Just wanted to say that this is one of the best extract brew walkthru videos I have come across. I liked how you included every brewer's right of passage into the process...the stovetop boil over...and you pretended like it was not all planned. ;)
Circling back with you on this comment you left about a year ago (I had responded, but we had to migrate our channel, so my response was lost). Its great to see your channel grow! Keep up the great work! We ourselves are just about to cross that 1000 sub milestone (which is exciting, and seemed so far off at first). Would love to pick your brain on brewing and youtube stuff if you are interested! brian@benhambrewing.com
How did you get an accurate specific gravity reading if you took the reading from the wort....and then put 2 gallons of water on top of it in the fermenter?
You have a sharp eye, my friend! Technically, you could calculate the gravity based on the measurement, and the impact that adding 2 gallons of water would have on the gravity. HOWEVER... this was an accident during the shooting of the video. It was a very long shoot day and TOTALLY my fault for doing things slightly out of order. As a rule I always take a gravity ready after all the top up water has been added. Thanks for the comment!
I normally do BIAB brewing and I always squeeze the grain bag. I would say unless you squeeze the bag you're leaving about 10 to 15 % of the good stuff behind.
That is one of the drawback to BIAB. Its not the most efficient brewing method, but it makes up for it by not needing as much equipment. We do have a video posting in a few weeks where we test the flavor impact of squeezing the bag. I was SHOCKED by the results. Stay tuned for it!
Can you just use less dry malt extract so you don’t have to use the 3 gallons of water to dilute your wort ? Just cool the wort with a chiller and ferment ? I’ve been reading it’s usually 1:1 ratio, 1 lb to 1 gal
You could use less DME to do a smaller boil (which would technically then be a full wort boil, instead of a concentrated boil). The ration of DME to water is not always 1:1, as it depends on the style of beer, and ABV goals. Nothing wrong with that ratio though, if you are happy with how the beer turns out.
Great video! I am an experienced all grain brewer but looking to venture into extract due to issues with my back. I would like to say that dried yeast has come a long way, you DO NOT need to proof your yeast. We had the North American Rep for Fermentis at a home brew club meeting a few years ago. Dried yeast can be pitched directly into wort that is 1.060 or less. Having said that I routinely direct pitch into 1.063 wort with excellent results.
That's a great tip, and good to know! I'm sure as long as your yeast sachet is fresh, there are no issues with direct pitching. If your yeast viability is in question though, better safe than sorry!
I usually taste the sample to get a pre-fermentation flavor profile, then toss it. I supposed if you keep everything sanitized, you could pour the sample back into the fermenter, but its such a small sample I don't think its worth the infection risk.
RUclips ate my comment, sorry if this is a double post. I split my batch into two large pots of 2 gal each and divide the ingredients equally between the two, except for the extract which I only add half for the first 50 min of the boil. The wort will come to temperature faster and will be less likely to boil over. The extract is already processed when you bought it, there is nothing to be gained by boiling more than enough to sterilize. The hops however like the lighter gravity and will give up more of their goodies in a thinner more vigorous boil. At 50 minutes I add the final hop addition to one of the pots and the other half of the extract to the other. Keep an eye on the thicker pot, it can come up and over in a hurry. This works for me making my IPAs. Everything else is as you've shown it. You can get excellent beer from extract with much less time and effort than whole grain, although whole grain will lead to mastery of the art.
For some reason, RUclips deleted my comments. Adding them back in. Sorry for the double post! I had never heard of this method before! Usually by doing a partial boil, your hop efficiency is reduced, but you have solved that by splitting the batch, and boiling the hops in a lower gravity, thus increasing efficiency! Brilliant!
im glad you did this video. i've been home brewing for over 6 years now and i just cant get a decent extract beer. I can brew awesome all grains , even recipes ive made myself. i hit numbers , i get flavor ...BUT, when i go to make an extract it always tastes like bandaids. Im told its my water. and i dont understand. I use the same exact tap (city)water and (campden) treatments i use as my all grains....so , what should i do different to make an extract close to palatable? and before you ask, my kits are not old. unless the time frame from the factory packaging it to the time i brew is less than a month...i would hope the whole packaging process would allow brewing extracts to be on the shelf much longer than this. I have a weizen and a kolsch extract kits in the basement now , id like to brew them but i dont want to waste time on another (2x) 5 gallons of drain cleaner.
