Boil time and hop flavor

[Yeastie]

I have a question regrading a scenario I may deal with. I will be brewing an IIPA and I was wondering what if after I have added all the hops and the boil is done I realize my OG is too low. If I remove the hops can I continue boiling or will this drive off the aromas?

Would it be better to just boil to OG then add hops and add water to dilute it?

 

[Yooper]

You wouldn't want to boil after your hops are all added in- that would give you a very bitter beer, since the flavor and aroma hops then became bittering additions if boiled longer.

What I do is take a preboil gravity. Chill the sample, and see where you are. If you're at, say 7 gallons and within 8-10 points of your hoped-for gravity, you can assume that you'll be fine when you boil off 1.5 gallons. If you're low, you can either boil more before adding the hops (but end up with less beer) or you can add some DME to bring up your gravity and boil as planned.

 

[Yeastie]

The flavor and aroma turn bitter after boiling even when the hops have been removed?

What is the standard boil off per hour (I have a 10 gallon pot and this burner)

It has 185,000 BTUs.

 

[FlyingHorse]

What is the standard boil off per hour

There's no standard, as a lot of factors come into play. Most people on this board seem to get bewteen 1.0 and 1.5 gallons per hour.

 

[FlyingHorse]

The flavor and aroma turn bitter after boiling even when the hops have been removed?

And the flavor and aroma won't "turn bitter", as different compounds from the hops are responsible for aroma, flavor and bitterness. If you remove the hops, additional boiling will drive off pretty much all of the aroma, and you'll lose some flavor as well (and I assume at least some of the alpha acids that have got into solution will contribute some IBUs, too). The hops you've pulled out will be useless for additional aroma or flavor. So you'd have to come up with new hops for your flavor and aroma additions.

How far off is your OG? If it's anywhere close, the best bet is probably to RDWHAHB.

 

[david_42]

You would end up with a classic Extra Special Bitter. All of the flavor/aroma would be gone.

So, you've got an extra large batch of IPA, is that a problem?

 

[Yeastie]

Well the problem was I did all my hop additions but after 1 hour of boiling I had considerably more wort than my target so I removed the hops and boiled for an extra hour. I am afraid that was a mistake.

Next time should I boil the wort until I get very close to my target OG then add hops and add water to dilute if necessary?

 

[peter4jc]

Just out of curiosity, and so that this n00b can avoid the same mistake... if you don't mind saying, how did you wind up with too much wort?

Maybe adding the hops at three different times during the boil would safeguard against this; if the last addition was at flameout maybe it would be more apparent that the kettle was too full and then kept out until you boiled down before adding the hops.

Regardless, you'll have good beer, and I'll bet this will never happen again.

 

[Stevorino]

On a bigger beer like an IPA, if it was remotely close (within 5 points), I'd just be happy with it and let it go. It's hard to hit your OG perfectly every time until you are pretty experienced and have your process down.

The best thing would probably be to just have some DME on hand and if you are low, add a bit and call it a day. If you are high -- damn boy, you got yourself a big beer

 

[maztec]

I have, only once, boiled up an extra-intense second batch, got it to the hot break, then added it to the first (increasing volume even more), stirred it in, boiled ten more minutes to make sure it was sanitized, and called it good. It worked, but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Spludge]

Next time just wait till your within 1 gal. of target volume and then add boiling hops/start 60 minutes.

Personally I don't get excited over a Gravity reading that is not dead on, as long is it's close I don't worry.

PeterJC is right, flameout hops are not a problem just add when your done.