A Basic starting the Boil question...

dstranger99 said:

How do you guys do your boil using a partial grain extract kit?

I've been putting the grains in cold, and warming up the water to 154 degrees where I let the grains sit for about 45 minutes to 1 hr before taking them out and adding the extract.

Should I wait until the water gets to temp, and then add the grains, or does it matter going in cold?

I'm just trying to fine tune some things......Thanks..

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dstranger99 said:

Perfect! Thanks.

What about liquid extract? Alot of these kits tell us to pour it in, bring to a certain temp and boil for an hour. But since this extract stuff has already been boiled once when it was made, why boil it again for so long ? Your thoughts Yoop?

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Yooper said:

I'd add the LME at flame out. If the recipe is all LME, I'd add maybe a little at the beginning, but the bulk of it at flameout.

As an example, say you have 2 pounds of DME and 3 pounds of LME. I'd add the DME at the beginning, after bringing the water to a boil, and add the LME at flame out. If the whole recipe is say, 6 pounds of LME, I'd probably add 2 pounds LME at the beginning, and the rest at flameout.

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jwalk4 said:

I'm curious because I don't do this, yet.... Why do you at the LME at flameout? Would you recommend the same for DME?

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unionrdr said:

Using LME in a 1 hour boil adding all at that time can cause darkening. Not to mention that extract twang that is mentioned so much. Late extract additions help prevent this. LME darkens far easier than DME. That's why,in my recipes,I use half the 3lb bag of plain DME in the 2.5-3 gallon boil for hop additions.
Then the remaining DME & all the LME at flame out. I've found that his prevents twang & gives a lighter color.

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dstranger99 said:

When using an extract kit, when would be the best time to add the 1/2 gallon of LME ? As Yooper mentioned I could use some at the start, and the rest at the end, but what's confusing me now is the hop additions. The kits tell me to add 1 pack (flavor) during the last 30 minutes, and the final pack (bittering) at the last 5 minutes. How would you guys do it ?......

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