Extract 2-Hour Brew Day
I started homebrewing more than twenty years ago and I have followed a fairly classic learning curve in terms of my methods: Extract with sugar, extract only, extract with specialty grains, partial mash and finally all-grain brewing. Each time I felt I mastered a level I was very keen to keep trying to improve my beers. Early on, as the beers I brewed kept improving, I set a challenge for myself: I am never going to run out of homebrew. That is my goal, as well as the goal of brewing the best beers I can brew and still have fun doing it.
Most days if I have five hours to devote to a brew day, I will do an all-grain recipe. But I have found over the years that when I applied my all-grain skills and equipment to an extract recipe, those recipes came out much better than in the early days.
Sometimes life interrupts my brewing schedule, however. But when I am short on time and homebrew, I can still usually find two hours to brew. I am happy to take some liberties with timing and technique as long as the quality of my homebrew isn’t affected. I still enjoy the process. There isn’t much time for having a beer or socializing, but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Brewing in two hours requires a commitment to organization before you start actually brewing. The equipment required is not necessarily expensive or complicated. Everything I use is easy to find and handy for all levels of brewing. Traditionally, when I teach a newer brewer the process it goes something like this: You heat up some water in your 5 gallon (19 L) kettle, steep some grains, remove the grains, add extract, top off to boil volume and boil for an hour while you sanitize/rinse your equipment. Chill the wort in a sink with a water bath, top off with cold water to 5.25 gallons (19.8 L), check the temperature and pitch. This is going to take at least 31⁄2 hours, and you can add time on if friends, beer and a football game are on.
To do a 2-hour brew there will need to be some changes to your typical brew day. First, you can save time if you start sanitizing ahead of time if you ferment in a carboy. During the boil you can sanitize the funnel, strainer, etc. Next, you will steep the grains in a smaller kettle at the same time you dissolve the malt extract in hot water in the main kettle. You will be boiling and making hop additions while the grains are steeped, rinsed and brought to a boil. Next, you will need a wort chiller instead of an ice bath to speed up the chilling process. There is a slight compromise in the boil time with my method, but I think if you just increase bittering hops a bit, you can compensate for any loss of IBUs when you do a 60-minute boil. However, keep in mind that too short of a boil time can produce dimethyl sulfide (creamed corn), so keep that risk in mind for boils less than 60 minutes. If you don’t want to take the risk, you can tack the extra 10 minutes on to be safe.
What You Will Need for Equipment
• Two Brew Kettles. For my two-hour brews I use one 5-gallon (19-L) kettle and a 2.5-gallon (9.4-L) kettle. The 5-gallon (19-L) kettle will be your main brew kettle. I bring about 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water to a boil, shut off the heat, and then mix in the extract with a flat edged paddle. The smaller kettle will hold your specialty grains while they steep.
• Strainer. I have a dual-layer, 10-inch stainless strainer that I wouldn’t brew without. After the grains have finished steeping, you can lift the bag straight up and set the muslin bag in it. Let the grains drain well. I also heat a quart of water in the microwave to 170 °F (77 °C) and I rinse the grains with that. After that the strainer goes back into the sanitizer. Cooled wort is poured through the strainer to remove the spent hops (good to avoid clogging) and to aerate the wort (even better, cold frothy wort for my yeast!)
• Wort Chiller. If you are going to brew in two hours, you absolutely must have a wort chiller. You can easily learn to brew, and brew well, without a chiller, but when you are ready to start adding equipment to a basic homebrew kit, this is one of the first pieces to consider. With a wort chiller you will be able to brew as much as your kettle can hold (you will still need some headspace for foam) and your stove burner can bring to a boil in a reasonable amount of time. The more dilute/bigger the boil volume, the less kettle caramelization. Less caramelization = cleaner flavor and lighter color. (Boiling a larger amount of water with this method will also increase hop bitterness, due to lower specific gravities during the boil, and greater hop extraction.) But for our purposes of brewing quickly, a wort chiller equals the fastest chilling time possible. Set your faucet to the temperature you want chill to, and in about 15 minutes you are good to go. I use a 25-ft. (7.6-m) copper immersion chiller. It’s easy to clean and I’ve used it for 15 years. I expect to list it in my will.
• Thermometer. I use a metal clip-on thermometer to brew. I check the water temperature before I steep the grains. When you are using a separate kettle for the grains I aim for 1.25 quarts (1.18 L) of water, per pound
of grain, heated to 167 °F (75 °C) or so. I have a stick-on thermometer for the fermenter.
