when to add extract

[Evan]

i'm getting ready to brew a Red Ale this weekend probably. Normally i Steep the grain, bring to a boil, remove from the burner, add my DME, back on burner, bring to boil, add hops and so on till its done. but sometimes i've read people adding the DME later in the boil....why? and if its a good idea (thinking about trying it this time around), about what time would you add it in a 1 hour boil?

sometimes i feel like i have a million questions when it comes to this! there was a link i saw one time but can't find now that had a step by step guide and covered extract and AG...some like how to brew link. i'll add it to the old favorites if anyone would have handy with the link

 

[c.n.budz]

I've done late additions with LME to keep it from scorching and I know that people do it w/ DME. With either it will affect your hops utilization and you'll need to adjust the timing on your hop additions

 

[weetodd]

http://www.howtobrew.com/ is the link you may be looking for.

cnbudz is right. Adding the extract a little later will help to avoid the potential for scortching and additional color. However you don't want to boil just hops and water. This is especially desirable in lighter beers, but not 100% necessary in some of the darker styles.

Your initial techinique sounds okay to me, if you want to get more technical do some research on the late addition of extracts and how to tweak your recipe on doing that way. Most of the time, people add some extract to get their first boil in the gravity of a normal beer (1.040 - 1.050) and then add the remaining extract with about 15 minutes or so left in the boil. Doing this way impacts your hop utilization (which is impacted by the gravity of your boil) that is why you may need to adjust your hop schedule if you are trying to be very precise.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I copied my comments over from another thread on Hefe's:

My own recipe is pretty simple, but I do small boils and Late Addition (to keep the color/carmelization down).

1 lb of Extra Light DME boiled in 1.5 gal of water with 3% AA Hallertau hops for 45 mins. Remove from heat. Add and dissolve 5 lbs of Wheat DME (1 lb at a time while stirring to dissolve), Let steep for 15 mins.

Sparge wort through a nylon net on the bucket and top off to 5.25 gals with PUR filtered tap water that's been in the freezer (in closed milk jugs) for 4-5 hours prior to brewing.

Temps are down in the mid-60s-70s within minutes.

Record temp and gravity. Add yeast. Yeast starter is made 1-2 days prior. I use WLP 351 (available only in July and Aug, but I wash mine so I have plenty) and 3068 (sometimes).

Ferment (around 72F to pull the banana flavor out) for 10 days in the primary. When the gravity drops 75% from OG then it's ready to bottle/keg.

I've made 8 batches this year. It's my "session brew" and I drink it all year long.

My process is basically the same for all recipes this way and produces great tasting beer.

 

[trainfever]

From what I have been told, the reason to add the extracts later in the brewing process is to make a lighter color beer.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Yes, it's to reduce the time the concentrated wort boils for to reduce caramelization - which darkens the wort and also affects flavor. Thus it's especially useful for lighter beers.

With either it will affect your hops utilization and you'll need to adjust the timing on your hop additions

+1... you NEED to adjust the hops in the recipe to compensate when changing it to late extract addition, otherwise you can end up with literally twice the IBU's that you expected.