Hello guys,
I am rather new to the brewing scene and will do my third batch this weekend. Earlier batches have been 1x coopers lager prehopped LME (basic stuff) and last one was 19L own recipe DME extract recipe.
Last brew, I basically boiled my hops in plain water for 45min for "bittered hop tea" and then simply mixed my DME in cold water in the fermenter, then added the hop tea and topped off.
As I grow more experienced though, I strive to improve my process. This time, I have a 10L pot (large pots are extremely hard to come by here in Finland, especially ones that fit our induction stove). Last time I only had a 5L one. Because of the extra room, I am this time considering boiling some of the extract (mix it before the boil as it clumps easier when boiling), then bring it to a boil, add hops and boil for 60min and so on. Then maybe add the rest of the DME 15min from the end, or just straight in the FV. I am using 2.5KG of DME, no steeping grains nor LME.
My questions are now these:
- I have heard that boiling hops in just water is not the best, as the utilization suffers. Is this true or is it somewhat a myth, and to what extent?
- How much DME will I have to boil (in KG please), in order to get good utilization of my hop boil (considering above question is true)?
- If you guys suggest boiling DME is a good thing (either all or some), how much water would you suggest is sufficient per unit of DME? For example how much water for dissolving 1kg of DME? 50-50 ratio? This ratio may limit my ability to boil all DME, due to the size of my pot.
- I assume calculators (recipe), assume that the worth has fermentables in it when boiling hops? This affects the amount of hops needed to reach my IBU target, yes?
Excited to hear your opinions on the matter. I know a lot of these questions are debateable and subjective, but I am still to form my own opinion. Initial thoughts are that I would like to test boiling some of the DME this time, as last time I boiled none. Just to get experience and see the difference. Maybe 1KG DME in, pre-boil (bags are 500g each).
I am rather new to the brewing scene and will do my third batch this weekend. Earlier batches have been 1x coopers lager prehopped LME (basic stuff) and last one was 19L own recipe DME extract recipe.
Last brew, I basically boiled my hops in plain water for 45min for "bittered hop tea" and then simply mixed my DME in cold water in the fermenter, then added the hop tea and topped off.
As I grow more experienced though, I strive to improve my process. This time, I have a 10L pot (large pots are extremely hard to come by here in Finland, especially ones that fit our induction stove). Last time I only had a 5L one. Because of the extra room, I am this time considering boiling some of the extract (mix it before the boil as it clumps easier when boiling), then bring it to a boil, add hops and boil for 60min and so on. Then maybe add the rest of the DME 15min from the end, or just straight in the FV. I am using 2.5KG of DME, no steeping grains nor LME.
My questions are now these:
- I have heard that boiling hops in just water is not the best, as the utilization suffers. Is this true or is it somewhat a myth, and to what extent?
- How much DME will I have to boil (in KG please), in order to get good utilization of my hop boil (considering above question is true)?
- If you guys suggest boiling DME is a good thing (either all or some), how much water would you suggest is sufficient per unit of DME? For example how much water for dissolving 1kg of DME? 50-50 ratio? This ratio may limit my ability to boil all DME, due to the size of my pot.
- I assume calculators (recipe), assume that the worth has fermentables in it when boiling hops? This affects the amount of hops needed to reach my IBU target, yes?
Excited to hear your opinions on the matter. I know a lot of these questions are debateable and subjective, but I am still to form my own opinion. Initial thoughts are that I would like to test boiling some of the DME this time, as last time I boiled none. Just to get experience and see the difference. Maybe 1KG DME in, pre-boil (bags are 500g each).