Check it out - I made beer! 15-minute Pale Ale

[John Sand]

That is very cool.

[natural320]

lots of good ideas flowing!

I keep almost doing that bulk mash & save idea. still havent tried it though. in theory, you are simply making your own "extract", and with proper sanitation and storage...yeah, you are right. there is no reason it would not be a success. well, obviously since you are doing it already!

and with a measuring tool like a refractometer or hydrometer, mix and blend until your heart is content. just figure out the gravity and bitter accordingly.

[mashani]

lots of good ideas flowing!

I keep almost doing that bulk mash & save idea. still havent tried it though. in theory, you are simply making your own "extract", and with proper sanitation and storage...yeah, you are right. there is no reason it would not be a success. well, obviously since you are doing it already!

and with a measuring tool like a refractometer or hydrometer, mix and blend until your heart is content. just figure out the gravity and bitter accordingly.

There are or at least were European homebrew companies selling 5 gallon bags or boxes of wort that you literally can pour into a container and pitch yeast into. So I figured if they can do that successfully, then I can do the bulk mash PM thing without any trouble, it's the same principle, except I'm splitting mine up and using it as PM base for multiple batches. So I tried it and yep, it works great. I wouldn't try to store what I make at room temperature though, that would probably be bad no matter how much I try to keep everything sanitized in my house. But storing it in the fridge and/or freezer, it's worked great for me. So great that I keep doing it. I do it all the time. It lets me due true PMs a lot more often then I would otherwise.

[John Sand]

I made a quick batch tonight. I haven't brewed since early April, and I have only one keg standing by. (Two on tap) I was busy with my niece much of the day, but after 5 I started thinking I might fit in a batch before dark. I did the mash, I did the partial mash, the partial mash. The method I think I described above in which I started the extract boil right after I started the mash, adding the mashed wort later. I think I actually started gathering gear and grain about 5:30, and was back in my chair at 8pm. I used too much water for a 40 minute boil, ending up high on volume, low on gravity. I don't know if I will adjust yet.

[bpgreen]

Not quite as quick as some of the brews here, but I decided to brew a batch at around 10 PM. I bought a bunch of almost expired cans of malt from BrewDemon a while back, and decided to do a "lagale." A lagale is my term for an ale that I brew with a clean ale yeast at the low end of its fermentation temperature in an attempt to mimic a lager (more or less).

Usually, that means Nottingham in the low to mid 50s (Don't bother telling me its range is 57+; it excels at 50-55). For this batch, I'm using M44 because temps in my basement will be in the 60s.

I brought about two quarts of water to a boil with 2 oz of saaz pellet hops and added one can of wheat DME. I mixed it up and brought it to a boil. After 23 minutes, I added 18 g of homegrown hallertauer and boiled for another 7 minutes.

It's all extract, so I won't bother with a gravity check.