Tweaking my technique

I'm wondering if there is a better or recommended way to do certain parts of the boil? Any help or opinion is appreciated.

Specifically I was wondering about when to add the extract when extract brewing, when the water begins to boil or before. Currently I do it before it comes to a boil as I'm heating up the water, and assume that's fine. I'd imagine it would rush up pretty quick if you added alot of extract to boiling water.

Is there any other parts to the boil or any other techniques that you use to get better beer? I'm not talking about equipment like using wort chillers, glass instead of plastic, I'm talking about the little things, or techniques, that are a part of your process that many of us beginners would benifit from.

Thanks in advance, this forum is gold. Tons and tons of knowledge here.

There's really no reason that I know of to put the extract in any longer than is necessary to sanitize it. It doesn't really hurt to put it in early but it can caramelize it a bit and make your beer darker.

You might run searches on terms like "late extract". A klot of us add tghe bulk of our malt extracts with ~15 minutes left in the boil.

Actually, I think homebrewer_99 adds his at flameout.

If put a lot of extract in and turn the heat on you are _likely_ (no offense) to carmelize - darken- some of it, throwing off the color and taste of your beer. Most malt extract will produce a little hot break if you bring it to a boil.

You can also save a little money on hops if you add most of your extrct late in the boil. In recipes/ American Pale/ EdWort's Haus jump to page 12 for an example.

You really want to keep your gravity at about 1.040 for best hop utilization.

How much water you boil really is an important variable.

I boil 1.5 gals which reduces to about 1 gal after 60 mins.

I add 1 lb of DME when the water is getting warm. If you add DME to really hot water without stirring right away you'll just get a large clump of taffy.

Then I add my hops. If I am making a Hefe Weizen I only use 3% AA. My Hallertau hops are 6% so I only need to use 1/2 oz (think about it...1 lb of 6% lasts me for 32 batches!!). That is a very small amount of hops compared to some recipes that recommend up to 3 oz.

Boil for 45 mins, remove from heat then add all the remaining DME to the pot and let steep for the last 15 mins to sterilize/pasteurize. The late addition of the (already once boiled) extract keeps the color really light.

My usual practice it to place 4 gals of PUR filtered tap water in the freezer for 4-5 hours prior to brewing and top off to 5.25 gals. The overall temp drops into the 60s and ready to pitch yeast within minutes.

I don't know how much water you boil so I don't know how to recommend a technique that will work for you.

I like the idea of adding the DME/LME late in the boil and understand, now, that if I boil it the full 60 min that it could effect the color and taste.

Here's and example, to see if I'm on the right track.

Amber ale- Ingredients 6lbs amber LME, 1/2 oz hops(boiling), 1/2 oz hops bittering, and 1 whirlflock tablet.
Steep my grains for 30 min in 1 gallon of water for 1lb of grains.
Sparge my steeping grains with 1 gallon water at 150 degrees.
Add four more gallons to make six gallons and raise heat to bring to a boil.
Add 1 lb amber LME and 1/2 oz hops at boiling.
After 45 minutes add 5 lb amber LME, whirlflock tablet and 1/2 oz bittering hops.

Am I tracking???

I get the sense that this is a style thing. Some people like to boil a small amount, some people like to boil the LME/DME for the full 60 minutes, some only 15, ect.

Homebrewer 99: You only boil 1.5 gallons? I'm new so forgive me. That's alot of extract for such a small amount of water. Hopefully you can fill me in on the ins and outs of your technique.

ndhowlett said:

I like the idea of adding the DME/LME late in the boil and understand, now, that if I boil it the full 60 min that it could effect the color and taste.

Here's and example, to see if I'm on the right track.

Amber ale- Ingredients 6lbs amber LME, 1/2 oz hops(boiling), 1/2 oz hops bittering, and 1 whirlflock tablet.
Steep my grains for 30 min in 1 gallon of water for 1lb of grains.
Sparge my steeping grains with 1 gallon water at 150 degrees.
Add four more gallons to make six gallons and raise heat to bring to a boil.
Add 1 lb amber LME and 1/2 oz hops at boiling.
After 45 minutes add 5 lb amber LME, whirlflock tablet and 1/2 oz bittering hops.

Am I tracking???

I get the sense that this is a style thing. Some people like to boil a small amount, some people like to boil the LME/DME for the full 60 minutes, some only 15, ect.

Homebrewer 99: You only boil 1.5 gallons? I'm new so forgive me. That's alot of extract for such a small amount of water. Hopefully you can fill me in on the ins and outs of your technique.

Click to expand...

OK, second thing first.

Yes, I only boil 1.5 gals, but I only use/add/boil 1 lb of DME in it -- not all the malt called for in the recipe. That would make the worts gravity high and reduce the bitterness extraction from the hops.

If I steep 1 lb of grains (giving me 2 gals of water once sparged) then I'll add 1/2 lb DME to get the gravity up to around the 1.040 level then add the bittering hops.

For your recipe I would do similar to what you described: Amber Ale:

Steep grains for 30 min in 1 gallon of water with 1lb of grains.
Sparge grains with 1 gallon water at 150 degrees.

Since steeping is only about 40% efficient I would add 1 lb of LME to the boil and add the bittering hops.

At this time I/you would only have 2 gals of water in the pot.

Boil 45 mins. Remove from heat. Add remaining malt and dissolve. Add whirlflock tablet and any aroma hops (if used). Steep for 15 mins. Done.

But since you are using 6 gals of water then adding all your malt in the beginning it will/should not adversely affect your color or gravity any/much.

If you decide to do a late extraction (reducing the amount of malt boiled) while boiling 6 gals of water your hop bitterness extraction will change making the brew slightly more bitter than expected/anticipated. If you are a hophead and brewing an IPA for instance that situation is not a bad thing.

It is difficult for me to advise you on exactly what your technique should be because there are too many variables that I do not know about in your situation. I can only tell you what my process is.

For instance, do you use a wort chiller? I do not. I top off with the water placed in the freezer. Could this technique work for you? Certainly, but a chiller would not be necessary because you are not boiling the full 6 gals of water.

If you have a chiller and can place some water in the freezer for a couple of hours my recommendation would be for you to boil 2-3 gals of water (whatever the total of the steep/sparge water would be) then add 1 lb of malt for every gal boiled plus the hops recommended for the recipe. Boil 45 mins. Remove from heat. Add remaining malt/hops and steep for 15 mins. Sparge hops out of wort (I use a net on my bucket) and top off to 5.25 gals. Then use your wort chiller to reduce the temp.

But that's only one way to do it. Then again, none of these processes may be right for your situation/set-up. Only you can decide that.

I hope I didn't confuse you too much. Feel free to ask more questions.

Have you noticed any difference in taste when you use a smaller quantity in the boil, compared to a full 6 gallon boil (because 1 gallon boil off over 60 min, making five gallons)?

Thanks for the help!

Not at all. I always top off to a minimum of 5.25, sometimes 5.5 gals, but not too often. With racking, taking readings and samplings I always get to bottle/keg a full 5 gals.