Boil time for extract brews

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Shambolic

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How long should an all-extract brew be boiled for?
Is it different for a brew with some dextrose (corn sugar) in place of malt?

The reason I ask is that my most recent brew (an all malt German style lager) is not clearing at all well (I ended up bottling it somewhat cloudy). I think the problem may be that I didn't boil for long enough.

Actually, come to think of it, I didn't use any Irish moss in the boil either. Should I do so from now on?

(Yes yes, I'm very new to brewing - it was my fifth brew)
 
I try to time all my boils for 1 hour. I add hops and Irish moss the last 15 mins and hop again with 5 min left. Pretty standard blueprint for a boil. I guess I'll play with it a little more when I start conjuring up my own recipes instead of following others.
 
Shambolic said:
How long should an all-extract brew be boiled for?
Is it different for a brew with some dextrose (corn sugar) in place of malt?

The reason I ask is that my most recent brew (an all malt German style lager) is not clearing at all well (I ended up bottling it somewhat cloudy). I think the problem may be that I didn't boil for long enough.

Actually, come to think of it, I didn't use any Irish moss in the boil either. Should I do so from now on?
My LHBS recommends 30 minutes for an extract batch, but Palmer and most others say 60 minutes, tho that's primarily for maximum hop utilization.

Your clearing problem is more likely related to a lack of an adequate cold break than too short a boil. Did you chill the wort to room temperature quickly?
 
I tried a "late brew" a couple of batches ago. It's still in the primary. Maybe I'll rack to the secondary tonight. Not certain if I have the time.

Anyway, I boiled 1.5 gals water and only 1 lb of extra light DME with 1 oz hops for 45 mins (to get the hop utilization without carmalization/color).

At that time I added 5 lbs of malt, re-hydrated Irish Moss and more hops. Then boiled for a full 15 mins.

I'll keep you posted on what happens next and how it turns out. :D

I will be out of town for the next 2 weeks though.
 
Shambolic said:
How long should an all-extract brew be boiled for?
Is it different for a brew with some dextrose (corn sugar) in place of malt?
i would try to do a 60 minute boil. it's good for hop utilization, color, and hot break. i do 90 minute boils on my batches. it's tuff for extract brewers who can't get a 6 - 6.5 gallon wort to boil down to 5 gallons. you want to boil as much of the 5 gallons as possible.

i have only recently used irish moss in 1 brew. IMHO, it's over rated. but, that's just me. :D use good racking techniques and your beer will be plenty clear.
 
i got my latest issue of Brew Your Own at lunch in the mail, and it has a big story on the best ways to improve your extract brews. you extract guy's may want to check it out..........
 
I was told at an AG training class (but applies to extract as well) that you should boil about 15 minutes before you add any hops to achieve your hot break. Then go to your normal boil schedule. This was commentary from a brewmaster who was monitoring the class. So for me that's 15 minutes (or whenever the hot break occurs) and then I start the timer for 60m.
 
DeRoux's Broux said:
i got my latest issue of Brew Your Own at lunch in the mail, and it has a big story on the best ways to improve your extract brews. you extract guy's may want to check it out..........

Got mine in the mail today and noticed that. Was going to post here, but you beat me to it! ;)
 
Rhoobarb said:
Got mine in the mail today and noticed that. Was going to post here, but you beat me to it! ;)

Man...I got mine a week and a half ago!!!

The issue before this month's was AWESOME. Some good stuff in this issue too though.
 
desertBrew said:
I was told at an AG training class (but applies to extract as well) that you should boil about 15 minutes before you add any hops to achieve your hot break. Then go to your normal boil schedule. This was commentary from a brewmaster who was monitoring the class. So for me that's 15 minutes (or whenever the hot break occurs) and then I start the timer for 60m.


I need to do more research on hot and cold break. Everyone makes such a big deal out of it and I'm not getting it. :confused:
 
Okay, what do hot and cold break mean?

Also, so far I have only been able to boil a small amount of the total brew. That means that most of the wort is made up with cold water, so I get room temp. virtually instantly that way...

I need to get a big brew pot...
 
yep, i've read that to desertbrew. i do 90 min boils, and start my hop addtions @ 75 min. i did the numbers on ProMash, and adding bittering hops @ 75 min vs. adding @ 60 min was not a difference. "they" say it helps to boil off any chlorine or other chemicals used in muni waters too......
 
The hot break is when the proteins in the wort coagulate and drop to the bottom of the brew pot.

Cold break is when the wort is cooled rapidly, and it causes further proteins and other undesirables to precipitate out of the liquid.

Ideally, you want to leave both the cold and hot break out of the fermenter, since they offer nothing other than potential for off flavors and sediment in the vessel.

My hot break is never obvious to me, but I know it happens, because the crud is on the bottom of the pot.

My cold break 'seems' obvious to me. I dump my hot wort (3 gallons) into a bottling bucket and drop in 2 gallons of ice made and stir. The temp drops to about 80 degrees in a matter of minutes, and then I let it set for 20 minutes while the solid stuff drops to the bottom of the bucket.

Then I rack to my big carboy, pitch the yeast slurry, and off she goes.

-walker
 
or, after the wort is cooled to about 80 degrees, do a big whirlpool w/ your stainless spoon and let that hot/cold break settle out for about 15 minutes, then rack/transfer to the primary. all the goo will be on the bootom of the pot from the whirlpooling effect. that's what the big boy's do.......

soory rhoobarb, didn't mean to rob your thunder!
hey orrelse, it takes a while for the pack mules to reach SE Texas! we usually get our Christmas cards by Mardi Gras :~)
 
i believe this is true. that foam is what eventually sinks to the bottom, so removing it shoudl reduce the amount that sinks. :D

However, I don't know if you will be removing any 'good stuff' if you do this.

-walker
 
Walker said:
My hot break is never obvious to me, but I know it happens, because the crud is on the bottom of the pot.

Re Hot break: When you get your boil started and the foam building up settles into the boil (only see wort again) is when you've achieved your hot break.

Quote from Palmer Below:

Palmer said:
A foam will start to rise and form a smooth surface. This is good. If the foam suddenly billows over the side, this is a boil-over (Bad). If it looks like it is going to boil over, either lower the heat or spray the surface with water from a spray bottle. The foam is caused by proteins in the wort that coagulate due to the rolling action of the boil. The wort will continue to foam until the protein clumps get heavy enough to sink back into the pot. You will see particles floating around in the wort. It may look like Egg Drop Soup. This is called the Hot break and may take 5-20 minutes to occur, depending on the amount of protein in your extract. Often the first hop addition triggers a great deal of foaming, especially if hop pellets are used. I recommend waiting until the Hot break occurs before doing your first Hop addition and timing the hour. The extra boiling time won't hurt.
 
This coming from a relative amatuer....... but on advice from this board when I asked about improving clarity of my finished beer I have started to skim all the foam off the top of my wort as it forms in the brew kettle. I have noted a substantial reduction in the volume of "stuff" that gathers on the bottom of the brew pot AND a substantial reduction of the volume of settled out material in my primary when I rack to secondary. And oh, my finished beer clarity is much better.

I am VERY much a "relax, don't worry, have a home brew" type brewer, but it is cool to play around with different techniques and see how they effect my beer!

Gilbey
 
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