I think I over did it?

[HopHeadGrady]

Ok, I was testing a new recipe and I think I may have over done it. I am
hoping the more experienced crowd could settle my nerves and tell me it's going to be ok.

I created a mash extract recipe using Muntons Premium Gold Smugglers Ale.

For 8L of water:
6 LBS of Pale Malt
.5 LB of Vienna

Then added to 2 Cans of Extract (Muntons)
Topped up with 25L of water (decided to stretch the 23 to 25 given my added wort).

After doing my protein rest etc I removed the grains and then boiled for 60 min adding Kent Golding Leaf hops at 3 intervals. The wort was about 6.25L when I was done. I flamed out and added the 2 cans of extract to this boiling brew and then topped up in the fermenter with fresh water (sealed) that was on my deck with a fine crust of ice on it to bring the temp down to 21 in pretty much 5 min.


Final OG came in at 1053.


My question is, did I overdo it with adding too much wort/extract? My OG was pretty much bang on with the instructions. Does OG indicate if you have gone too far (strong) with a recipe?

 

[cheezydemon3]

.........There is no such thing.....and anyways, if there were such a thing, you are no where close.

 

[Brewnoob1]

1.053 being too much or overdoing it? Not in the least. Many brew WAY bigger beers than that.

OG just tells you how many fermentables you have. IMHO, only a person's taste buds can determine if you over did it. If you have a balanced beer and the yeast to support the fermentables, then alcohol % is just a number. It's balance of the brew. So you can only have 1 pint or so before S faced...whatever...if it's good, then no, you didn't over do it

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Awesome. Thanks guys. I just checked and there's a nice Kraeusen starting
I was just worried about putting in too much fruit filling. It certainly smells nice and malty.
I bottled two batches yesterday as well and plan on posting some pics and reviews once ready.

I used the Muntons Premiere Gold Yeast that came with the Smugglers Ale. They claim this is top grade stuff, but I have never used it.

 

[Brewnoob1]

How big was the pack of yeast? Only thing that would concern me is if there was enough yeast pitched. If it was an 11g pack, then that should be plenty for a 1.053. If it was only a 5g pack, then I believe that was way under pitching.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

It was the yeast that comes with the muntons kit. Whatever that was, I have heard good things about the yeast that comes with the premium gold kits. It was a smaller square gold packet.

The kit OG is stated as 1050-1055 from what I have read so there should be adequate yeast... I hope.

 

[unionrdr]

I've mostly used the cooper's 7g ale yeast gold packet with good results so far up to 1.052OG. But I re-hydrate it to get it more lively to start reproducing when pitched. I've gotten 1.050-1.052 OG's down to 1.010 FG with no problems. You may likely be fine,as my experiences indicate.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Thanks a lot for the input unionrdr, that is really good to know.

Would it make sense to rack to a secondary in a couple days and re pitch another pack?
I am right on the line with a 1053 OG

I just sprinkled it ontop of a well aerated, 21C wort. Temp is now 18C.
All my batches have been fine doing this, but I think I may jump start the yeast next time as it seems to be a best practice.

 

[unionrdr]

No,leave it in primary. Many of us don't secondary unless adding fruit,oaking,etc. It likely just needs more time to finish up. you could likely go as high as 1.060 with one packet of yeast. But when I know it's gunna be closer to 1.060+.I'll add at least one more packet. But 1.050 or so is fine with one packet. Just re-hydrate it next time to make it a bit more vigorous. That's what I do,& I've done a lot of cooper's in various recipes.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Fruit filling........fruit filling..........are you F'ing with us here?

 

[Brewnoob1]

Well, I just know that MrMalty suggests for a 1.053 in 5 gallons, that 10g worth of dry yeast be used. 7g seems a little low. But, if you receive good results with no off flavors, then more power to you!

 

[unionrdr]

That's why I re-hydrate the dry yeast packets,especially the small ones. Gets them going in a mater of a few hours. I've read that some on here think mrmalty errs on the heavy side if yeast volume. Over-pitching isn't good either. Not to stir a debate or anything. He asked,I told him my experience,that's all...

