hi guys first time brewer making 5 gallons after steeping and using extract I steeped in two gallons and sparked in a gallon after I was done I was superprised instructions said top off to 5 gallon with water I only had two gallons and had to add 3 gallons of water should I be concerned ? My batch is currently fermenting did I perhaps boil off too much water?
Top off with water
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FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
Assuming I understand what you're saying, you should be fine. The beer is going to have slightly less flavor and ABV than if you have topped up with 2 rather than 3 gallons. Not by much though.
My guess is not that your boiled off too much, but rather didn't start with enough as well as some absorption by your steeping grains.
Next time. Start with more water or top off with less.
My guess is not that your boiled off too much, but rather didn't start with enough as well as some absorption by your steeping grains.
Next time. Start with more water or top off with less.
I apologize for my terrible grammar and spelling nursing school and brewing beer my head is about to explode thanks though
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
No worries. I just want to make sure I answer your question appropriately.
"superprised" is my new word BTW.
"superprised" is my new word BTW.
So how do you prevent absorption by the grains ? Maybe leave them on longer ?
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
No, sir. Absorption is an inevitable part of the process. It's simply the water that gets soaked into the steeping grains. You can try to get some of the water back by squeezing the bag, but not recommended if you steeped in water over 170°. In any case, some water will be lost to this.
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What recipe fid you follow?
Link?
The extract you used is concentrated and the recipe designed for 5 gallons total. If you topped up to get to the 5 gallons, no matter how much water it took, your beer will be fine. If you added the extract and water, then boiled off more water than expected, you simply concentrated the extract again.
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
This is simply not true. The amount of water used in the boil of an extract has a great influence over hop bitterness and color. Using too little water will darken the beer as well as reduce the hop bitterness. You should always boil as much water as you can when doing an extract. If extract brewers are limited to their kettle size a late extract addition would prevent the boiling wort from being too 'thick'.
Read the original post again very carefully. He followed the recipe, started with 2 gallons for steeping, added another gallon before the boil, then boiled off that gallon during his boil. He now needs to replace the gallon he boiled off plus the 2 gallons of top off water called for in the kit instructions.
Yes, it would have been better if he had only used part of the extract at the beginning of the boil and did a late addition but it's a bit late for that now. His beer will be darker than it could have been.
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
Read your post again very carefully. You're giving a new brewer the impression that as long as you top up to make five gallons "no matter how much water it took" it will be fine.
Ingredients are proportioned to target a certain color, gravity, IBUs, etc. at a target final volume. If you're volume is short of that target then each of those will be concentrated. Topping off with water to the target volume will dilute to achieve your other targets as well. This is common practice in productions settings except they usually do so pre-boil. If they're gravity is off post-boil they'll add more water. It's not complicated and it definitely doesn't mean the beer will have "less" flavor.
Thank you for all the great responses I APPRECIATE IT. Question what do you mean by late addition also what do you reccomend in the future for extract to water ratio when boiling
whiskeyjack
Well-Known Member
Concerned ? No. With extract you can do partial boils and then top off to your final volume. Generally said that the closer you can get to full volume the better, but in your case you did fine
TwistedGray
El Jefe Brewing Company
Late addition means to add the extract well into the boil rather than at the beginning; however, I think some people are still waiting on the link to the extract kit you used.
Water to extract: As noted you would ideally brew with enough water to end with 5 gallons of beer rather than topping off; however, having brewed several dozen extract beers myself I have never been that lucky.
...now where is that recipe/instruction link?
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/left-hand-milk-stout-clone/
I did extract option
I did extract option
TwistedGray
El Jefe Brewing Company
Were you able to follow this step @RNBEERGUY "top up kettle to 5.5 gallons, then proceed with boil."
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
A late addition is reserving most of your extract (75%) until the last 10-15 minutes of the boil. This will do two things - it will prevent your boiling wort's gravity from being too high. Too high means your hops won't be utilized correctly. You can also add more hops to the boil to overcome this, but a late addition is waaay easier and cheaper. It will also prevent your beer from being too dark. In your most recent for instance this is moot...it's a porter. In any case, just make sure you remove the pot from the heat before adding the extract and make sure it's dissolved before returning it to the heat to prevent scorching/caramelizing. Don't worry if you don't reach full boil again before time is up, it is hot enough to sanitize.
If doing the late extract addition you can boil in as little as 1.5 - 2 gallons. More water is better, but that's my personal guideline.
LH milk stout is a fav of mine. Let us know how it turns out, man!
Thanks I appreciate I’m sorry but one more stupid question why do you want to remove from heat when adding malt extract because I did not it the extract dissolved quite well
TwistedGray
El Jefe Brewing Company
To avoid burning the extract. You don't want that!!
Awesome other stupid question why does late extract addition reduce gravity? Sugar is sugar right? I don’t see how it interferes with hops either
TwistedGray
El Jefe Brewing Company
That one is above my pay grade, but check out Palmer's book...Probably in there somewhere
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
It's going to reduce your pre-boil gravity (or fermentable sugar to water ratio). If I had 8 1/2 pounds of liquid extract in only 2 gallons of water, that's a gravity of around 1.16. On the other hand, if I were to only add 3 lbs. of my extract in the beginning of the boil my gravity would be somewhere around the 1.050 neighborhood (1.040 - 1.080 being ideal). The lower gravity would allow a better hop utilization than the higher one.
I haven't fully grasped the concept of hop utilization either, but from what I do understand, there's something about the high sugars and higher concentration of break material in high gravity wort that reduce the amount of alpha acids that are extracted from the hops.
Because the rest of the sugars are being added later, it does not affect the OG and in turn, ABV.
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
^^ This. The heavier extract will sink to the bottom and scorch on the bottom of your pot (have you noticed that black/brown stuff on the bottom when you were done?). If you can pin point the flavor, to me it tastes kinda like over-done peanut brittle. Simply removing the pot from the heat during the addition will alleviate this.
Hey man you asked how my beer turned out it was great
however since it’s my first batch I feel like it’s a kid I think it’s beautiful even though it could be ugly as ****
FloppyKnockers
Well-Known Member
Hey man you asked how my beer turned out it was great
That's awesome, man! I felt the same way about my first batch too. Keep at it, the rewards are great!
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