Small batch question.

[banks741938]

I have a one gallon setup with plenty of one gallon carboys. I just received a mr beer lme refill and it states its for 2 gallons. I've never brewed one before. My question is what would be the best method to brew it up. I was thinking about option 1. Just brew it up per mr beer instructions and just put half gallon water in 2 carboys and split the wort in the two, then cap and ferment. Option two. Just roll with 2 gallon boil and add lme, cook, transfer to the two gallon carboys and ferment.

It just seems to me the mr beer kit instructions has a lot of unnecessary steps. Ex. 4 cups in pot to boil add lme then add 4 quarts to the little brew keg. Then tip off with water to the 8.5 quart mark.


Also if I go with option 2 would I be better to go with a 2 gallon or 3 gallon brew pot???

Thanks!!!

 

[kh54s10]

You don't say how long you are going to boil. If it is a pre hopped lme you really only need to pasteurize. So you could just bring 2 gallons just to a boil, cool, then pour 1/2 in each one gallon jug.

Set up a blow off tube on each.

 

[banks741938]

Yeah I meant just bring to a boil, add the pre hopped extract and mix really good and transfer to carboys and then pitch the yeast. I thought that would work fine since it's just a mr beer refill. I didn't think I needed to boil wort for an extended amount of time. I'm used to dme kits with hops etc... And boil for 45ish min.. Thanks!

 

[TheHappyHopper]

It just seems to me the mr beer kit instructions has a lot of unnecessary steps. Ex. 4 cups in pot to boil add lme then add 4 quarts to the little brew keg. Then tip off with water to the 8.5 quart mark.

There is actually a reason they give you those seemingly random amounts of water. They have you boil 4 cups of water and then add the LME because you are needing to sanitize the LME - if you tried to boil just straight LME, it would burn and be terrible. And then they have you add the 4 quarts of cold water to the keg because if you were to pour the boiling LME+water mix straight into the keg, you would melt the plastic.

I think if you are wanting to do the 1 gallon carboys (I assume they're glass?) - follow the Mr. Beer instructions for the most part - boil the 4 cups of water on the stove with the LME in your 3 gallon pot. After that has boiled, add 4 quarts of cold water to your boil pot to cool down the LME+water mixture, then split it between the two 1-gallon carboys and top off each of them with cold water until you hit 1 gallon. Add a blowoff tube as kh54s10 mentioned since you won't have much head space in those 1 gallon jugs.

 

[bernardsmith]

I don't pretend to be an expert in biochemistry but I suspect that the LME is already pasteurized through the production process itself and I imagine the cans are heat treated too... so I think the reason that Mr Beer recommends boiling the water is to help ensure that any water being used in the customer's brewing practice is a) bacteria free and b) will likely have evaporated off any municipally added chlorine (yer takes yer own chances with added chloramine).
Again, while I make no claim to any expertise in brewing, seems to me that boiling LME that already contains hop extract (Mr Beer products) is a little like wearing both a belt and suspenders... The HME has already been "boiled" once.. does it really ( I mean, REALLY) need to be boiled a second time?

 

[banks741938]

I was just gonna short boil it with the lme until mixed. Chill it to about 70 degrees and separate carboys and pitch half of yeast into each. Unless I'm missing something big I don't see why that wouldn't work. Thanks.

 

[TheHappyHopper]

I don't pretend to be an expert in biochemistry but I suspect that the LME is already pasteurized through the production process itself and I imagine the cans are heat treated too... so I think the reason that Mr Beer recommends boiling the water is to help ensure that any water being used in the customer's brewing practice is a) bacteria free and b) will likely have evaporated off any municipally added chlorine (yer takes yer own chances with added chloramine).
Again, while I make no claim to any expertise in brewing, seems to me that boiling LME that already contains hop extract (Mr Beer products) is a little like wearing both a belt and suspenders... The HME has already been "boiled" once.. does it really ( I mean, REALLY) need to be boiled a second time?

You are probably right about the LME cans being pasteurized, but regarding the water - Mr. Beer only has you boil a little bit of water with the LME and then you top of your fermenter the rest of the way with cold water straight from the tap, so it can't be to remove bacteria/chlorine/etc. Maybe they just have you do it because LME is really thick and mixing it with hot water helps make it more viscous - otherwise it would be impossible to stir it in with cold water.

I was just gonna short boil it with the lme until mixed. Chill it to about 70 degrees and separate carboys and pitch half of yeast into each. Unless I'm missing something big I don't see why that wouldn't work. Thanks.

That should work just fine.

 

[bernardsmith]

Possibly... but then why boil the water for any length of time and indeed, why boil rather than simply heat the water - or better yet simply place the unopened can in a bucket of hot water - That would increase the viscosity of the LME without any additional browning caused by maillard reaction

 

[kombat]

You don't say how long you are going to boil. If it is a pre hopped lme you really only need to pasteurize.

LME is already pasteurized. That's why the cans/tubs of it aren't exploding on the shelf of the LHBS. That said, you should still heat it to make it easier to mix with the brewing water. But you don't need to boil - or even pasteurize - it.

