Hello, I have read John Palmers(how to brew). I have purchased my goodies from Midwest Supplies and have a extract kit (Maple syrup ale). I am ready to brew this weekend. I wanted to go over a few points for views. Here we go…i have Cascade and Northern Brewer hops. I believe NB hops go in first at the 60 min mark and the cacade goes in at the 10-15 mark. I am not a hoppy person and i understand this is an ale. would adding the NB hops at 40 min and cascade at 10 min be smoother with plenty of aroma? or just follow the guidelines in JP book? Next…am kinda confused about late extract additions. Is there any advantage to it when doing extract brews? and Why?Other than that i am stoked about getting started. Any advice is welcomed. I will review this thread and make note for brew day Thanks for the tips!! Cheers!!
Did the kit come with instructions on when to add the hops? I would go with that the first time. if you want to tweak it it’s better to have an idea of your starting point.
Late extract addition is to prevent excess coloring of the wort mostly. there is some minor effect on how much bittering you get from your hops as well, and again, if the kit says to do late addition i would go with that at least the first time. Remember to turn off your heat before adding the extract and don’t turn it back on until you’ve got the extract dissolved. this will prevent scorching which is not nice.
have fun! it’ll be beer!
+1. Brew the recipe as-is first, then you will at least have a starting point for your next brew.
+2. Take detailed notes so you can reference it for changes, if need be.
+3, do I hear a 4?
I’m in. +4
For your first few brews, I’d highly recommend brewing well-known recipes. Once you get the process down, and are producing beers without any significant flaws, then you can start dabbling with recipes. If you’ve never brewed a beer before and you run into an issue with the beer, then it will be easier to determine what went wrong if you know the recipe is tried and tested.
+5 to brewing the recipe per instructions first although it wouldn’t hurt to post what kind of yeast you are using and the suggested fermentation temp. You might get some good advice here to tweak the temp and how to do that.
OK…i get the hint. I will brew it according to the instructions. Its muntons yeast and no fermentation temp is given. im guessing 65-72 and i settled on 68 degrees. I have a Ranco temp controller for the fridge. I will be making detailed files. Thanks for the advice
You will be fine. Everyone goofs stuff up on the first go. Just a tip for your first batch. Leave it alone and let it do its thing. Check the gravity around day 10. Its gonna be hard, I know but let the beer do its thing
Make sure you use clean equipment and sanitize EVERYTHING that touches the wort/beer after the boil.
Ok, first brew day was no problem. Its in the big mouth bubbler and has a nice foamy top. In two weeks i will check sg a few days apart to see if its ready to bottle. Thanks again.Michael
If your target temp is 68 set your ranco to 64-ish. This will mean the yeast get started in slightly lower temp. Fermentation makes heat. That will raise the temp inside the fermenter once fermentation is going well.
Lower temp means cleaner beer. Less off flavors.
Ok i opened my first bottle. (Maple syrup Ale) Nice dark color and carbonation was ok. Maybe a little light. The taste was pretty good but i thought i was a little watery. As i have had a few over the past few days i think maybe not. Overall i am quite happy with my first batch. I am going to keep a 6 pack for 6 months to. evaluate it later. My wife wants me to do a pumpkin ale next. She wants strong pumpkin and cinn flavors. Anybody have an extract kit recipe that they have kicked up? As for me. I want to try a stronger thicker more alcohol content. Extract. Im thinking a stout but would like to get some opinions. Thanks to all and i cant wait to do this again.
glad to hear it turned out well!
Pumpkin itself doesn’t generally lend a lot of flavor to a beer. it’s the pie spices that are recognizable. so strong cinnamon, clove, all spice, cardamom maybe. stouts and porters go well with spice and are dark so that’s a good direction if that sounds tasty. with the spices, start low as you can always add more but you can’t take it out. I like to add some spices to the boil as cooking changes the character of a spice, but it’s also good to make a tincture with vodka or a strong tea with boiling water to add at packaging to adjust the flavor to your liking. (the tincture would be made ahead of time, the tea on packaging day or perhaps the day before)
How long has it been carbonating in the bottle? Most bottles are drinkable around 2 weeks in, but carbonation will continue to develop for 3-4 weeks. You should notice an improvement over time (if it lasts that long 
)
Congratulations on a successful first batch!