Full 60 min boil for only late hop schedule?

Do I still need to do a 60 min boil if I'm only adding hops at 20 min and onwards?


edit: i should mention I'm doing all-grain

I'll try to give a basic answer. The reason for doing 60 min boils is for the following:

1.) hop utilization ie. the longer you boil the more bitterness/flavoring you get from the hops
2.) in most cases you cant extract a proper gravity wort from just mashing. So boiling down some of the water to increase your gravity is necessary.

All grain, I'd be concerned about DMS creation/removal and final volume. A 20-minute boil would only remove 25-30% of the DMS. (wiki).

yes you need to do a full boil time. there is more going on in a boil than just hops isomerization. there are mallard reactions going on in the wart itself. these reactions affect the malt flavor profile of the beer and its color.

TipsyDragon said:

mallard reactions

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Is that what you get when you tickle a duck?

From the BJCP Study Guide:

Boiling wort is normally required for the following reasons:

1. Extracts, isomerizes and dissolves the hop α-acids
2. Stops enzymatic activity
3. Kills bacteria, fungi, and wild yeast
4. Coagulates undesired proteins and polyphenols in the hot break
5. Evaporates undesirable harsh hop oils, sulfur compounds, ketones, and esters.
6. Promotes the formation of melanoidins and caramelizes some of the wort sugars (although this is not desirable in all styles)
7. Evaporates water vapor, condensing the wort to the proper volume and gravity (this is not a primary reason, it's a side effect of the process)

1-4 wouldn't be a problem in this case, but 5-7 could.

wildwest450 said:

Is that what you get when you tickle a duck?

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yes. yes it is. you didn't know that was part of brewing did you?

SporkD2 said:

I'll try to give a basic answer. The reason for doing 60 min boils is for the following:

1.) hop utilization ie. the longer you boil the more bitterness/flavoring you get from the hops
2.) in most cases you cant extract a proper gravity wort from just mashing. So boiling down some of the water to increase your gravity is necessary.

Click to expand...

A full 60 min boil is necessary for all grain to cook off the DMS from the grain.

If you were doing an extract then the 20 mins would suffice.