Could a 30-min extract brew with 2-oz of hops be "better" than a 60-min extract brew with 2-oz of hops (all other things considered equal}??
I feel that a rolling boil for 30-45 minutes should produce just as good as one that boils for longer. But what do I know??
Yes, it could be "better"! But not the same.
There is a technique called "hop bursting" that you might find very interesting! In hop bursting, ALL of the hops are added at 20 minutes or less left in the boil. That means using lots more hops, as you get far less bittering out of them, but it means far more hops flavor and aroma.
A traditional hop schedule is like this;
60 minutes (bittering)
15 minutes (flavor)
5 minutes (aroma)
And that works. You don't get every single last bit of possible bittering out of 60 minute additions, but you get the vast majority of possible IBUs. That's why there isn't much of a benefit in boiling the hops longer.
Fifteen minute additions are great for flavor- you get most of the great hop flavor out of that addition, and not so much bitterness. The aroma additions might not give you much, if any, bitterness, but instead it will give you great aroma because the hops oils haven't had a change to isomerize.
Using that information, and adding ALL of the hops later changes the beer by "hop bursting". You can see why it would have tons of hops flavor and aroma, since the hops didn't have a change to "turn into" bittering hops although there is bitterness present.
I did a hop-bursted APA recently with this hops schedule:
1.00 oz Amarillo [4.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 8.4 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [9.60 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 18.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo [4.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 5.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [9.60 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 10.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo [4.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 0.0 IBUs
That's all the hops- 5 ounces total, and IBUs of 42. It was a great beer!