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Hey guys, I'm about to brew Dave's 5 gallon American amber ale extract kit, and I have a question regarding the recipe instructions. So the first step says "Measure a minimum of 3 gallons (11.35 litres) of water or up to 6 gallons (22.7 litres) to the kettle and heat the water", so I was wondering if there is going to be a difference in the hop flavours/aroma If I use 3 gallons compared to using the full 5 gallons my kit was designed for.

I was searching the forums and couldn't find anything, but typically I'd expect a larger volume to dilute the malt extract and hops and alter the flavour. Will I need to make any adjustments, or is the 2 gallon difference so small that the impact on flavour will be insignificant? The hops included are: Magnum (60 min) , Cascade/Centennial (10 min), Cascade/Centennial (0 min). Also, how long should I let the wort sit after flame-out before I begin cooling so the 0-min hops make the most impact?

I like your concern about the hops.

It isn't directly proportional to the volume with hops. For example; twice the water doesn't equal half the hop taste and aroma. You will get more than half the hops.

Flame out = flame out. If you are after the flavour and aroma of flameout, get cooling right away.

Okay, so it sounds like doing a full boil will slightly diminish the hop flavour compared to a partial boil. Are there any other advantages/disadvantages to doing full vs partial boil for these extract kits?

Halicat wrote:Okay, so it sounds like doing a full boil will slightly diminish the hop flavour compared to a partial boil. Are there any other advantages/disadvantages to doing full vs partial boil for these extract kits?

Tricky question. You'll have a session beer with one option. The other option you'll have more alcohol, check, more malt (I'm not keen on that), more hops, check.

Your choice.

Regardles of your boil size, you're going to top up to 5 gallons or whatever into the fermenter, correct?

Your boil volume, read: sugar concentration, WILL effect hop utilization of alpha acids (bitterness). You will have a slightly less bitter beer if you do your boil with 3 gallons of water plus your extract than you would if you did a full boil.

Now, flavour and armoa is another story. I'm not sure it will effect it at all.

It's usually best to do as close to a full boil as you can. Be careful of boil overs.

-Rob

Halicat wrote:Also, how long should I let the wort sit after flame-out before I begin cooling so the 0-min hops make the most impact?

I usually whirlpool for 5 - 10 minutes before I start chilling my APA and IPA brews with lots of 0 minute hops.

It doesn't take me very long to chill though. If it took a long time I might not even bother waiting.

I'm not sure what steeping time is optimal. With a small addition I think 5 - 10 minutes would be suffice. On the other extreme you could do a brew entirely with whirlpool hops, lots of them, and steep for 20 minutes.

Yeah, I am talking about my boil volume when deciding between 3 or 5 gallons. I'll be topping up to ~5 gallons in the fermenter regardless. I'm hoping I won't get a boil-over in my 9 gallon kettle while using Fermcap (I've never used the stuff before). That's really interesting that doing a full boil will increase the hop utilization versus doing something like diluting the flavour or bitterness. I don't fully understand why that would be the case, so hopefully a bit of research will give me the answer.

Sounds like better answers. I didn't understand the process. I thought two different beers were being made.

Ahh sorry, my mistake. I should have explained the process better! Any other pieces of advice for me before I go ahead and brew it? Beginner tips and tricks you'd wish you'd known when you did your first extract kit?

I've brewed extract that are 2.5-3 gallon boils.
Your concentrated boil typically requires more hops to get the same IBU's compared to a full boil. If you boil a full 5 gallons with those hops, your beer will be more bitter (which is fine by me).
As for letting

If you do a 3 gallon boil, just top up to 5 gallons with cold water.

Personally due to my setup I dumped the trub and all. I started cooling immediately once I turned the burner off.

Personal notes.
I cooled in a sink of water, cycling 3 times, then topping up after once I dropped the wort to around 40. Also whirlpool your wort and sink water in opposite directions.

If you have any questions, just PM Me, been busy around the house and don't lerk on the forums as much.

Thanks Keith, I appreciate all the info! I think I'll try doing a 5 gallon boil, and if it's too bitter for me I'll know for next time. It seems there are so many possibilities and endless options with brewing that it can be a bit overwhelming at first.

Your beer will just be hoppier than expected. Enjoy your first brew! I'm officially ready to brew my first all grain. Tempted to hammer one out tomorrow morning lol.

