2nd Brew, Mild Ale -- late DME and bitterness?

[gregjohnston]

Had the day off from work today, so I spent the afternoon brewing this up. Not from a recipe, but based on a Northern Brewer blog post.

Extract:
1 lb. Munton's Light DME - 45 minutes
3 lb. Munton's Light DME - 15 minutes

Steeped for 30 minutes at 160-155 F:
8 oz. Brown Malt
4 oz. Dark Crystal

Hops:
0.75 oz Kent Goldings - 30 minutes
0.25 oz Kent Goldings - 15 minutes

Danstar Nottingham yeast


One question: I did the late DME addition to minimize any color and flavor effects from Maillard reactions during the boil. Unfortunately a little knowledge is a dangerous thing... I'm not sure I totally understand the effect this has on bittering. What's the deal, here?

 

[MI_Dogman]

Was it a full wort boil or partial?

If it was a partial it would make sense for the later addition, because your boil gravity would be lower during the main boil. The lower boil gravity allow better utilization of your hop Alpha-acids to isomerize into your wort. Then adding the rest of your DME towards the end is just long enough to pasteurize and bring the gravity to the intended target.

A full boil dose not need the later DME addition, because the gravity is not to high for hop alpha-acid utilization.

Basically, from what I understand. The higher your boil gravity the harder it is for you hop alpha-acids to absorb into your wort.

Hope this makes sense.... I'm still pretty new, but that's what I understand.


FOR THE LOVE OF BEER!!

 

[gregjohnston]

Yeah it was just about a 3.5 gallon boil for a 5 gallon batch. Actually it ended up at 5.5 gallons but I nailed the OG at 1.038...total coincidence!

Thanks for the thoughts. Makes sense to me.

 

[dkevinb]

For either full or partial boils the late addition will help avoid excessive darkening of the wort, which would not be an issue in this case. Some people also claim they can detect a "cooked extract" flavor if all the extract is boiled for the entire time. I've never noticed it, but that may be me. For partial boils adding some/most of the extract later helps increase your hop utilization by lowering the boil gravity.

Good luck! Sounds like a nice beer.

 

[gregjohnston]

Just by way of an update: this beer is pretty good for what it is. But I've found out to my chagrin that this is WAY too much brown malt for my taste buds. The brown malt toastiness is the main flavor. I'd probably double the crystal malt and quarter the brown malt (or drop it entirely) next time around.

Nothing like brewing to learn about brewing!