Woohoo! Almost a brewer!

[kush]

I know I said that no one was going to change my mind and I was going to start off with brewing all grain right off the bat. Well.....I stand corrected (going with malt extract).

Last night I ordered my first brew equipment from Northern Brewer and here they are:

Deluxe Starter Kit

Standard Wort Chiller

7.5 g SS Brew Kettle (the one on the right)

I would just like to say that im super stoked about my first brew! I was planning on purchasing my ingredients for an english brown ale....mmmmmm along with the glass bottles at my lhbs.

Can't wait for it to arrive!

 

[Soulive]

Congratulations. That's a very nice way to get started. Cheers...

 

[Professor Frink]

Congratulations, you've got everything you need. Now get brewing!:rockin:

 

[5 Is Not Enough]

I've been brewing for 8 years and still brew extract.
I want to go AG, I'm just a big *****
Actually, I'm working on setting up my system, but extracts produce good beer when done right and it's good to start simple and work out the details little by little.

 

[gp125racer]

Awesome, looks like a nice starter kit, you should be happy!

 

[Joker]

Very cool. It is so much easier when you have the correct equipment.

 

[sirsloop]

Hope you got 55 bottles layin around.... better yet.. a couple cornie kegs and a spare fridge

I suggest using one of those carboys for some apfelwein... get a couple batches going. I guarantee you'll be HAMMERING that brew as soon as it comes out of primary.

 

[tabernak]

Hope you got 55 bottles layin around.... better yet.. a couple cornie kegs and a spare fridge

I suggest using one of those carboys for some apfelwein... get a couple batches going. I guarantee you'll be HAMMERING that brew as soon as it comes out of primary.

Getting empties can be fun, I put my first batch in the primary 9 days ago and still need to get about 12 more. I tell you what, I'm about sick and tired of Sam Adams, I need to find a place around here that has Red Hook.... (btw, I started working on my empties while shopping for my kit)

 

[Hell Brew]

Do it big bro!!:rockin:

 

[chase]

What a great way to get started. I have slowly collected most of that equipment over 6 months, but still need a full-boil SS pot. Maybe I'll get one this summer...

I agree with sirsloop. Go ahead and order your next set of ingredients, and make it when it gets to you. That way you won't run out of homebrew. You'll be amazed how fast that stuff disappears. Running out is the worst!

 

[kush]

I went over to Defalco's today to pick up my ingredients. They are as follows:

English Brown Ale (Extract & Partial Grain)
- English Brown Ale LME (6 lbs.) (Amber Malt Extract)
- Grain (1 lb.) (British Crystal Malt - Medium-Dark - 50°L)
- Burton Water Salts (1/3 oz.)
- Safale s-04
- U.K. Northdown (1 oz. - Alpha 7.2%) (pellets)
- English Kent Goldings (1 oz. - Alpha 4.0%) (pellets)
- Priming Sugar (4 oz.)
- Bru-vigor

Unsure which hops is for bittering and which is for aroma; any help would be great. I was overtaken by all the varieties that they had and they were about to close so it happened so fast.

I do know that I want to add something to the secondary like oak, honey, or something. Im still undecided.

 

[cowgo]

I've been brewing for 8 years and still brew extract.
I want to go AG, I'm just a big *****
Actually, I'm working on setting up my system, but extracts produce good beer when done right and it's good to start simple and work out the details little by little.

Stop being a *****!!! AG is not that hard, it makes the hobby so much more fascinating and tasty. The smells!!! The tastes!!! I did extract for quite awhile, but once you go AG, you never go back.

 

[cowgo]

I went over to Defalco's today to pick up my ingredients. They are as follows:

English Brown Ale (Extract & Partial Grain)
- English Brown Ale LME (dont remember the brand)
- Grain (dont remember the brand)
- Burton Water Salts (1/3 oz.)
- Safale s-04
- U.K. Northdown (1 oz. - Alpha 7.2%) (pellets)
- English Kent Goldings (1 oz. - Alpha 4.0%) (pellets)
- Priming Sugar (4 oz.)

Unsure which hops is for bittering and which is for aroma; any help would be great. I was overtaken by all the varieties that they had and they were about to close so it happened so fast.

I do know that I want to add something to the secondary like oak, honey, or something. I'm still undecided.

Don't add anything. Just do the exact basic recipe, it'll be excellent. Save your experimentation for later. Seriously, you won't regret it. The Northdown (an uncommon variety BTW) is your bittering hop and EKG is your aromatic. Lucky dog, this will be a very nice bitter as is.

 

[kush]

Don't add anything. Just do the exact basic recipe, it'll be excellent. Save your experimentation for later.

So hard not to. I love to experiment. I really love the taste of oak, that's one of the reasons why i love scotch and whiskey so much. Im sure it will be an impulse decision when the time comes. So we'll see. *P.S. ive taken your .02 into consideration.*

On another note, after looking on their site, im pretty damn sure that the lme is Amber Malt Extract and the grains are British Crystal Malt (Medium-Dark - 50°L)

 

[Fingers]

I went over to Defalco's today to pick up my ingredients. They are as follows:

English Brown Ale (Extract & Partial Grain)
- English Brown Ale LME (dont remember the brand)
- Grain (dont remember the brand)
- Burton Water Salts (1/3 oz.)
- Safale s-04
- U.K. Northdown (1 oz. - Alpha 7.2%) (pellets)
- English Kent Goldings (1 oz. - Alpha 4.0%) (pellets)
- Priming Sugar (4 oz.)

Unsure which hops is for bittering and which is for aroma; any help would be great. I was overtaken by all the varieties that they had and they were about to close so it happened so fast.

