Late Addition Question

Hey friends -

I use a lot of LME, but was looking to avoid the darkening affects of the LME as well as the "extract twang" that is oft mentioned. A common solution to these problems is the late addition from what I've seen, but I have a quick question about it...

If it's a 60 minute boil, if I want to add my extract say with 10 minutes left, do I pull the pot off the burner, stop the clock, add the extract, return to a boil then start the clock again?

OR

60 min boil - 10 min left - yank it off the pot, add the extract all the while the clock keeps ticking as the wort is still fairly close to boiling temps???

Any advice would certainly be appreciated, as always. Thanks!!!

I only count the time the wort is boiling as 'the boil'. If I remove from heat to add extract, which I almost always do with LME, I bring it back to boil then restart the timer. You can also the LME at flameout.
Another pointer to avoid the 'twang' is to use the freshest LME available. Usually something like Midwest's or NB's house brand is super fresh.

I would stop the clock when pulling off the heat and adding the LME. Then bring back to boil and start the clock. It's primarily for the hop additions. But honestly, if it's a quick transfer, it probably wouldn't matter either way you did it. At least not noticeably.

I just add the rest of the LME at flameout and let it steep with the aroma hops for a few minutes before chilling

I would just add it with 15 minutes or less remaining. As long as the extract comes in contact with boiling wort, it will ensure the extract is sanitized. I typically add the extract while the pot is on the heat, I just add some while stirring. It seems like others briefly remove the kettle from the heat which isn't a bad idea. I've heard that darkening is more of an issue with the liquid malt extract, but I'm not entirely sure that's correct.

I just listened to an episode of Basic Brewing Radio from 11/17/05 - Difficult Brews and Extract Tips. About half way into the show there is an interview with Bob Hansen from Briesse Malt. Bob mentions that the twang flavor from extract is really only apparent as the extract ages. If you can get fresh extract, that should lessen your concerns about the twangyness. Basically if you use fresh extract it will taste just like the wort it was made from. But I understand that we're limited to what the LHBS has or what the kit contains.

Do you have to add any lme in the beginning or can you add it all at the end?

You want to add some to help with the hop isomerization.

Newb question #8456... Something I'm not clear on, will the effectiveness of bittering hops added at the start of the boil be impacted by adding a bunch of LME and some DME at the end of the boil?

Kaotica said:

Newb question #8456... Something I'm not clear on, will the effectiveness of bittering hops added at the start of the boil be impacted by adding a bunch of LME and some DME at the end of the boil?

Click to expand...

Nope. It'll only affect the isomerization of the hops added after the late extract add.