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Yeah for sure, Im just going to leave it go for 3 weeks or so in the primary. One thing I have learned so far about brewing is that no matter how precise and careful you are, there's always something that will leave you scratching your head wondering/worrying...

I think since its a premium gold kit they did the math when it comes to yeast. I was within their numbers. My only concern was that I over saturated the brew with stuff and as a result will make a strange tasting beer. Kinda like if you use too much Kool Aid mix in a pitcher... lol

From what you guys are telling me, if I was wayyy over on my brew, I would not be at 1053.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,once in a while,life throws you a wild pitch. Give patience a chance...

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Yeah, this was my first attempt at using leaf hops too. Im curious to see what it will end up tasting like, but something tells me it wont be for many many weeks. I think this one will take time to get good.

Another question: My Lager seems to have slowed down fermenting, and there was next to no bubbles. So I popped the lid off the pail to take a wine thief sample as it was too large to fit through the air lock hole.

Well that seems to have re ignited a bit of fermentation as it's been bubbling slightly more for the past couple days now.... Is this bad?

 

[cravej]

Another question: My Lager seems to have slowed down fermenting, and there was next to no bubbles. So I popped the lid off the pail to take a wine thief sample as it was too large to fit through the air lock hole.

Well that seems to have re ignited a bit of fermentation as it's been bubbling slightly more for the past couple days now.... Is this bad?

Airlock activity is not a good gauge of fermentation. The SG reading of the sample will tell you if the fermentation is still active.

 

[unionrdr]

It's probably just off gassing co2 from being disturbed. No worries m8.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Ok, so it looks like both my other batches can be bottled then its at 1009 two days runnin.... I wish I had keg resources... The Lager is by far the best batch so far, with this latest smugglers ale being a 2nd. Its now fermenting like mad and smells very very tasty. Its lost that really sweet caramel smell.

I have a collection of various bottles, but I am looking at another 80 pints... that 120 pints in 3 days. :O

I will be dropping some sampler packs off to family members should the brew turn out good enough.
Now, to come up with two new batches for the soon to be empty fermenters.....

Union I may run with one of your recipes. I will let you know which one I choose.

 

[unionrdr]

Sure,I posted them so extract brewers can learn something about just what a cooper's can & some creativity can do!

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Sure,I posted them so extract brewers can learn something about just what a cooper's can & some creativity can do!

Tell me about it. The recipe I put together using the Coopers Euro Lager is turning out to be perfect. The sample I just took was crystal clear with big ol bubbles in it, and decent head for where its at. I can tell by the taste of this I am going to love it. I used Hallertauer hop pellets and made a hop tea. Steeped some grain too. Im a believer....

 

[Hops4life]

Grady I have a question. Sorry to get off your OP but did I read the original post correctly that you added all the malt after the 60 min boil? Is that correct? Just curious I have always seen it done first and that's the way I learned so was hoping to maybe learn something from you as to why you did it at the end of the boil vs the beginning.

Oh and glad your brews came out well. Cheers!

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Grady I have a question. Sorry to get off your OP but did I read the original post correctly that you added all the malt after the 60 min boil? Is that correct? Just curious I have always seen it done first and that's the way I learned so was hoping to maybe learn something from you as to why you did it at the end of the boil vs the beginning.

Oh and glad your brews came out well. Cheers!

The Muntons Malt Extract is already boiled and it's pre hopped. I fear if I boil it more I will change the hop profiles and maybe introduce a bad taste. The instructions state to only add it to boiled water to help it regain a consistent form. So in that case, I added it to the pre boiled wort. Only instead of 3.5L of boiled water I added 6.5L of wort and upped my batch size 2L to 25L. The mixture gets a really nice even consistency. I think the recipe's you are talking about are referring to non hopped LME or DME? Not sure, someone with more experience can answer that.

