Brew Tips #9: Re-Iterating
Perhaps not the most exciting article I could do here. But Batch #4 of mine is done. I started with an AG clone of a recipe I had never tried and converted it to an all extract recipe, which I took and made on a smaller scale and with scaled down ABV and IBUs.
Guess what? It turned out great. Everyone agrees it is my best batch so far. And my parents who raved about the original which the clone I started with was based on claimed it was close. So, I learned two things there; AG isn't necessarily required for a good recipe. And it is also possible to convert an AG recipe into a decent facsimile as an all extract recipe.
Caveats abound I'm sure. This was a hop forward beer, so grains played less into the overall effect of the final product (undoubtedly lowering the impact of even ignoring steeping grains), but combined with everything else should help echo an underlying theme of all of my prior posts as well. Do what works for you.
At the moment, my BIAB experiences turned me off of it for now. I'll probably continue to look for something better as far as the straining process is concerned. It is nice that it would allow an AG approach with minimal equipment and which in turn would save money on ingredients. But, I decided that without better gear my sanity wouldn't last. Brew days were in excess of 4 hours.
For the cost, even that all extract recipe was considerably cheaper than buying the bottles ($6 for 650ml). And that recipe was purely DME in 1 lb bags and 11oz of hops bought in individual 1oz quantities. In other words, comparatively speaking it was easily my most expensive batch thus far at $75-ish for 5G.
I'm also thinking about scaling back batch size and increasing the number of active batches going on. I discovered with batch #5 that my bath tub, even without ice, can cool down 3 gallons reasonably quickly. This would make 3G full boil batches or 4G partial boils a simpler reality. I'm thinking 2x4G will work better for me than my current 1x5G. I may even squeak the odd 2-3G test batch in a 3rd or 4th fermenter.
Still don't have a burner or immersion chiller and don't want to try much more than 3G on the stove. Also, not sure I would want to go outside and fire up a burner this time of year :) Not sure that summer would completely change that either. Right now I'm still doing a lot of experimentation. And, as long as I'm using extracts I definitely don't want to be putzing around with larger volumes than I'm willing to drink myself should they end up drinkable but not desirable. Remember, extract, especially in dry form, isn't cheap.
I have a full-time job, a 2 year old and not as much free time on my hands as I'd like. My priorities right now are around reducing brew time (the extract recipe was closer to 2 hours, the 2 BIABs 4+ hrs) and simplifying the process, in that order. I still plan on getting the burner and immersion chiller for those reason. The burner should heat up faster and handle larger volumes and the chiller should get me to pitching temps quicker. Both, regardless of batch size.
Kegging will probably be my next priority. Our consumption of beer was higher than anticipated and where I originally felt bottles weren't that bad, with the actual rate of consumption becoming apparent, bottles quickly become something I personally see myself not enjoying dealing with much longer.
To sum it up, I've actually decided to take what many would consider to be a step back by going from BIAB back to extract based recipes. I certainly see the advantages of AG. But, for me I'm just not convinced it is the right thing just yet. And, as far as I can tell, I'm not really hurting myself any for that decision. I don't enter contests and no one I share these with is a professional of any sort. And, I seem to be able to enjoy the beers I can make with extracts. As an add bonus, I have far fewer concerns about things like efficiency.
I'm also deciding to scale back batch sizes, at least for the winter months. Another thing many might consider a step back. Especially since most recipes are in the 5-6G range. But, there are online calculators and affordable software. I bought BeerSmith 2 and I simply create my own recipes. If I see a recipe I think I'll like, then I simple copy the ingredients I can handle, drop or substitute the ones I can't and tweak until I get the values as near to what the recipe indicates as possible and off I go.
Also, I'm an advocate for late boiled extracts. I try and aim for a boil gravity around 1040 to maximize bittering and flavoring hop utilization. I find dry-hopping more appropriate for aroma so I'm not concerned about hop utilization in the last 15 minutes. I think many would scoff at this too. But again, for me, it helps keep costs down and works for me.
At the same time, my comment on kegging does show that I'm still thinking of changing some things to be more inline with the more common progressions in brewing.
So, don't think you NEED to start or even progress in a certain manner if you've already started. Hopefully here, and elsewhere, you'll find suggestions on simpler approaches as well as more complex and more expensive ones. Choose what feels right, but don't feel pressured to go further unless you want to or your beer isn't up to your standards. My brothers seem to prefer the kit beers I made to my hop bomb. If they ever got into beer making they would likely never progress beyond something like the Coopers kits... and there is nothing wrong with that.
