Boiling a no boil recipe

[Spirk]

I picked up a Mountmellick Brown Ale kit from the home brew store down the street and intended on brewing my first batch tonight. When I was checking out, the guy at the store told me to boil all five gallons instead of just using warm water like the recipe states. I've done a bunch of research over the past couple hours and I've learned that no boil recipes aren't as good as the ones that require boiling. My 8 gallon pot is on the burner right next to me and I'm anxious to get started.

 

[superjunior]

the volume of wort boiled affects hop utilization. doing a full boil will increase your ibus. also take into account what will be lost in the boil. I'd start with 6 gallons

 

[Spirk]

I guess I don't know enough to start brewing yet. I looked up IBUs but I have yet to find how a full boil will affect hop utilization. The propane burner set off the fire alarms in the basement so I have plenty of time to learn before I try again tomorrow.

 

[superjunior]

I guess I don't know enough to start brewing yet. I looked up IBUs but I have yet to find how a full boil will affect hop utilization. The propane burner set off the fire alarms in the basement so I have plenty of time to learn before I try again tomorrow.

ibu = international bittering units. the higher the number the more bitter/hoppy your beer will taste. in a typical kit recipe where they call for 2.5 gallon boil than topping off with another 2.5 gallons at the end, the ibu's are calculated for the 2.5g. boil. boiling more than 2.5 gallons will increase the ibu's and they will decrease if wort volume is less than 2.5 gallons. thats why a lot of people using these kits opt for a full boil instead of the 2.5 g. the recipe called for. btw, you'll probably want to let your beer sit in primary and bottle condition longer than the kit recipe advises, but that's a different thread. hope this helps

 

[RobotWerewolfLabs]

I don't think this is accurate. A no-boil recipe usually has hops in the liquid malt extract (LME). That's different to boiling hop pellets. Boiling it will boil off the aroma hops, which are usually added at the end of the boil so they don't boil off. You just want to pasteurize your kit in hot but not boiling water.

I think I heard about his on the podcast BrewStrong, a very recent one on kit beers. Might be worth a listen.

 

[bullinachinashop]

Unless you have a really good exhaust system in place, don't use a propane burner in the basement.

 

[superjunior]

I don't think this is accurate. A no-boil recipe usually has hops in the liquid malt extract (LME). That's different to boiling hop pellets. Boiling it will boil off the aroma hops, which are usually added at the end of the boil so they don't boil off. You just want to pasteurize your kit in hot but not boiling water.

I think I heard about his on the podcast BrewStrong, a very recent one on kit beers. Might be worth a listen.

you are correct. I was refering to extract kits with specialty grains. when I used these kits I started doing full boils to up the bitter factor

 

[dlester]

Do not use a propane burner in your basement!!! You could kill yourself. Good luck.

 

[Spirk]

Thanks for the info. I had the sliding glass door and side window open on one end, and the bathroom window open on the other end of the basement. The breeze was freezing me out so I closed the sliding glass door. That's when the fire alarms went off. No big deal, I can brew on the patio outside the basement. I'll use the stove for this kit since I'm not boiling anything.