This is just what works for me. I have never boiled a can of pre hopped extract for 60 min though so i cant tell you what tastes it would introduce. There's a few here that could though. I have only read that it's not needed thats all. Check out unionrdr's recipes here. I am going to pull one off I think.

Here is what I did:

1. Create mini batch of Wort. <-- I followed the Mash Extract method outlined on pg 224 of Papazians Joy of Homebrewing 3rd Ed.
2. Add Wort to Fermenter
3. Add Extract to fermenter and stir
4. Top up with ice cold water to 23L (I did 25L) and take a temp reading.
5. Take OG reading
6. Pitch yeast when ready
7. Run to beer fermenting room every 4 - 5 hrs until bottling day. :cross:

 

[cheezydemon3]

Poor guy!!!!

He just wants to know if he thinks he overdid it. And none of us caught it.

"I think I overdid it? (Why TF would I think that?)"

He is hoping that he doesn't think 1.052 is Overdoing it.....and I hope he's right!

 

[Hops4life]

Yes you are correct. I have never used a prehopped extract. I just use DME or LME depending on which I prefer for a certain recipe. I guess I was thinking that the muntons which you are referring was just the same as LME. All brews I have done are partial mashes usually with 2-4 lbs of grain steeped for 20 min. Then extract at the start of the 60 min boil with various hop additions during the 60 min. Usually more at the end as my name implies I tend to be a bit hop centric.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Poor guy!!!!

He just wants to know if he thinks he overdid it. And none of us caught it.

"I think I overdid it? (Why TF would I think that?)"

He is hoping that he doesn't think 1.052 is Overdoing it.....and I hope he's right!

yeah that pretty much sums it up. Did you ever put a couple extra packs of Kool Aid into the pitcher when you were young and have something thats so rich and sweet it was undrinkable? I was wondering if the same thing could happen with beer... Not a bad question from someone with less than 10 brews under his belt and only a couple BIAB sessions.

BTW Day 4 of fermentation and its still got a nice frothy kraeusen (sp) going on and it's smelling fantastic. This is going to be a very very tasty beer.

I have 1 batch bottled , 2 ready to go to bottle this weekend and 2 just started.
next up is a batch of Muntons Midas Touch Ale with some pale malt mash, Mount Hood and lil' Kent Goldings :

http://www.muntons.com/homebeer/countries/canada_usa/premium_midas.htm

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,the 1.052 OG was fine. Expect it to get down to FG 1.010-1.012. And the kool-aid analogy doesn't apply here,as the simple sugars are being fermented into co2 & alcohol. And the munton's & cooper's cans are typically brewed to 23L. More,& you're watering it down.
And never boil pre-hopped extract for any length of time. It breaks down the hop profile,among other things. And even thought it's pre-hopped,it's stil LME.
I use plain (un-hopped) DME in the boil for any hop additions. Then add remaining DME & all the lme at flame out. Cover & let steep for 10-15 mins,as pasteurization happens at 160-170F. No need to boil it to get the effect.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Yeah,the 1.052 OG was fine. Expect it to get down to FG 1.010-1.012. And the kool-aid analogy doesn't apply here,as the simple sugars are being fermented into co2 & alcohol. And the munton's & cooper's cans are typically brewed to 23L. More,& you're watering it down.
And never boil pre-hopped extract for any length of time. It breaks down the hop profile,among other things. And even thought it's pre-hopped,it's stil LME.
I use plain (un-hopped) DME in the boil for any hop additions. Then add remaining DME & all the lme at flame out. Cover & let steep for 10-15 mins,as pasteurization happens at 160-170F. No need to boil it to get the effect.

yeah with my Midas touch I am adding half the DME to the hop boil. Thanks for the tip. I am in the middle of brewing as a write this... Haha.

 

[unionrdr]

That'll be good for hop additions. Adding the other extracts at flame out & steeping for 10-15 minutes will give lighter color,cleaner flavor.And,for a few dollar s more;

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Epic movie...