Guess what? It turned out great. Everyone agrees it is my best batch so far. And my parents who raved about the original which the clone I started with was based on claimed it was close. So, I learned two things there; AG isn't necessarily required for a good recipe. And it is also possible to convert an AG recipe into a decent facsimile as an all extract recipe.
Caveats abound I'm sure. This was a hop forward beer, so grains played less into the overall effect of the final product (undoubtedly lowering the impact of even ignoring steeping grains), but combined with everything else should help echo an underlying theme of all of my prior posts as well. Do what works for you.
At the moment, my BIAB experiences turned me off of it for now. I'll probably continue to look for something better as far as the straining process is concerned. It is nice that it would allow an AG approach with minimal equipment and which in turn would save money on ingredients. But, I decided that without better gear my sanity wouldn't last. Brew days were in excess of 4 hours.
For the cost, even that all extract recipe was considerably cheaper than buying the bottles ($6 for 650ml). And that recipe was purely DME in 1 lb bags and 11oz of hops bought in individual 1oz quantities. In other words, comparatively speaking it was easily my most expensive batch thus far at $75-ish for 5G.
I'm also thinking about scaling back batch size and increasing the number of active batches going on. I discovered with batch #5 that my bath tub, even without ice, can cool down 3 gallons reasonably quickly. This would make 3G full boil batches or 4G partial boils a simpler reality. I'm thinking 2x4G will work better for me than my current 1x5G. I may even squeak the odd 2-3G test batch in a 3rd or 4th fermenter.
Still don't have a burner or immersion chiller and don't want to try much more than 3G on the stove. Also, not sure I would want to go outside and fire up a burner this time of year :) Not sure that summer would completely change that either. Right now I'm still doing a lot of experimentation. And, as long as I'm using extracts I definitely don't want to be putzing around with larger volumes than I'm willing to drink myself should they end up drinkable but not desirable. Remember, extract, especially in dry form, isn't cheap.
I have a full-time job, a 2 year old and not as much free time on my hands as I'd like. My priorities right now are around reducing brew time (the extract recipe was closer to 2 hours, the 2 BIABs 4+ hrs) and simplifying the process, in that order. I still plan on getting the burner and immersion chiller for those reason. The burner should heat up faster and handle larger volumes and the chiller should get me to pitching temps quicker. Both, regardless of batch size.
Kegging will probably be my next priority. Our consumption of beer was higher than anticipated and where I originally felt bottles weren't that bad, with the actual rate of consumption becoming apparent, bottles quickly become something I personally see myself not enjoying dealing with much longer.
To sum it up, I've actually decided to take what many would consider to be a step back by going from BIAB back to extract based recipes. I certainly see the advantages of AG. But, for me I'm just not convinced it is the right thing just yet. And, as far as I can tell, I'm not really hurting myself any for that decision. I don't enter contests and no one I share these with is a professional of any sort. And, I seem to be able to enjoy the beers I can make with extracts. As an add bonus, I have far fewer concerns about things like efficiency.
I'm also deciding to scale back batch sizes, at least for the winter months. Another thing many might consider a step back. Especially since most recipes are in the 5-6G range. But, there are online calculators and affordable software. I bought BeerSmith 2 and I simply create my own recipes. If I see a recipe I think I'll like, then I simple copy the ingredients I can handle, drop or substitute the ones I can't and tweak until I get the values as near to what the recipe indicates as possible and off I go.
Also, I'm an advocate for late boiled extracts. I try and aim for a boil gravity around 1040 to maximize bittering and flavoring hop utilization. I find dry-hopping more appropriate for aroma so I'm not concerned about hop utilization in the last 15 minutes. I think many would scoff at this too. But again, for me, it helps keep costs down and works for me.
At the same time, my comment on kegging does show that I'm still thinking of changing some things to be more inline with the more common progressions in brewing.
So, don't think you NEED to start or even progress in a certain manner if you've already started. Hopefully here, and elsewhere, you'll find suggestions on simpler approaches as well as more complex and more expensive ones. Choose what feels right, but don't feel pressured to go further unless you want to or your beer isn't up to your standards. My brothers seem to prefer the kit beers I made to my hop bomb. If they ever got into beer making they would likely never progress beyond something like the Coopers kits... and there is nothing wrong with that.
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