tits up in the mud pale ale (malt extract

[bangers]

this will be my firat attempt at a malt extract brew, as promised in the making beer foroum this is the recipe from Charlie Papazian's The home brewers companian.
For 19ltrs
2.27kg light dried English malt extract.
.18 kg (is that 180g) lovibond dark crystal/caramelmalt.
43g kent goldings hops Boiling.
14.2g Styrian goldings hops (flavour)
14.2g Kent goldins hops (aroma)
14.2 g Kent goldings hops (dry hop)
1g.(2tbsp)gypsym(calcium sulphate)
1/4 tsp (1g) powdered irish moss
1 pkt ale yeast (safale english ale yeast ?)
Add the crystal malt to 2 gallons ( about 8ltrs yes?)of 66c degrees water and hold for 30mins.Remove the grains with strainer and add malt extract,boiling hops and gypsym.Boil for 45mins,then add flavour hops and Irish moss and boil for an addinonal 15 mins.Turn off heat.Add aroma hops and seep for 2 to 3 mins.before sparging into a fermenter filled with cold water pitch yeast when cool.After primary fermentation is complete transfer to secondary fermenter,add dry hops and allow to finish fermentation.Bottle when fermentation is complete avoid bottlong spent aroma hops.
This style especially lends itself to kegging .
now am I going about this right.
8ltrs to the boil.
lets say 7ltrs of chilled boiled water in fermenter
and sparg with 3ltrs of hot water (not sure of temp)
will I find all the ingredients I need at my hbs since the book is American if not does anyone know what the replacement bits n peices are thank you wish me luck

[KEG]

1g.(2tbsp)gypsym(calcium sulphate)

1g is not 2 tablespoons

[bangers]

o.k.thanks for the heads up i'll stick with the spoons safer that eh? I always thought gypsym was used as a soil breaker in the garden so are we talking the same stuff or is there some kind of food grade gypsym just curious I guess !

[KEG]

same stuff, but food-grade version. 2 tbsp seems like heaps to me..

[Kevnlis]

Yeah 2 tbs is a lot unless you are using RO water. Even then I would think it a bit high. Start with 1/2 tbs and see how you go, try more next time if you like.

[bangers]

I knew sooner or later you'd come through kev ta mate !

[KEG]

tbs or tsp, kev?

[Kevnlis]

Tablespoon. I tested it and it weighed about 7g which is a good place to start, unless you are in Adelaide in which case the water is perfect from the tap!

[bangers]

I'm guessing that the gypsym is about water conditioning ,I live in Melbourne where the water is supposed to be of higher quality and purer than Adelaide which brings me to the realisation that the water has to be made hard.I have read several fourum recipes for pale ales and have never seen gypsym mentioned,So although its called for in nearly all of Charlie Papazian's recipes do I realy need to use it? is it a small incriment in brewing in Australia or is it vital to producing a high quality brew? or Am I thinking way too much about it ? I'm probably more concerned about the measurements mentioned in the recipe as most seem to think its too much!

[Kevnlis]

Personally for this recipe, I would use the gypsum. This will give you a drier more crisp hop profile which some desire, others do not. Maybe for your first shot at this recipe you could skip the gypsum, then if you feel adventurous use it the next time you brew it.

[bangers]

JUst may skip it on this one then do one again with the gypsym a week later,then I can compare after bottling of each down the track that would be my best solution Luv a good pale ale so I'm happy with this way of thinking thanks again Kev you pointed me in the right direction

[Trough Lolly]

Bangers....the recipe calls for gypsum to try to "Burtonise" that water that you use. This is an English Pale Ale recipe and the gypsum is used in an attempt to replicate that waters of Yorkshire County which has high gypsum content. As you suggest, it's handy to know in advance if the water you use already has a decent gypsum content - and I'd suggest that Melbourne water has less gypsum (Calcium Sulphate) than Burton...but 2 tablespoons is far too much!!

I have used up to 4 TEASPOONS in a 10 Gallon mash...So, either forget using it for now, until you have a better idea of your source water's chemical composition, or, add no more than one teaspoon in the 8 Litre mash unless you think you need to spend more time on the toilet!

Or to quote Charlie:

Some brewing books advocate the addition of brewing salts to the brewpot to imitate the water of a famous brewing region, like the Burton region of Britain. While some salts can be added to extract-based brews to improve the flavor profile, salts are more properly used to adjust the pH of the mash for all-grain brewing. Water chemistry is fairly complex and adding salts is usually not necessary for extract brewing. Most municipal water is fine for brewing with extract and does not need adjustment. So, if you are brewing from an extract recipe that calls for the addition of gypsum or Burton salts, do not add it. The proper amount of a salt to add to your water depends on the mineral amounts already present and the brewer who published the recipe probably had entirely different water than you do. You may end up ruining the taste of the beer by adding too much. Just leave it out; you probably won't miss it.

However, if in the course of time after you have brewed several batches of the same recipe and have decided that the beer is somehow lacking, there are three ions that can be used to tweak the flavor. These ions are sodium, chloride, and sulfate. Briefly, sodium and chloride act to round out and accentuate the sweetness of the beer, while sulfate (from gypsum, for example) makes the hop bitterness more crisp. You need to know and understand the initial mineral profile of your brewing water before you start adding anything to it though. Too much sodium and sulfate can combine to produce a very harsh bitterness.

Cheers,
TL

[James L]

Wow, i was just reading about that last night.... crazy...