Why add half extract at boil, half at knockout?

I've recently brewed my first successful batch, an amber ale. I learned most of what I now know in the book "How to Brew". It's a great book, but I noticed in his recipes he often instructs you to add half of the extract at the beginning, and the other half as you take the wort off the heat at the end.

Can anyone explain to me why you would do this? Only thing I can think of is the 2nd half avoids the hot break... so I guess you would have less proteins for a lighter mouthfeel, while still having fermentable sugars?? But that's purely a guess, I don't know a whole lot yet.

If that's the case though, I don't see what keeps you from adding it all at the end, after you've boiled the hops...

any insight is appreciated.

My guess is that if your boiling a low volume...like 2 gallons...you would avoid scorching and come out with a cleaner, more clear beer? Just a guess.

Well, boiling with 3, then adding 2 in the bucket, yeah.

With DME, how would you break down the clumps you get from not boiling? Or is this strictly LME?

This is strictly LME.

I believe his whole point is there's no need to boil the second half because it has already gone through the process before it was transformed into a liquid malt.

I do "late boils" as they are called and actually get a second hot break.

I boil about 1-1.5 gal of water with 1-2 lbs of malt (1 grain and 1 extra light DME) for 45 mins. This keeps scorching (carmelization) down to a minimum which keeps the color of the brew lighter.

I do not get clumps from DME because I turn the heat off and add only 1 lb at a time, stir it in, then add a second or third, etc. The trick is to stir it in and let it dissolve before adding the next lb then boil for another 15 mins. The hot break happens sometimes within 2 mins of the re-boil.

Can anyone explain to me why you would do this?

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lighter color.. If you add the LME or DME and boil it for 5-15 min instead of 60 you get less carmelization and a lighter finished product.

hmm... well why not just add all of it at the end, then? if you wanted it really light, i mean... and don't you need the hot break for something?

rcd said:

hmm... well why not just add all of it at the end, then? if you wanted it really light, i mean... and don't you need the hot break for something?

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I hear you, but I believe the sugars give the hops oils something to dance with during the boil.

The hot break also drives off all the oxygen in the water.

Have you ever noticed that when boiling DME the bubbles rise to the top of the pot. Once you achieve the hot break the water level drops as the bubbles disappear. With DME there's a lot of oxygen around each one of those powder modules that needs to be burned off too.

so are there any drawbacks to adding half at start, half at knockout?

so you get lighter color... that'd be nice sometimes. does it affect flavor or anything, though?

thanks again

You should check out this months BYO. They give a great breakdown of when and why to do late boils.

Here's a link to the article online including recipes:

http://***********/feature/1510.html

edost said:

You should check out this months BYO. They give a great breakdown of when and why to do late boils.

Here's a link to the article online including recipes:

http://***********/feature/1510.html

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thanks mate!

I have never heard it called "late boil" before. I have heard it called the "late extract addition" method. I know I'm just splitting hairs, as you get the idea. There is more benefit to this than just getting a light color for beer styles where this is important. Due to the fact that there is less carmelization, not only will you be able to obtain lighter color, but there is also a flavor component associated with excessive carmelization, like a burnt coffee flavor. That can be desired in beers like porters and stouts, but may not be desired in lighter ales or lagers.

John

edost said:

You should check out this months BYO. They give a great breakdown of when and why to do late boils.

Here's a link to the article online including recipes:

http://***********/feature/1510.html

Click to expand...

Wow, that's a nice article.

johnsma22 said:

I have never heard it called "late boil" before. I have heard it called the "late extract addition" method. I know I'm just splitting hairs, as you get the idea. There is more benefit to this than just getting a light color for beer styles where this is important. Due to the fact that there is less carmelization, not only will you be able to obtain lighter color, but there is also a flavor component associated with excessive carmelization, like a burnt coffee flavor. That can be desired in beers like porters and stouts, but may not be desired in lighter ales or lagers.

John

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good to know. i love this forum. thanks man

good acticle... but why with the "Texas Two-Step" does it take 2 days. Why not just start the 2nd boil right after the first is down?

Cregar said:

good acticle... but why with the "Texas Two-Step" does it take 2 days. Why not just start the 2nd boil right after the first is down?

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By days, I think they mean sessions. You could do one right after the other or have them going on different burners if you wanted.

I don't know why they would suggest that it would take 2 days Cregar. Everyone that I know that uses this method actually has two kettles and boils both halves at the same time on the stove.

John

Cregar said:

good acticle... but why with the "Texas Two-Step" does it take 2 days. Why not just start the 2nd boil right after the first is down?

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I think it might be to give the beer a chance to start fermentation, but like John said I don't see why you couldn't do both the same day.

johnsma22 said:

but there is also a flavor component associated with excessive carmelization, like a burnt coffee flavor. That can be desired in beers like porters and stouts, but may not be desired in lighter ales or lagers.

John

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Yes. This is the biggest reason I do late additions of extract. I did a partial boil batch of APA with LME that got pretty carmelized because I added all the LME at the beginning and the boil volume was pretty low. The brew came out amber in color and tasted distinctly of caramel and toffee. Some people actually liked it, and non homebrewers identified the caramel taste without being told, but in an APA it just wasn't appropriate or what I'd hoped for. Color doesn't mean that much to me, but the right flavor is very important.

monk

I'll just at that you should remember when doing a recipe that you have to take into account the boil method. Most kits tell you to do a 2-2.5 gallon boil. The amount of hops to add pivots on this volume, and if you add the whole bill of hops to say a 4 gallon boil (what I did last brew) then you're going to get a higher hop utilization and could possibly overshoot the bitterness for the style you're brewing. I'm pretty sure I did this with the second to last brew I did, because I have a really hoppy Kolsch. I remembered to adjust it for my latest brew.