HELP what do I do??

I just got neck deep into a John Bull Amber kit and I realize now that it's pre-hopped and a no boil deal. I added DME and 3.3 lbs John Bull Amber, so do I boil it for an hour or what?

if it's pre-hopped and you are not adding any more hops, then just boil it for a few minutes to sanitize it, cool it, pitch the yeast.

-walker

Sweet, thanks Walker. I put in some finishing hops and turned off the burner. I'm gonna cool it now and pitch it tonight. I'm kind of PO'd about all this because I had a recipe all made up the way I usually do it. Live and learn I guess.

So here's the deal: I steeped a pound of crystal grains, sparged and removed, then boiled and threw in the extra light DME. Then I put in the John Bull amber and some brown sugar. The wort started to boil and that's when I read that it was a no boil kit. I threw in the finishing hops and now it's chilling down. Based on that info is this beer gonna be okay?? I don't have to boil the DME very long either?

Your beer will be fine. When I did extract I always boiled the wort no matter what the can said. Sounds like you didn't add any bittering hops so you should be good to go.

I tasted a little of the wort as I was boiling it last night, and DANG - I'd say it was bitter enough from one can of that JB! I'm just glad I didn't add two. When I poured the cooled wort into the fermentor it was nice and red. The only hops I added were right at the end - .5 oz Williamette and .5 oz Kent Goldings. I didn't plan on it but I just chucked them in out of desperation! They smelled great though... Hasn't started bubbling yet, but it's only been 8 hrs. I'm curious to see how this all turns out. As far as I'm concerned with extract brewing though, UNhopped LME or DME is king!

WhatsOnTap said:

So here's the deal: I steeped a pound of crystal grains, sparged and removed, then boiled and threw in the extra light DME. Then I put in the John Bull amber and some brown sugar. The wort started to boil and that's when I read that it was a no boil kit. I threw in the finishing hops and now it's chilling down. Based on that info is this beer gonna be okay?? I don't have to boil the DME very long either?

Click to expand...

The reason these are called "no boil" kits is because they already contain hops.

There are two reasons that the wort is boiled:

(1) to sanitize it (this only takes 10 or 15 minutes to accomplish)
(2) to extract bittering acids from hops (the longer the boil, the more bitterness extracted)

Since your kit was already hopped and is sanitary (it was boiled at the factory before being sealed up), there is no real need to boil it.

Will boiling a no-boil kit cause problems? Absolutely not.

-walker

Pre-hopped kits can be a little confusing. Some of them use hop oils and extracts. Boil, don't boil, it won't make any difference. Some have hops in them and you can adjust the bitterness by timing the boil, just as if you had added the hops yourself. Of couse, you have no idea what kind or how much.

The bitterness should slack off as the ale ferments and ages, less so for hop oils than actual hops.

Then there are the kits that use oils, extracts and hops, like Spring Mountain. That's a punt!

I'm feeling better about the whole thing now that the fog of uncertainty is lifting. I feel confident that the wort is 1.Bitter enough (although I could do a hop tea if it isn't) and 2.Sterile because it got boiled and then cooled off fast.

Actually, when I put it in the primary container I was very pleased with the red color it had, not too dark but definately RED. I think I'll end up with a lighter colored beer with full body and flavor, and that can't be all bad.

This morning I checked the airlock and....nothing. A half hour later, pressure, an hour later, BUBBLES! An hour later, bubbles every 30 sec. and now, another hour later its up to like 10 seconds between bubbles. I'm thinking it's gonna be a fast ride on this one boys!

Sounds like all is well. There is not much bad can happen from boiling wort, and a lot good.

It is for stuff like this that we are all always advised to relax and have a beer!

That's good advice, I've never heard that here before! That sucker is just rockin' and rollin' right now - I came in from the garage and it's bubbling every 4 seconds now.