@@BenhamBrewing thanks for the quick reply. I'm not brewing any time soon but ill try and deep clean everything and the next time I brew if i doesn't help. Ill get back to you.
For some reason, RUclips deleted my comments. Adding them back in. Sorry for the double post! Interesting. Extract kits are, for the most part, fairly full proof when compared to all grain. My first thought was chlorine in your water… but you have taken care of that with your Camden Tablets, and the same water is used for both methods. My next thought was possible infection, but you would need to look at any equipment that you only use for your extract batches, and NOT the all grain (different fermenter? Transfer hoses? etc. ) and either replace, or deep clean. You could also try another extract batch, but really pay attention to your sanitization (be a little OCD with it), or even use new bottles for that batch (if you bottle, that is).
I will chime in here. In my town, nothing makes my water decent for brewing. Try RO once and see if that solves your problem. Also, not all bottled waters are equal. I have water start growing algae and some that were quite acidic. You could also try a full wort boil.
@@kennykistler6735 i bought the water in the grocery store dispenser to fill the 1,3 and 5 gallon water station jugs, i think its RO water . not necessarily distilled. however, the remaining kits i have a now close to 4 yrs old just because of time restraints ( work,life in general, other projects). Even though im now recently retired , i think id be wasting my time trying to brew either of the extracts with 4 year old canned ingredients. just how old is the age cut-off from safe use or rather a beer that wont taste "tangy" with old canned malts, what do you think. should i just toss them? i have a lhbs relatively close where i usually get my preferred all grain ingredients.
Love this question! Can you brew a beer with just extract and no specialty grains? Absolutely! Adding specialty grains to extract beer widens the styles of beer you can brew, and adds complexity and nuance to the flavor profile that would not exist otherwise. If you are going out to purchase an extract kit, you would be hard pressed to find one that does not include specialty grains of some sort. The specialty grains that are steeped in an extract batch help to alter the color and flavor of your finished beer. For example, with an all grain beer, you typically have your base grain (i.e.2-row) that gives you the majority of your fermentables and then you add specialty grains (i.e. crystal malts, chocolate malts, etc) to layer on different flavors/colors/mouthfeel, etc. With extract, your base grain has already been turned into your extract (and in some cases darker malt extract).
i can genuinely say the floating (glass)thermometer is not a good idea. besides them being fragile they just take too long to read. instant read digitals are better by far , take a little abuse and more accurate ,quicker. just thether it to the kettle.
For some reason, RUclips deleted my comments. Adding them back in. Sorry for the double post! For sure! I love my Thermapen! Accurate and instant read! I think for most beginning brewers, simple and inexpensive is a great place to start, while they figure out how much they really want to invest in the hobby.
This is the rule I've always adhered to... but never actually tested it. We do have a video posting in a few weeks where we test the flavor impact of squeezing the bag. I was SHOCKED by the results. Stay tuned for it!
@@BenhamBrewing squeezing doen't do anything. Large breweries use mash presses rather than lauter tuns. If the big guys do it without off flavors (not BudCoors, large craft) I won't wory about it. I have seen other youtubers do side by side with no differences noticed.
You lost me in the first few seconds. I can make a gallon of yummy mead for about $8 and zero specialized equipment: a gallon of bottled water, honey, bakers yeast, a few raisins and a balloon.
Its funny you mention mead. I made a batch about 2 weeks ago. My first one! You are correct. The mead process is much simpler than beer making (unless you talk about mead yeast nutrient schedules, honey varietals, etc). I can't wait to see how it turns out. Would love to chat more about your simple mead method. Hit me up so I can learn! Thanks again for the comment.
Just wanted to say that this is one of the best extract brew walkthru videos I have come across. I liked how you included every brewer's right of passage into the process...the stovetop boil over...and you pretended like it was not all planned. ;)
Circling back with you on this comment you left about a year ago (I had responded, but we had to migrate our channel, so my response was lost). Its great to see your channel grow! Keep up the great work! We ourselves are just about to cross that 1000 sub milestone (which is exciting, and seemed so far off at first). Would love to pick your brain on brewing and youtube stuff if you are interested! brian@benhambrewing.com
How did you get an accurate specific gravity reading if you took the reading from the wort....and then put 2 gallons of water on top of it in the fermenter?