• Fermenter. Time is precious in a two-hour brew. If you plan to use a carboy, have it filled with sanitizer, on the counter, the night before. That way you can simply siphon out the sanitizer into a bucket and sanitize all your other equipment. I prefer to use a large plastic bucket so I can sanitize all my equipment in the bucket (including the bucket) at the same time. That way I can siphon the sanitizing solution down the sink or into something else that needs to be sanitized.
• Liquid Measuring Cup. I use two of these all the time when I brew. You’ll just need one for this brew. Glass is a good choice since you can use all kinds of sanitizer with it. I use it to measure the water for grain steeping. It will hold your grain rinsing water. I also use it at the end of the boil (after sanitizing it) to transfer chilled wort into the fermenter. I have had amazingly little success pouring wort from a kettle into the strainer. Since it is my kitchen and cleaning cabinets is not fun, I now scoop chilled wort one quart at a time.
When I am doing a full wort boil this is especially helpful. Coincidentally, after the wort chiller is removed, the hops will have settled to the bottom of the kettle. The clear wort will easily pass right through the strainer.
The Brew Day
Here’s the breakdown of your brew day and the preparations to be done the night before:
The Night Before
If you are using a carboy, have it out on the counter, filled with sanitizer. If you are using a food-grade plastic bucket then you can sanitize your bucket and all of the other equipment while you are brewing. (You can do this with a carboy as well, but it’s a bit more cumbersome.) Your kitchen or work area should be as tidy and free of clutter as possible. This is not part of the countdown, but it’s nice to just walk in the kitchen or wherever you brew and get right to business. Have your equipment out. Double check your ingredients. Is your yeast ready? Do you need to make a starter or activate a yeast? Can you get your recipe into your notebook or
app ahead of time? The better prepared you are, the quicker you can get
to brewing.
Brew Day
The timer is set: Two hours. (Follow chart below.) In one kettle measure the grain water and heat it to
167 °F (75 °C). I target 1.25 quarts (1.18 L) of water per pound of grain. In your larger kettle heat 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water to a boil. While that happens, siphon sanitizer into a bucket and rinse carboy (if you ferment with a carboy) or fill your brew bucket with sanitizer. Double check your ingredients (do you need Irish moss?) Get the steeping grains ready in a muslin bag.
When the grain water is ready, shut off the heat and place grains in the kettle. Set the timer for 30 minutes. When the large kettle is boiling, shut off the heat and stir in the extract. Your target volume will be about 3 gallons (11 L) of wort. Variation: When I use dried malt extract (DME), usually for very light colored beers, I find it is easier to add water to the extract instead of the DME to the water. I pour the DME into my dry brew kettle and use the faucet sprayer to get the DME wet. I stir as I spray and the dried malt dissolves quicker. When I am satisfied nothing is stuck to the bottom, it goes on the burner.
When the large kettle comes up to a boil, set your timer for 50 to 55 minutes. I haven’t found that decreasing the traditional hour boil time does any harm. An extra 10 minutes means a lot in a two-hour brew. (However, as I mentioned earlier this can increase the risk of that creamed corn flavor, so if you’re not comfortable with that risk you don’t have to take it. You’ll just be adding a few more minutes to your brew day.) Meanwhile when the grains have steeped for 30 minutes they are ready to go in the big kettle. You are also following a hop schedule, so don’t forget the hops!
Bring one quart of water to 170 °F (77 °C) (I do this in the microwave). Remove the grain bag and set in the strainer over the kettle. Rinse the grains with hot water and let the bag drip for a couple of minutes. After a few minutes put the grains aside to compost and bring the grain tea to a boil. This will keep the large kettle boil going without a temperature drop.
When you get a chance, drain and rinse your sanitized brewing equipment. (I’m not going to get into the rinse/no rinse conversation here.)
The last 15 minutes of the boil is the time to place the chiller into the brew kettle. Any picking up/tidying before the chiller is connected that can be done, should be done now.
The Timer Rings
Your boil should be done, all hops added. Chiller is in the wort, sanitized. Equipment is ready. Connect your chiller and bring the wort down to yeast-pitching temperature. This should take about 15 to 20 minutes.
Once you’re chilled it’s time to pitch. If everything has gone to plan then your wort should be chilled, topped off, and ready for the yeast with about five minutes to spare. This is the official clean up time.
Basking in the Afterglow
You did it! Two hours for two cases of homebrew — small price to pay. I never said this was going to be the most relaxing brew you’d ever make, but when you really need to brew this might work for you. It’s time to have a homebrew and relax — cheers!
