I got my brew kit from NB last week, (Reasonable Cost and Fast Turn-around) an Extra Pale Ale. I have been anticipating brewing it all week. Went to a gun show in Fort Dodge, Iowa this morning (3/25/2012) and I brewed it this afternoon. Everything went like clockwork. This was the first kit that I have added parts of the liquid extract at different times in the boil. What is the reasoning behind the splitting the extract into two additions?
The smell was out of this world and when my 60 minute boil was over, I took my covered wort and placed it in a snow bank. in about 20 minutes the temp was 100 deg F. Put it in the primary that already had 2 gallons of cold water in it. Checked the temp and at 70 degrees I pitched the yeast. Everything went so well, I’ll probably have a blow out tonight. O.G. was supposed to be 1.045 and I had 1.044. I am very happy with the way that the stuff tasted when I took my S.G. The wort will have to sit in the primary the entire three weeks as I will be in Vegas when I would normally switch it over to secondary. I may not use the secondary this time as the stuff is very clear and clean looking already…
Do a search for “late extract” method. I only heard about this technique after I’d switched to AG brewing, but I think it’s suggested for a couple reasons:
It’s assumed most beginner brewers are brewing with extracts and a smaller boil kettle. So if you add all of the extract at the start of the boil, you’ll be boiling a very concentrated wort, which will reduce your hop utilization and also increase carmelization, leading to darker beer.
By adding the late addition of extract, you avoid these problems. If you were boiling a full-volume boil, I’d suggest going with just one initial addition. Other extract brewers might have more to say about this.
