Pilsen malt and boil time

I am planning on brewing a Kolsch (mini-mash)...I'm using pills malt and thought I needed a 90 minute boil to avoid DMS. However, looking through the recipe database, most people brewing this style that utilized pils only boiled 60 min.

What should I do? I would love to only do 60min for time sake, but I don't want DMS. One other important factor to keep in mind is I don't have a wort chiller so I use an ice bath and top off with cold water. I think I usually get down to about 70 within 30 minutes.

daveooph131 said:

I am planning on brewing a Kolsch (mini-mash)...I'm using pills malt and thought I needed a 90 minute boil to avoid DMS. However, looking through the recipe database, most people brewing this style that utilized pils only boiled 60 min.

What should I do? I would love to only do 60min for time sake, but I don't want DMS. One other important factor to keep in mind is I don't have a wort chiller so I use an ice bath and top off with cold water. I think I usually get down to about 70 within 30 minutes.

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DO the 60 minute boil. Make sure it is a nice hard boil though.

70F in 30 mins. is plenty fast. You should be just fine.

The Pol said:

DO the 60 minute boil. Make sure it is a nice hard boil though.

70F in 30 mins. is plenty fast. You should be just fine.

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So when would you need a 90 min?

If you're using a large percentage of Pils malt it's a good idea to do a 90 minute boil to drive off DMS. That limits the amount produced after flame out that isn't driven off while the wort is being chilled. If you can chill quickly then it's not so important to drive off DMS during the boil as it's not staying in the ideal range long enough after flame out to produce it.

I'm not sure exactly what defines "quickly" so will boil for 90 minutes to be safe. I'm also not sure if it is something to worry about with a mini mash.

Yah, I missed that.... you are doing a mini mash.

If you were brewing AG, the recipe would call for a 90 minute boil.

If you ask around, some people will say that 90 minute boils are not so necessarry even with Pils malt.

In a mini mash, you are not mashing enough grain for it to probably matter much.

I know guys that 60 minute boil thier Pils based beers and then NO CHILL them, with no detectable DMS. Chew on that.

Hmmm. I guess I'm just nervouse about blowing a batch with DMS. I'm kind of torn, b/c I don't want to waste money on a recipe.

daveooph131 said:

Hmmm. I guess I'm just nervouse about blowing a batch with DMS. I'm kind of torn, b/c I don't want to waste money on a recipe.

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Then just boil for 90 minutes, it wont hurt if you do... the only difference is time.

Sorry last comment on this before I go forward with the brew. I'm using 5# of Pilsner Malt, compared to 2# extract.