Why boil wort for 30 min before hops?

I've heard of late malt addition, and I've heard of having a little malt in to help the bittering hops do their thing, but what is the point of boiling the wort for half an hour after the specialty grains have been removed but before any hops? I 've used and seen recipes that call for it. Combine that 30 minutes with an 80 minute long hop schedule and you've got quite a long boil. Thanks.

For an extract batch, that doesn't make any sense at all. I've never seen a recipe like that. I guess the originator of the recipe would have to tell you why! There isn't any reason to do that.

Can you post a sample recipe for us to look at, to see if we can figure it out? I mean, something weird like pilsner malt in the steeping grains could be the reason I guess.

Oh, and welcome to the forum, by the way. I've been to Perry once. (And no, not to the big sex shop by the highway!)

YooperBrew said:

Oh, and welcome to the forum, by the way. I've been to Perry once. (And no, not to the big sex shop by the highway!)

Click to expand...

Oh really?

7.5lb Muntons LME
0.5lb crystal 20L
0.5lb aromatic malt
0.5lb carapils
2/3 oz centennial pellets
1.25 oz cent
1.25 oz cent
1 oz centennial whole hops
1 tsp. irish moss
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale)

Directions:
Steep specialty grains in 3 gallons of water at 150 degrees F for 45 min. Remove grains, add 7.5 lbs. LME.
Bring to boil for 30 minutes., then add the 2/3 oz. of hops. Boil 40 min. and add 1.25 oz of hops and Irish Moss. Boil 15 min., add 1.25 oz. of hops. Boil 5 minutes. Cool to 70 degrees F. transfer to fermenting vessel with yeast. Ferment at 68 degrees F until complete (7-10 days). Transfer to secondary with 1 oz. of whole hops. Hold one week, rack into bottles or keg with corn sugar. Age for a few weeks.
O.G.: 1.062 (the last two batches I did it came out to 1.046 and 1.042, hmmmm)
F.G.: 1.008

The flavor of this one tastes somewhat underwhelming before the dry hopping but after that, mmmmm. Sounds like alot of steeping and boiling though.

There's no reason to boil it for 30 minutes before adding the hops.

Most recipes are written like this:'


0.5lb crystal 20L
0.5lb aromatic malt
0.5lb carapils

7.5lb Muntons LME

2/3 oz centennial pellets 60 minutes
1.25 oz cent 20 minutes
1.25 oz cent 5 minutes
1 oz centennial whole hops dryhop

1 tsp. irish moss 15 minutes

Wyeast 1056 (American Ale)


which is what your directions say, except that it's confusing the way it's written.

You mash the grains in water (1.25-1.5 quarts of water per pound of grain), in water thats about 150-160 degrees for about 45 minutes. Then you remove the grains, pouring 170 degree water over them to rinse, then bring it up to a boil and add your extract.

When I do my hopping, I set my timer for 60 minutes. At the time remaining, I add the hops as indicated. So, your 15 minute hops are added when there is 15 minutes left on the timer for example. It's the same procedure, but much less confusing!

I wonder if the author is wanting to make sure that the "hot break" is reached as Palmer explains it here:

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter7-2.html

Maybe it took them 30 minutes to get it boiling from steeping temps?

Another possibility is this was converted from all-grain and the longer boil time was for volume reduction.

Could it be that extended heat on the wort would add a caramel note?

Might be a color issue too.
I think that I remember seeing an Evil Dead Red recipe that called for a certain amount of time of boiling of the wort before the hops were added to get the color of the brew a deeper red color. Without the extra boiling time to the wort, the brewer explained, the beer would come out lighter in color.

just my two cents
Redbeard5289

I agree, its important to at least factor it in. Boil time is an important part of a recipe. Some of my recipes have 60, 75, and 90 minute boil times and I have good reason for them. If you want to shorten the boil time, you need to make other adjustments like water amounts, hop additions etc. Even then it won't taste QUITE the same. Color, flavor, bitterness are the factors most involved.