Boiling Time

[GeorgiaBeer]

Im new to home brewing and would like to know how the boil time effects the flavor of my extract beer. Does more time give more or less hop taste? More bitter or less bitter?

 

[unionrdr]

If you have an extract kit that has you doing your own bittering addition,Add no more than half the extract off the heat & stir till dissolved. Back onto the heat & when it boils,add your bittering addition. Set timer for 1 hour. This first addition stays in for the whole hour,& will be reduced to bittering only. Flavor additions are about the last 20 minutes,aroma the last 5 or at flame out.

 

[bobbrews]

What style of beer are you brewing? Are you using a kit?

Boiling wort is normally required for the following reasons:

1. Extracts, isomerizes and dissolves the hop α-acids
2. Stops enzymatic activity
3. Kills bacteria, fungi, and wild yeast
4. Coagulates undesired proteins and polyphenols in the hot break
5. Evaporates undesirable harsh hop oils, sulfur compounds, ketones, and esters.
6. Promotes the formation of melanoidins and caramelizes some of the wort sugars (although this is not desirable in all styles)
7. Evaporates water vapor, condensing the wort to the proper volume and gravity (this is not a primary reason, it's a side effect of the process)

The longer the boil of wort containing hops, the more bitterness those hops will impart. Hops added around 20-15-10-5-0 and dryhop will also impart bitterness, but not as much as your earlier 90-60-30 minute additions. You mostly get flavor and aroma from the late additions since the volatile aromatic compounds, oils, etc. are not rapidly boiled away and destroyed.

Extract is made from wort that was pre-boiled under pressure and subsequently dehydrated. Anything more than a 60 minute boil with extract beers is not recommended. You may even get by with a 20-30-45 minute boil if you use primarily extract. But some styles will require the full 60 minutes for the purposes of isomerizing the hops and creating higher levels of IBUs, among other reasons.

 

[Nightstalker]

edit ... some people type faster than I do so instead of saying the same thing they did I just removed everything LOLOLOL

Good luck

 

[GeorgiaBeer]

I am using a prehopped extract if that helps.

 

[GeorgiaBeer]

I am using pre-hopped extracts with no bittering additives.

 

[unionrdr]

Pre hopped extracts usually have bittering,some with bittering only. Like Cooper's OS cans. They have bittering only. NEVER boil pre hopped extracts,as it destroys the hop profile. that's why i use plain DME for the boil to do hop additions. Half a 3lb bag in s 2.5-3 gallon boil for hop additions. Then add the remaing DME & the cooper's can at flame out, Stir till completely dissolved,cover & steep for 15 minutes to pasteurize. The wort will still be at 180F+ at that point,& pasteurization is at about 162F.

 

[GeorgiaBeer]

Ok. Thank you.

 

[detlion1643]

The instructions that came with my pre-hopped kit said to bring water to a boil, remove from heat and add the HME. It said nothing about times, so I followed the instructions being my first kit, brought to a boil and removed...

I always read on here that if we do our own hop additions, we need to boil for about an hour, so I figured since it was already hopped, I wouldn't need to do that. However, unionrdr, you say not to boil a pre-hopped. What's the difference?

 

[unionrdr]

Pre-hopped extract malts have been put through the whole process already. Boiling them again destroys the hop profiles brewed into the extract originally. So I save the hopped extracts for the end. I use plain DME in the boil for flavor/aroma additions in this case. Then add remaining DME & all the pre-hopped LME at flame out & stir till mixed. It's still plenty hot enough at 180F+ to pastweurize,which happens about 162F.
The difference in boiling pre-hopped extracts is darker color,some "extract twang",& the flavor will be sort of plain,or bitter if the extract had flavor additions.