Geterbrewed Extract Beer Kits
Geterbrewed has been experimenting with its range of Extract Beer Kits for many years. We have a range of exciting extract beer brewing kits that specifically focus on premium quality ingredients and innovative new beer styles.
What are Extract Beer Kits?
Extract Beer Kits is the next step after homebrewers have tried a beer kit. Adding steeping grains to the brewing process and hops throughout the boiling process allows home brewers to add a fresh malt flavour and a beautiful hop profile, creating impressive results. Extract brewing doesn’t require a lot of equipment, and you can upgrade from kit brewing with a large stovetop pot and a copper chiller. If you haven’t got a chiller, you can cool using an ice bath in your sink. Only basic beer kit brewing equipment is required, which is a plus for beginner brewers.
Geterbrewed Extract Beer Kits Contain
- Malt Extract
- Steeping Grains freshly crushed
- Hop Pellets in innovative Hop Tea Bags
- Brewers Yeast Strains
- Whirlfloc Tablet
- Muslin Bags
Geterbrewed Extract Beer Kit Recipes are based on the following
- 26.5 Litre Boil Volume
- 23 Litres at the end of the boil
- 21 Litres into the fermenter
- 19 litres packaged
How to Brew Great beer from Extract?
The Key to successful extract brewing takes three things:
- Sterilization: As with all types of brewing, is key to successful brewing and good sanitation practices throughout the brew day.
- Information: It’s essential to have your brew’s info on hand and record all the readings of the brew. This will help you progress in your brewing journey.
- Temperature Control: Accurate infusion temperatures and controlled fermentation temperatures.
A bonus point is to use fresh ingredients. Geterbrewed has a high stock turnover, so you always get fresh ingredients. We mill our malt fresh the day it’s dispatched, plus we have the latest hop harvest and brewer’s yeast strains. All our extract kits are processed by hand, so you are sure to get a quality service.
What is Malt Extract?
Malt Extract Starts out in the brewhouse just like any other beer. To make malt extract, the wort is transferred to evaporators after the boiling stage instead of going to the fermenter. We use malt extract as a base for the wort. This ensures you get the gravity readings needed for fermentation and great beer. You will add this to the wort made from steeping grains to get the unique malt flavours for the beer style.
There are two types of Malt Extract:
- Liquid Malt Extract (LME) is concentrated wort. It is best described as a syrup consistency and is generally available in light, amber or dark format. It usually has around 20% water content. The rest is the sugars extracted from the grains.
- Dry Malt Extract (DME) is like LME; however, all the water has been removed. This comes in a fine powder with a sweet, malty taste.
Both are perfect for brewing and takes a lot of work out of making wort. Simply mix the Malt Extract with water, and you have the desired amount of wort for your beer. The amount of extract will vary, depending on the starting gravity needed for your brew.
How to Brew an Extract Beer Kit?
It’s a relatively simple process:
- Create the wort. The first stage is to steep your grain additions or ‘Mash’ as its know in brewing. This means adding one litre of hot water (usually around 65 degrees) for every 1 kilo of malt. Geterbrewed supply muslin grain bags for this process in their extract kits. This is a single temperature infusion for usually 30 minutes, and this process creates wort.
- Add the Malt Extract (usually half at this stage) to the wort you have created. Depending on the size of your pot, you may need to add more water and bring this to a rolling boil.
- Add hops at different stages during the boil to achieve different flavours. Hops added at the start of the boil create bitterness, hops added near the end of the boil create flavour and hops added at the end of the boil contribute to hop aroma.
- Add the remaining liquid malt extract to pasteurise it near the end of the boil.
- Chill Quickly using a copper wort chiller or an ice bath (if you have brewed short with a smaller pot, you will need to rehydrate the wort in the fermenter and monitor your temperatures carefully to achieve the correct fermentation temperature).
Next will be fermenting.
- Transfer the wort to the fermenter and take a gravity reading with your hydrometer.
- Add Yeast. Usually, a dry yeast that you can sprinkle onto the wort.
- Seal up the brew. This should be an airtight seal with a bubbler system for the CO2 gas to be realised.
- Allow to ferment, ensuring you control the fermentation temperature. A constant temperature is the key to successful extract brewing.
- You will want to check for activity in your bubbler. Yeast produces CO2 when fermenting. The amount and how quickly it starts will depend on the type of beer you’re making.
- You might also want to do some dry hopping. This is usually done when your gravity is around 1020; follow your recipe for the best results.
- Once your beer has hit the desired final gravity, your brew has finished fermenting.
- Package in a bottle or keg
What if I don’t have a pot large enough to boil 26.5 litres?
Brew Stovetop 11 litre batches. Simply boil all of your hops in half of your liquid malt extract, then add the remaining liquid malt extract at the end of the boil to pasteurize it and then dilute the volume in the fermenter.