You have a sharp eye, my friend! Technically, you could calculate the gravity based on the measurement, and the impact that adding 2 gallons of water would have on the gravity. HOWEVER... this was an accident during the shooting of the video. It was a very long shoot day and TOTALLY my fault for doing things slightly out of order. As a rule I always take a gravity ready after all the top up water has been added. Thanks for the comment!
What is a tupical specific gravity once the carboy is topped off?
Great video, thanks😄
Glad you enjoyed it! Appreciate the comment!
I normally do BIAB brewing and I always squeeze the grain bag. I would say unless you squeeze the bag you're leaving about 10 to 15 % of the good stuff behind.
That is one of the drawback to BIAB. Its not the most efficient brewing method, but it makes up for it by not needing as much equipment. We do have a video posting in a few weeks where we test the flavor impact of squeezing the bag. I was SHOCKED by the results. Stay tuned for it!
Great informative video. I use the brewing for idiots method. hot water, liquid malt 5 lbs raw sugar. No long cooking just dissolve the sugar.
I bet that does save some time. Do you use hops at all?
Can you just use less dry malt extract so you don’t have to use the 3 gallons of water to dilute your wort ? Just cool the wort with a chiller and ferment ? I’ve been reading it’s usually 1:1 ratio, 1 lb to 1 gal
You could use less DME to do a smaller boil (which would technically then be a full wort boil, instead of a concentrated boil). The ration of DME to water is not always 1:1, as it depends on the style of beer, and ABV goals. Nothing wrong with that ratio though, if you are happy with how the beer turns out.
Great video! How much malt extract did you use exactly?
So long ago, I honestly don't recall!
Great video! I am an experienced all grain brewer but looking to venture into extract due to issues with my back.
I would like to say that dried yeast has come a long way, you DO NOT need to proof your yeast. We had the North American Rep for Fermentis at a home brew club meeting a few years ago. Dried yeast can be pitched directly into wort that is 1.060 or less. Having said that I routinely direct pitch into 1.063 wort with excellent results.
That's a great tip, and good to know! I'm sure as long as your yeast sachet is fresh, there are no issues with direct pitching. If your yeast viability is in question though, better safe than sorry!
Glass Carboys! EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!!!!! I lost part of a finger when one shattered on me, please be careful, they are very slippery when wet
100%. Carboys are NO JOKE!
When taking your OG reading, do you pour that back in to the fermenter after or dispose of it?
I usually taste the sample to get a pre-fermentation flavor profile, then toss it. I supposed if you keep everything sanitized, you could pour the sample back into the fermenter, but its such a small sample I don't think its worth the infection risk.
RUclips ate my comment, sorry if this is a double post. I split my batch into two large pots of 2 gal each and divide the ingredients equally between the two, except for the extract which I only add half for the first 50 min of the boil. The wort will come to temperature faster and will be less likely to boil over. The extract is already processed when you bought it, there is nothing to be gained by boiling more than enough to sterilize. The hops however like the lighter gravity and will give up more of their goodies in a thinner more vigorous boil. At 50 minutes I add the final hop addition to one of the pots and the other half of the extract to the other. Keep an eye on the thicker pot, it can come up and over in a hurry. This works for me making my IPAs. Everything else is as you've shown it. You can get excellent beer from extract with much less time and effort than whole grain, although whole grain will lead to mastery of the art.
For some reason, RUclips deleted my comments. Adding them back in. Sorry for the double post!
I had never heard of this method before! Usually by doing a partial boil, your hop efficiency is reduced, but you have solved that by splitting the batch, and boiling the hops in a lower gravity, thus increasing efficiency! Brilliant!
im glad you did this video. i've been home brewing for over 6 years now and i just cant get a decent extract beer. I can brew awesome all grains , even recipes ive made myself. i hit numbers , i get flavor ...BUT, when i go to make an extract it always tastes like bandaids. Im told its my water. and i dont understand. I use the same exact tap (city)water and (campden) treatments i use as my all grains....so , what should i do different to make an extract close to palatable? and before you ask, my kits are not old. unless the time frame from the factory packaging it to the time i brew is less than a month...i would hope the whole packaging process would allow brewing extracts to be on the shelf much longer than this. I have a weizen and a kolsch extract kits in the basement now , id like to brew them but i dont want to waste time on another (2x) 5 gallons of drain cleaner.
