Late Addition Extract Kit Questions

Brewed a batch of NB Phat Tyre Extract Today... all went well until I realized I didn't follow directions. I foolishly added the 6lbs Munich Malt at 60 min instead of doing it at 15 min. Nothing I can do now, but I am curious how this will change the beer. Also, I am curious to learn the reasons behind why they call for the late addition.

Thanks!

The main difference is hop utilization. By adding it at 60 minutes, you had a higher boil gravity, which means lower hop utilization, which means a slightly less bitter beer (not that it's a bitter style to begin with). Once the mistake was made, you could have boiled for longer than 60 minutes to offset this.

Also, the beer can be darker with a long boil. That's usually an issue with pale beers.

All told, this wasn't a big mistake.

Adding the extract early will make the beer a little less bitter because the higher sugar will prevent the hops oils from being extracted as efficiently. But I'm sure the beer will still be fine. The main reasons for doing late extract additions is to reduce the occurrence of some Maillard reactions that can lead to some off flavors. That said, my limited experience is that late extract additions have helped my beers, but I would not say definitively that adding early "ruined" any of them. Stay focused on maintaining good ferm temps, be patient, and the beer will probably be great.