This term pops up from time to time and it often cited as a reason to go to all grain. But maybe its because I don't really know what it tastes like. Do you believe in extract twang? How do you get rid of it, aside from all-grain brewing? Can you get rid of it?

I order extracts from NB and most of them come with a disposable mesh bag with specialty grains, the instructions specifying to take the grains out after the temperature reaches 170*F. After pulling the mesh bag out, I have always squeezed it relentlessly to get every drip out of the mesh bag (often hurting myself from the heat in the process -- but I figured it was worth it). Just 2 minutes ago, however, I was squeezing the mesh bag …

I am an absolute beginner; I've merely helped my brother brew once. I purchased a beer brewing kit and want to get started. John Palmer's bible suggests that I should throw out the directions that come with any beer kit and follow the general guidelines he lays out. The back of the can (it is "Black Rock" from New Zealand, their Nut Brown Ale package) suggests to throw the malt extract with water and suger into the fermenter and have …

While waiting for the Foundry to get back in stock, I found a scratch-n-dent sale on a 5 gallon pot on amazon and decided to give an extract a try while waiting. Extract brewing seems to have it's own specific pitfalls and a couple tips have stuck in my mind from various places that aren't mentioned in the brew instructions. Sanitize the top-off water going into fermenter Add LME at end of boil (-15 mins) Any reason not to add …

I'm looking to put down a Hefeweizen tonight, and am pondering whether adding Irish Moss to the last 15 mins of the boil would be a good thing, or a bad thing. On the one hand, I would expect the Irish Moss to help clear up some of the unwanted cruft. On the other hand, would the Irish Moss be too effective at cleaning up? Meaning, would the resulting beer be unnaturally clear for the Hefeweizen style? The recipe: - …

I have a copy of the last (4th) edition of "How to Brew" by John Palmer. According to the book, DME yields 42 PPG (Points per Pound per Gallon), while LME yields 36 PPG. This is an estimation since the exact numbers depend on the extract. As a consequence: LME = (42/36) * DME = 1.1667 * DME This is not far from what is stated in the most voted answer here on this topic. The starting PPG estimation there …

I'm experimenting with doing extract brews with as little effort as possible, but have run into a problem when it comes to adding oats to a brew. As oats themselves doesn't contain the necessary enzymes, I know that you need to steep them together with some malts in order to extract the sugars we're after. My question though, is if it would be possible to steep the flaked oats with Diastatic Malt Powder (such as this) instead? Preferably I'd like …

I'm making a brown ale with an original gravity of 1.052 to 1.054 and a final gravity of 1.011 - 1.013. Right before I pitched the yield, I took an accurate reading with a hydrometer of 1.030. Obviously, that's lower than I hoped for. Here's my question. Thet recipe called for 1/2lb of US crystal malt and 4 oz of US chocolate malt to be steeped. I did this. However, it called for 2.75 lbs of light DME and 4 …

I picked up some rootbeer extract at my local brewshop, and I've made a few batches in old soda bottles... but is it possible brew it with an alcohol content similar to that of beer?

Does anyone know of resources that specify the fermentability of malt extracts like muntons and coopers? Has anyone done a forced fermentation on these extracts who has results they are willing to share? Also, how do tools like hopville's beer calculus determine the fermentability of these extracts?

Is there any difference in quality, rather than the strain and flavor profile, between the kit yeasts coming with the kit and some external dry yeast? Beers that i batched using external yeast (US-05, T-58, etc, I have tried quite a few types based on the style I brewed) feels to be coming out much better than the ones I brewed using kit yeast. Assuming the flavor profile of the kit yeast fits the beer style, do you think it …

I am planning on trying this recipe - http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/04/red-ale-for-beginning-homebrewers-hoppy-red-ale-recipe.html, and calls for the following: 1 Liter starter of either White Labs WLP001 or Wyeast 1056. After that is says: You can substitute one 11.5 gram package of Safale US-05 for the starter of liquid yeast. My question is, instead of making a yeast starter, can I just buy 2 packets of Safale US-05 (https://www.homebrewwest.co.nz/safale-us05.html) and add them? Another options I was considering was using 1 packet of liquid CALIFORNIA ALE …

This is my first time brewing my own beer. I plan on making a pale ale using 2x Coopers Light Malt Extract in 5 gallons of water. I've recently bought 100g of each of the following hops (and plan to use only say, 2 of them to learn the proper brewing process and of course, save money): Magnum (11% AA) Cascade (5.5% AA) Simcoe (13% AA) Chinook (13% AA) For my first batch, I was thinking @60 - add 50g …

I'm in the inception phase of a Harry Potter inspired butterbeer recipe. Since it's not well explained in the books, I'm going for a a flavor profile in the range of spiced eggnog and root beer. I'm looking for a big, creamy head and (if possible) a color like hefeweizen. Spices will be nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and sassafras (also considering vanilla bean?). For malt I'm going for 40L caramel malt for steeping, and 50/50 Maillard Gold and Wheat extracts …

I am sorry for the long thread, but I am digging the net for few days now and did not find such a "tutorial", so I will built my own and want to share it. I will be happy you comment/correct me, and I have some questions at the end. So I brew few amber ale from extract kit (very successfully) and want to try something new. I want to brew wheat beer with honey, and wish it will be …

I'd also like to add Dark Egyptian Cane Sugar (to a porter), and Honey (to a nut-brown ale). Amounts of these? Add during boil? Goal is 5 - 7% alcohol content. Thanks!

I'm planning on doing some SMaSH beers; mainly so that I can get more used to the characteristics of the various hop varieties; and also maybe keep the cost down a bit while I'm experimenting. Up to this point I've used specialty malts in my (two) extract brews. Obviously the bonefide SMaSH beer recipes don't include speciality malts; but I know I could always do a single hop beer and just use some specialty grains if I wanted to — …

I have a raspberry flavor syrup, the ones used in cappuccinos, and I was wondering if I could add a little in the last minutes boiling. Anyone have experience with this sort of syrups? They have a god taste but a lot of corn syrup.

I am a beginner and as a beginner almost everything tells you to use malt extracts to brew your beer. So after a few batches I think I am ready to move up but I am wondering if it's worth the extra work. Is the beer really better? Does it require a lot more work? One big question I have is do most people progress onto all grain brews or do they stay with the extract brews for simplicity? I …

I'm an extract brewer that is going to try a BIAB 5 gallon batch. Reading about BIAB has me wondering why brewers would still do all-grain? Does sparging make that much of a difference? Also, why do a partial mash and add extract if you have a kettle large enough to steep all the grains? Ok, last question. Does mashing in the full volume reduce grain efficiency much? Thanks!