Is one hour written in stone?

BPD · 10-21-2008, 02:19 AM

for extract brewing was wondering why 1 hour.

is it for the extract to cook, even tho it is already predone?
or
is it for the hops to render their oils for bittering?

if for the hops and not the extract can the extract be added at 30 min or 20 min after starting to boil the bittering hops to minimize the "twang "flavor? would it change the end flavor much?

or is it a combination of both and both need to be cooked/boiled for 1 hour?

Zymurgrafi · 10-21-2008, 02:23 AM

Hop extraction. You can save some of the extract to add towards the end to minimize the caramelization but you need some sugars in there I believe in order to isomerize the hop oils.

**nukebrewer** · 10-21-2008, 02:25 AM

It's not really necessary to boil for exactly one hour, but it seems logical. An hour is long enough to extract the bitterness from the hops but not so long as to boil away the flavor and aroma from the finishing hops. The only reason for boiling the extract, as far as I know, is to pasteurize it. I don't know from personal experience, but yes, it is said that the extract late method, as well as using DME vice LME can reduce the twang that many brewers notice in extract brews. Hope that helps.

-AJ

TeleTwanger · 10-21-2008, 02:56 AM

to get the bitterness out of hops. After 60 minutes you don't really get any more bitterness, or at least the utilization drops off dramatically so there's no use in boiling more than 60. The only time I do 90 minutes boils is when using pilsner malt.

You could boil less with extract because you don't have to reduce the wort like AG batches. You just need to adjust the hop amount/schedule.

mkquinn · 10-21-2008, 03:14 AM

If the malt is already pre-bittered, you should boil at least 20 minutes to pasturized it.

If you add malt later in the boil, you will need to remove the pot from the heat during this addition to avoid scorching. However, I don't think there would be an advantage in doing it this way. Best to add it at the beginning.

yeoldebrewer · 10-21-2008, 04:44 AM

Maybe this answers questions I had about DME. Is it boiled for flavor, or just for pasteurization and hops utilization?

Flyin' Lion · 10-21-2008, 09:52 AM

Homebrewer_99 has a method for reducing the boiling time by reducing the amount of boil volume and increasing hops (I think). It's been some time since I read it and with all grain you boil the full volume anyway. So shoot him a PM if you're interested in this method, I searched through his threads and could not find any reference.

Hope that helps.

**SenorWanderer** · 10-21-2008, 11:00 AM

hop utilization has an inverse relationship to the amount of sugar in solution. the more sugar you have, the less bitter the the wort will be. if you're making a pre-measured kit beer or following someone else's recipe then it's best to follow the directions exactly so you don't change the intended bitterness levels. but, if you're writing your own recipes for all extract beers you could save a lot of hops by boiling just the hops in water, thus maximizing utilization, and adding the extract at the end of the boil. i don't know if anyone actually does this, but you get the point. as mentioned above, adding extract late reduces caramelization and so can reduce malty flavor, increase fermentability, and decrease color of the finished beer.

**dataz722** · 10-21-2008, 01:59 PM

I have been doing extract full boils and I do not add any extract until 15 minutes left in the boil. You get MUCH better hops utilization like this so much so much that I was following a recipe but it said to add the extract in the begining and I waited until 15 minutes left and the beer was ALOT hoppier than it should have been. I actually prefered the way it came out though. I am not home right now so I cant give you an actual example but in Beersmith it will actually figure out the difference in IBUs for a late extract addition and it is surprising how much it can be.

**jkarp** · 10-21-2008, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SenorWanderer

hop utilization has an inverse relationship to the amount of sugar in solution. the more sugar you have, the less bitter the the wort will be.

Actually, according to John Palmer, gravity has no impact on hop utilization. Just volume and time.