Well for one my OG, all my specs for the beer color, bitterness, ect. Depending on the equipment profile I use either my own which i know is wrong or a default beer smith 5gallon extract equipment profile.
The directions clearly call out 2.5 gallons of water to be heated to 170 degrees and steep the special grains for 20 mins. Then boil 60 min adding hops at specif times, chill fast as possible, and add 3 gallons of cool water. To fermenter to bring up to 5 gallons. Pitch yeast and add airlock. Wait 4 days then transfer to secondary, wait two weeks and bottle.
If I take the same recipe that I bought off line from northern brewer and add it to my beer smith using the add on feature and use a 5g pot extract equipment profile then it throws everything off. Says I need to start out with 4.8 gallons of water steep grains, boil 60 min... Ect ect.
My numbers are then way off. My question is why?
I don't want to waste this kit if at all possible.
The first time out with an extract kit, I would not worry about entering the numbers in BeerSmith before you brew. Follow the NB recipe, with a couple of small changes.
Steep the grains in water up to 165°F, just in case your thermometer is not calibrated. Tannins can be extracted form the grain husks when the water pH is over approximately 6.4 and the temperature is at or over 170°. Remove the grains before raising the heat to begin the boil.
You will need more than 5 gallons of volume to brew 5 gallons of beer. Fermentors should be at least 6.5 gallons, and you may still need a blow off tube, depending upon the yeast used and the fermentation temperature. The clear plastic fermentor with the thermometer strip is possibly the best choice. Fill it with exactly 5 gallons of water, mark this level with good tape. Siphon this water into the buckets to establish their volume capacity and mark the 5 gallon level.
Bottling buckets often have a spigot to attach a spring tip bottling wand to, with a 3 inch tube. Makes bottle filling super easy.
Racking to a secondary after four days is one of NBs old generic recipes. Racking to a secondary before fermentation is complete can cause problems. A lot of brewers are not using a secondary unless their are additions like fruit or oak chips. Beer finishes and clears just as well in the primary given two to three weeks.
Keep everything that touches the wort post boil sanitized.
Aerate the wort well.
Look up the yeasts optimum fermentation temperature.
Control the fermentation temperature. Yeast produces heat as it works on the sugars.
The yeast will not work according to a time schedule, they will be done when they are done.
Stouts can take some time to really reach full potential in the bottle. Try your first one after conditioning, at room temperature, two weeks + two days refrigeration. Check another a week later. Save a few bottles for tasting at three months.
Now you have time to go back into BeerSmith and enter numbers and perhaps tweak the recipe based on the brewing experience, flavor, and body of the stout after drinking the first couple.
