to create much steam. It’s large enough that I can steep and boil with about 3gal. of water, and still have room to top up with 2gal. of cold water.

I’ve been experimenting with sanitizing a few large silicone ice trays called “Souper Cubes”, filling them with store bought distilled water the night before brewing, and tossing those in at the end for chilling. I was able to take my wort down from 170*F to 70*F in just a few minutes with about 1.5gal. worth of frozen distilled water.

Being able to eliminate the need for pumps and wort chillers has been exactly what I was looking for. Brew day is still enjoyable. I can knock out a batch in just a couple hours, and cleanup is so much less of a hassle.

Yesterday’s batch was a concentrated boil, but on the next one I’m going to leave 3 Lbs of DME for the end of the boil. Likely dissolved in a 1/2gal. water tossed in at flameout per your method.
 
I brewed a favorite recipe today. I brewed Castle Bitter which is based on Charlie Papazan's recipe by that name. This brew is for Thanksgiving, so I'm labeling it Pilgrim Pale.

5 gal. water
4 lbs. Muntons light and 1/2 lb. Muntons amber DME (this is usually all light DME)
1/2 lb. 40 L and 1/4 lb. 45L crystal malt (in the past this was usually all 40L, preferably Muntons, but I had trouble finding that and have switched to 45L Thomas Fawcett as my go to crystal malt)
1 0z. Fuggle alpha 5.6 and 1 oz. Stryian Goldings alpha 3.5 (BOIL) 10 HBU adjusted
1/2 oz. Stryian Goldings (FLAVOR)
1/2 oz. Stryian Goldings (AROMA)
1 Muntons ale yeast

Dissolve 2 1/4 lbs DME in 1/2 gal wate for late addition
Dissolve 2 1/4 lbs DME in 1 gal water for boil
Steep grains in 1/2 gal. water for 30 min. at 150-160F
Strain into boil kettle, bring to boil, add boil hops
30 min. boil
10 min. flavor hops
0 min late addition and aroma hops
Cool in sink bath before pouring into fermenter
Top to 5 gal., pitch at 70F

HBUs are adjusted down 10% for the 30 min. boil and up 20% for the late addition of half the extract

307 Pilgrim.png


10/15/23 Transferred to secondary
10/25/23 Bottled with 3/4 cup corn sugar
 
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I also like that I can bring my water up to about 120*F before mixing in DME, which I find makes dissolving it easier while also not being hot enough to create much steam. It’s large enough that I can steep and boil with about 3gal. of water, and still have room to top up with 2gal. of cold water.
Curiosity question(s): are you adding all the DME at around 120F? Then a 3 gal boil for a 5 gal batch?

In various published resources, when brewing with malt extract, there is a recommendation to avoid boiling concentrated worts due to the unanticipated flavors that can be produced in the concentrated boil.

I have brewed a small number of normal strength amber ale batches (DME and BIAB) with concentrated boil (OG 75-ish wort reduced to OG 45-ish) and didn't notice any adverse effects.

If you beer is coming out fine with concentrated boils, could it be stale (or stale-ish) product that was the primary cause of those unanticipated flavors?
 
Curiosity question(s): are you adding all the DME at around 120F? Then a 3 gal boil for a 5 gal batch?
Yeah. I added all of the DME at 120F to 3 gallons of water. I then brought that up to 152F, added my crushed steeping grains, and steeped them for 30 minutes. I like to steep my grains with the DME already mixed in. I’ve never found any sort of issue with it, and I find it easier than steeping separately. My pre-boil gravity measured just over 1.090. I didn’t measure again until after I diluted with top up water. I figured with a Brown ale a concentrated boil should be fine. Sure, hop utilization is lower, but on the homebrew scale, much like with mash efficiency, the cost of just adding a pinch more of something to make up the difference is minimal. I intentionally didn’t add any additional sugars just to see what sort of attenuation I get as is. If it finishing a little high, again with a brown ale, I don’t mind too much. But if need be down the road I’ll mess with adding simple sugars to crisper styles.
 
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