 

[kh54s10]

LME is already pasteurized. That's why the cans/tubs of it aren't exploding on the shelf of the LHBS. That said, you should still heat it to make it easier to mix with the brewing water. But you don't need to boil - or even pasteurize - it.

I would bring it to a boil to pasteurize. Not for the LME but for any contamination introduced elsewhere in the process.

 

[kombat]

I would bring it to a boil to pasteurize. Not for the LME but for any contamination introduced elsewhere in the process.

What process? The process of pouring it from the container into the kettle?

If you're brewing an extract kit, then you're boiling the water anyway (after steeping your grains) and adding your hops. By the time you're adding the LME, everything in the equation is sanitized. You're pouring it from a container that's been pasteurized into a kettle of wort that's been boiled. There's no need to bring it back to a boil to sanitize the LME. All you're doing is risking caramelizing the LME.

If you're brewing a pre-hopped extract kit, then all you need to do is mix it with water. It will dissolve better if the water is warm, but there's no need to boil it (indeed, boiling it will change the entire character of the beer, as the hop additions in the extract were done for a specific hop profile). If you're worried about contamination elsewhere in the "process," then go ahead and boil the water first, then let it cool a little and stir in the can of pre-hopped extract. Mix thoroughly, cool the rest of the way, and transfer to the fermenter.

 

[ericbw]

What process? The process of pouring it from the container into the kettle?



If you're brewing an extract kit, then you're boiling the water anyway (after steeping your grains) and adding your hops. By the time you're adding the LME, everything in the equation is sanitized. You're pouring it from a container that's been pasteurized into a kettle of wort that's been boiled. There's no need to bring it back to a boil to sanitize the LME. All you're doing is risking caramelizing the LME.



If you're brewing a pre-hopped extract kit, then all you need to do is mix it with water. It will dissolve better if the water is warm, but there's no need to boil it (indeed, boiling it will change the entire character of the beer, as the hop additions in the extract were done for a specific hop profile). If you're worried about contamination elsewhere in the "process," then go ahead and boil the water first, then let it cool a little and stir in the can of pre-hopped extract. Mix thoroughly, cool the rest of the way, and transfer to the fermenter.

Using your logic about the hops in the LME, the recipe was formulated for a specific hop profile. It requires that additional boil time to get it where it's supposed to be. My guess is that Mr Beer is formulated so that the change to the character of the beer is accounted for with that boil.

Not all extract kits - certainly not Mr Beer - have steeping grains. So sanitation is a concern that the short boil addresses.

 

[ericbw]

OP, I would follow option 1 so it is the most like the original process. Mr Beer is meant to be fool proof.

 

[kombat]

Using your logic about the hops in the LME, the recipe was formulated for a specific hop profile. It requires that additional boil time to get it where it's supposed to be.

Do the instructions with pre-hopped extract kits actually explicitly say to boil it? Or is that just "conventional wisdom" that's been passed down so long everyone just accepts it as dogma?

My guess is that Mr Beer is formulated so that the change to the character of the beer is accounted for with that boil.

I've never seen/used a Mr. Beer kit, I can't really speculate on how they've been designed.

Not all extract kits - certainly not Mr Beer - have steeping grains. So sanitation is a concern that the short boil addresses.

As I said, the pre-hopped LME itself is already "sanitary." The only potential source of contamination is the water, or the pot itself. So if you boil the water, you're sanitized both the water and the pot. You pour in the can of pre-hopped extract (which itself is also already sanitary), and there's no potential contamination that further boiling would solve.

 

[kh54s10]

What process? The process of pouring it from the container into the kettle?

If you're brewing an extract kit, then you're boiling the water anyway (after steeping your grains) and adding your hops. By the time you're adding the LME, everything in the equation is sanitized. You're pouring it from a container that's been pasteurized into a kettle of wort that's been boiled. There's no need to bring it back to a boil to sanitize the LME. All you're doing is risking caramelizing the LME.

If you're brewing a pre-hopped extract kit, then all you need to do is mix it with water. It will dissolve better if the water is warm, but there's no need to boil it (indeed, boiling it will change the entire character of the beer, as the hop additions in the extract were done for a specific hop profile). If you're worried about contamination elsewhere in the "process," then go ahead and boil the water first, then let it cool a little and stir in the can of pre-hopped extract. Mix thoroughly, cool the rest of the way, and transfer to the fermenter.

If you start with a pot and add the water and extract without some form of sanitation you are playing with fire. At least 170 degrees or a short boil will kill any bacteria or wild yeasts. I still say, bring it to a boil. Better yet, get a "real" kit and brew to tried and true methods.

 

[banks741938]

If you start with a pot and add the water and extract without some form of sanitation you are playing with fire. At least 170 degrees or a short boil will kill any bacteria or wild yeasts. I still say, bring it to a boil. Better yet, get a "real" kit and brew to tried and true methods.

Had you read the op you would have saw I do have a real kit just given a mr beer refill as a gift.

 

[ericbw]

Had you read the op you would have saw I do have a real kit just given a mr beer refill as a gift.

It is a real kit.