I do know that I want to add something to the secondary like oak, honey, or something. Im still undecided.

The Northdown is your bittering and the EKG would be your aroma. You'll likely add the Northdown at the start of the boil and add the Goldings at about 15 minutes left. You could also add half the Goldings at 15 and the other half at five if you want.

 

[kush]

You could also add half the Goldings at 15 and the other half at five if you want.

Yeah, I was planning on 1/2 oz at the last 15 min and the other half oz. the last 5 min for aroma hops.

 

[cowgo]

So hard not to. I love to experiment. I really love the taste of oak, that's one of the reasons why i love scotch and whiskey so much. Im sure it will be an impulse decision when the time comes. So we'll see. *P.S. ive taken your .02 into consideration.*

On another note, after looking on their site, im pretty damn sure that the lme is Amber Malt Extract and the grains are British Crystal Malt (Medium-Dark - 50°L)

Northdown is an uncommon English hop stateside and the English Kent Goldings are...well they're gold over here. You have a special kit brew. Please dont' add anything to it. You wont' regret it. Save your experimentation for 6 pounds of LME and whatever hops your LHBS has around.

Brew what you got and have a Glenfiddich afterwards

 

[kush]

Please dont' add anything to it. You wont' regret it.
Brew what you got and have a Glenfiddich afterwards

Ok. Ill bite. Ill take your word for it given you have more experience than I do.

As for the scotch afterwards..... to that. Although I know that when the brew is ready to drink that Ill put myself in a drunken stupor from all the excitement. lol

Their recipe calls for 2/3 bittering hops. Would adding the full oz be too bitter?

 

[kush]

I was messing around with beersmith and calculating hops bitterness. What is a too bitter ibu? aau?

 

[Orfy]

I depends on you hop budget and pallet

I've brewed >70 IBU and it was really nice.

The best thing is to start with standard IBUs for the style then increase the next to see if you like it. Or try some commercial samples.

 

[kush]

i was curious b/c the other brown ales that i have searched on this forum has the ibu at 24 or so. When i cal. the ibu out with my recipe it totaled 32.9 and an aau of 1.8 (using tinseth formula). I didnt know if it was too high. Or if there was a too high.

 

[Orfy]

If you recipe is from a trusted source then go for it. If not adjust dow the IBU for style or find a different recipe.

 

[chase]

I agree with others about experimentation. I love to tinker as well, but on the first time I think it is best to stick with the recipe. That way if anything goes wrong it is easier to isolate the ingredient/step that caused the problem. For example, if you added honey and it by chance (I doubt it) created a flavor that you aren't comfortable with, you may not know if it was the addition of honey that caused the problem, or something else.

 

[kush]

^^Yeah thats what changed my mind. I figured it would also be a great base to go by.

 

[experiment626]

Get to brewin' !

 

[kush]

I wish. Equipment doesnt arrive till wednesday.

 

[niquejim]

I agree with others, DON'T change anything then brew it again and change something to see if you like the change.
When I started I F#@*ed with every recipe, then found sites like this and started to produce consistent quality brews .

Listen to the Masters, learn then experiment

 

[TexLaw]

Yep, I agree. Brew the recipe straight up the first time. You need a reference point before you can effectively experiment. Otherwise, you don't know what effect your variation had. Also, Scott's recipes tend to be pretty dadgum good and well thought out.

Have fun!


TL

 

[CyclingCraig]

I got that SAME kit a month ago (Except I got better-bottles(Plastic carboys)). It is a GREAT choice, and I JUST bottled my first batch yesterday.

As far as your recipe goes, I know my instructions have a special note for "FULL BOILS". If you do full boils(Which I assume you are since I see the kettle and chiller) to reduce the amount of bittering hops by 25%-50%. I think most extract kits assume a partial boil?

Good luck!

 

[TexLaw]

Kush, you may want to check with Scott and see if that kit was formulated for a partial or full wort boil before you make adjustments. Even if it's for a partial wort boil, you need to know what volume that partial wort is.


TL

 

[kush]

I didnt get the recipe as a kit. We kinda put it together. He asked what I wanted and boom, now i have a recipe. I have been playing around with beersmith on the hops bitterness calculator and seems that I found a good formula to use:

ibu: 24.5
aau: 1.4

I want to brew a northern english brown and the specs are as follows:

OG: 1.040 - 1.052
FG: 1.008 - 1.013
IBUs: 20 - 30
SRM: 12 - 22
ABV: 4.2 - 5.4%

 

[TexLaw]

Well, there you go. That sounds like Scott.


TL

 

[kush]

Yeah. The people at Defalcos are really cool nice people. I enjoyed being their customer and look forward to more purchases from them. They made everything a snap.

I found a site: http://www.bjcp.org/index.php (Beer Judge Certification Program) I use this as a base for the standards for whichever beer that im looking to brew(along with beersmith), and make it my own recipe; to my likings. Thats where I got the specs that I posted for a northern english brown ale.

 

[cowgo]

Yeah. The people at Defalcos are really cool nice people. I enjoyed being their customer and look forward to more purchases from them. They made everything a snap.

I found a site: http://www.bjcp.org/index.php (Beer Judge Certification Program) I use this as a base for the standards for whichever beer that I'm looking to brew(along with beersmith), and make it my own recipe; to my likings. Thats where I got the specs that I posted for a northern english brown ale.

By your siggy it looks like that's what you brewed. Let us know how it turned out and if you followed the recipe exactly. If you like it and want another when your batch runs out...it's all about the replication.