What means are you using to chill the boiled wort?

Keith wrote:Also whirlpool your wort and sink water in opposite directions.

Counter-current exchange.... Very smart!

GasMD30 wrote:

Keith wrote:Also whirlpool your wort and sink water in opposite directions.

Counter-current exchange.... Very smart!

Really improved cooling times.

Keith wrote:What means are you using to chill the boiled wort?

I built myself a 20' copper immersion chiller last week and am going to give it a try. The water out of the tap is pretty cold these days, so I'm hoping for about a 10-15 min cooldown time. Do you think that'll be sufficient to get nice a cold break?

oh definitely will. However pressure test it before submersing it.

I'll be curious to hear how this works out for you. I did this exact kit for my first attempt. I started with 4 gal of water. Finishing alcohol % was on the low side (4.5 vs. 5.0) and I found the beer finished sweeter than I expected, without a whole lot of flavor. I don't think I aerated enough. It did finish super clear, though.

Hmmmm... well I plan on brewing it tomorrow with a friend, so if you have any suggestions now is a great time to send em to me! Based on the amounts of liquid extract used I think you nailed the %ABV, and I'll be pleased if that's what I get. Given that there's magnum for 60 min and then cascade/centennial for 10 min I would definitely expect some flavour.
I entered the closest to what I thought the recipe was into BrewToad and it indicated this amber ale would come out sweet/balanced, so I'm not surprised it came out sweet. It's a shame it was sweeter than you expected though. Your yeast behaved properly as far as you know given rehydration and controlled fermentation temps?

I can promise you 2 things. You will learn a lot, and in 2-3 weeks, you will have beer you can call your own. Enjoy the process, take it all in, and if you make a mistake. Oh well.

Ps, bring a bottle to a meeting. Great group to assess your beer and give you suggestions to improve.

So I brewed this amber ale kit last night with a very helpful friend, and mostly everything went well. I boiled with the full 18.9 L (5 US gallons), and my only change was from 10 mins to 20 mins for the centennial/cascade hop addition. I also added a Whirlfloc tablet at 13 min that wasn't called for in the instructions. Thought it couldn't hurt. The part that did hurt was failing to recognize that the Noble Grape fermenting buckets are in Imperial gallons for some reason, when all recipes and other measurements I've seen have been in US gallons. 5 Imperial gallons = 6 US gallons. I lost quite a bit to boil-off and then had to top up to what I thought was 5 US gallons, and in doing so diluted my wort. Specific gravity was supposed to be ~1.05, and it's now 1.04. Not the end of the world, but the final %ABV will be off by 1 full point and all flavours will be weakened. I should have just went by the litres, as they are correct on the bucket.

Also, I probably didn't aerate it enough in the fermenter. Other than those mistakes everything went well! Thanks for all you help guys. I certainly learned a lot from this session and will apply it to my next brew.

You will have beer . First few batches are live and learn. As for the aeration if you transferred it with a descent splash you should be good to go anyways.

Yeah, I splashed it well from the bottom port on the kettle because it was a little too heavy to lift. Also, my DIY immersion chiller worked great! Dropped the wort from 100°C to 21°C in 8 minutes! It beat the 10 min cooling time I was aiming for.

Got to like it! I wasn't fortunate enough to have a immersion chiller when I did mine stove top.

Halicat wrote:I entered the closest to what I thought the recipe was into BrewToad and it indicated this amber ale would come out sweet/balanced, so I'm not surprised it came out sweet. It's a shame it was sweeter than you expected though. Your yeast behaved properly as far as you know given rehydration and controlled fermentation temps?

I'm not complaining about the sweetness at all, but I was expecting more hop character. When I talked to Dave about it, he indicated that the OG should be 1.050 (which I hit exactly) and the FG should be around 1.012. I managed to hit 1.015.

I'm pretty sure I did the yeast right. Put the packet into a glass of sterile water and let it develop for about half an hour, with some occasional stirring. Fermentation temps were right around 21C (between 20 and 22, given the sensitivity of my temp controller).

I may have managed to get almost everything right, but without another batch to compare against, I have no frame of reference. I've got a couple other recipes to try and then maybe I'll give this one another go. I think I'd want more bittering hops, though.