Extract Brewing Tips

Here's a few things I've learned along the way to making better beer:

• Always try to boil as much of the 5 gallon batch as possible when boiling wort. This will result in clearer, lighter coloured beer.


• When adding the extract to the boiling water, remove the water from the heat source and stir the contents in so the extract doesn't stick to the bottom and burn. This will reduce caramelization of the extract and help prevent a burnt taste.


• Chill the wort as quickly as possible


• Get the yeast into the wort as quickly as possible (helps prevent bacterial infections of the wort).


• When adding water to the wort, splash it around as much as possible. Oxygenation is good at this stage


• When transferring the beer to the secondary or bottling, splash it around as little as possible. Oxygen at this stage leads to off flavours.