@@BenhamBrewing thanks for the quick reply. I'm not brewing any time soon but ill try and deep clean everything and the next time I brew if i doesn't help. Ill get back to you.
For some reason, RUclips deleted my comments. Adding them back in. Sorry for the double post!
Interesting. Extract kits are, for the most part, fairly full proof when compared to all grain. My first thought was chlorine in your water… but you have taken care of that with your Camden Tablets, and the same water is used for both methods. My next thought was possible infection, but you would need to look at any equipment that you only use for your extract batches, and NOT the all grain (different fermenter? Transfer hoses? etc. ) and either replace, or deep clean. You could also try another extract batch, but really pay attention to your sanitization (be a little OCD with it), or even use new bottles for that batch (if you bottle, that is).
I will chime in here. In my town, nothing makes my water decent for brewing. Try RO once and see if that solves your problem. Also, not all bottled waters are equal. I have water start growing algae and some that were quite acidic. You could also try a full wort boil.
You should use distilled water. You'll get minerals from your malt extract.
@@kennykistler6735 i bought the water in the grocery store dispenser to fill the 1,3 and 5 gallon water station jugs, i think its RO water . not necessarily distilled. however, the remaining kits i have a now close to 4 yrs old just because of time restraints ( work,life in general, other projects). Even though im now recently retired , i think id be wasting my time trying to brew either of the extracts with 4 year old canned ingredients. just how old is the age cut-off from safe use or rather a beer that wont taste "tangy" with old canned malts, what do you think. should i just toss them? i have a lhbs relatively close where i usually get my preferred all grain ingredients.
Why do you steep grains in at the beginning if you are doing an Extract Brew? Wouldn't this then be a Extract & Grain Brew? Why not use All Extract?
Love this question! Can you brew a beer with just extract and no specialty grains? Absolutely! Adding specialty grains to extract beer widens the styles of beer you can brew, and adds complexity and nuance to the flavor profile that would not exist otherwise. If you are going out to purchase an extract kit, you would be hard pressed to find one that does not include specialty grains of some sort. The specialty grains that are steeped in an extract batch help to alter the color and flavor of your finished beer. For example, with an all grain beer, you typically have your base grain (i.e.2-row) that gives you the majority of your fermentables and then you add specialty grains (i.e. crystal malts, chocolate malts, etc) to layer on different flavors/colors/mouthfeel, etc. With extract, your base grain has already been turned into your extract (and in some cases darker malt extract).
@@BenhamBrewing got it, thank you for the detailed explanation. The title and everything threw me off.
i can genuinely say the floating (glass)thermometer is not a good idea. besides them being fragile they just take too long to read. instant read digitals are better by far , take a little abuse and more accurate ,quicker. just thether it to the kettle.
For some reason, RUclips deleted my comments. Adding them back in. Sorry for the double post!
For sure! I love my Thermapen! Accurate and instant read! I think for most beginning brewers, simple and inexpensive is a great place to start, while they figure out how much they really want to invest in the hobby.
"Don't squeeze the bag."
This is the rule I've always adhered to... but never actually tested it. We do have a video posting in a few weeks where we test the flavor impact of squeezing the bag. I was SHOCKED by the results. Stay tuned for it!
@@BenhamBrewing squeezing doen't do anything. Large breweries use mash presses rather than lauter tuns. If the big guys do it without off flavors (not BudCoors, large craft) I won't wory about it. I have seen other youtubers do side by side with no differences noticed.
You lost me in the first few seconds. I can make a gallon of yummy mead for about $8 and zero specialized equipment: a gallon of bottled water, honey, bakers yeast, a few raisins and a balloon.
Its funny you mention mead. I made a batch about 2 weeks ago. My first one! You are correct. The mead process is much simpler than beer making (unless you talk about mead yeast nutrient schedules, honey varietals, etc). I can't wait to see how it turns out. Would love to chat more about your simple mead method. Hit me up so I can learn! Thanks again for the comment.