Two-Hour Extract Countdown
2:00 hours
In large kettle: Dried Malt Extract (DME); pour into dry kettle, spray water to blend about 2 gallons (7.5 L); stir well or Liquid Malt Extract (LME); heat 2 gallons (7.5 L) of water to boil, remove from heat, add extract, stir well to blend
1:55
In small kettle: Heat 3 quarts (2.8 L) of water to 165 °F (74 °C)
1:50
In large kettle: Top off boil kettle to 21⁄2 gallons (9.4 L); bring to boil
In bucket: Fill with sanitizer & sanitize equipment
1:40
In large kettle: Set timer for 50 minutes, start adding hops to water
In small kettle: Shut off heat, add grains , stir well, cover, and steep for 35 minutes
1:20
In small kettle: Heat up 1 quart (1 L) of water to 170 °F (177 °C) in microwave for grain rinsing
1:05
In big kettle: Add immersion chiller to kettle to sanitize
In small kettle: Pull out grain bag, set grain bag in strainer and rinse. Bring grain tea to boil and add to big kettle
In bucket: Strainer goes in sanitizer
1:00
In big kettle: Main boil is done, start chilling
In bucket: Start rinsing other equipment not in use
:15
Wort is chilled, transfer to fermenter
:10
Top off fermenter as needed; pitch yeast
:05
Finish cleaning up
:00
Time for a well earned homebrew!
Two-Hour Recipes
Two Hour Brown Porter
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.050 FG = 1.013
IBU = 32 SRM = 30 ABV = 5.4%
Ingredients
5.25 lbs. (2.4 kg) amber dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Fawcett’s pale chocolate malt (250 °L)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) amber malt (22 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) UK crystal malt (60 °L)
8 oz. (0.23 kg) WeyermannMunich II malt (9 °L)
6 AAU Phoenix hop pellets (50 min.)
(0.75 oz./21 g at 8% alpha acids)
5 AAU East Kent Golding hop
pellets (30 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5% alpha acids)
5 AAU East Kent Golding hop
pellets (10 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5% alpha acids)
Wyeast 1187 (Ringwood Ale) or White Labs WLP005 (British Ale) or Safale S-04 (English Ale) yeast
1⁄2-2⁄3 cup of priming sugar for lighter level of carbonation, as style requires (if bottling)
Step by Step
In a large brewpot, combine dried malt extract with 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water, stir well. Top up to 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water and bring to a boil. Add hops per the schedule in the ingredients list. At the same time,
in a small brewpot, heat 3 quarts (2.8 L) of water to 165 °F (74 °C). Shut off the heat, add the grains, cover and steep for 35 minutes. Heat up 1 quart (1 L) of water to rinse the grains. Pull the grains out of the brewpot, place in a strainer and rinse with your hot water. Bring the grain tea to a boil then add to the main kettle.
When the boil is finished, chill the wort to to 60 °F (16 °C) and pitch the yeast. For step-by-step timing, refer to the brewing countdown on page 32. Bottle or keg as preferred.
German Style Pilsner
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.047 FG = 1.012
IBU = 32 SRM = 4 ABV = 4.7%
Ingredients
2.7 lbs. (1.2 kg) extra light dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) German pilsner malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) US or German white wheat malt
4 oz. (0.11 kg) flaked barley
1.7 lbs. (0.77 kg) honey, preferably domestic
4.3 AAU Perle hops (50 min.)
(0.5 oz./14 g at 8.5% alpha acids)
5.7 AAU Hallertau Tradition hop
pellets (30 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5.7% alpha acids)
2 oz. (56 g) German Hallertau or Czech Saaz hops (or one of each) (1 min.)
Wyeast 2042 (Danish Lager) or WLP830 (German Lager) or Saflager S-23 yeast
3⁄4 cup priming sugar (if bottling)
Step by Step
In a large brewpot, combine dried malt extract with 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water, stir well. Top up to 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of water and bring to a boil. Add hops per the schedule in the ingredients list. At the same time,
in a small brewpot, heat 3 quarts (2.8 L) of water to 165 °F (74 °C). Shut off the heat, add the grains, cover and steep for 35 minutes. Heat up 1 quart (1 L) of water to rinse the grains. Pull the grains out of the brewpot, place in a strainer and rinse with your hot water. Add the honey to the grain tea, stir and bring the grain tea to a boil then add to the main kettle. Chill wort to 60 °F (16 °C), pitch, aerate periodically until fermentation starts, then chill to 53–58 °F (12–14 °C) for the duration of primary fermentation. You can do both primary and secondary at these temperatures. Bottle or keg as preferred.
