Boiling wort for 30min to hrs before hops.

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Hello all,
I've been poking around in attempt to get an answer to this question. If it's been answered before, I apologies, but have researched and not able to discover the answer.

In some recipes, specifically those with longer boil times like 90min to 4hrs (barleywines), hops don't get added until 60min prior to end, as for most brews. What does this additional boiling time do to the beer characteristics?

I've been eyeballing such recipes and curious on your experiences.

Thanks!

 

[Teromous]

Mainly it is done to boil down volume for high gravity beers. Because you are using more water to collect more extract from the grains, you are left with an increased volume of wort that you need to reduce. There are various effects. For one, it starts to caramelize the wort and darken the color. Because of the higher gravity it will also be thicker and sweeter. You will have increased melanoidin resulting in more malt flavor. Because of the increased gravity from the long boil, your hop utilization will also be lower.

 

[tally350z]

One other reason some boil before hop additions is when using Pilsner malt. The extended boil drives off DMS..

 

[NervousDad]

I always boil for 90. it allows me to check my gravity after 30 minutes. I can then make adjustments based on how my boil is going...

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Perfect. Thanks for your thoughtful answers. One question for NervousDad. Do you see issues between a pre-boil gravity check and a during- boil check? If so what have you run into?

 

[Keith_O]

Good to know, I had been wondering... lol

 

[NervousDad]

Perfect. Thanks for your thoughtful answers. One question for NervousDad. Do you see issues between a pre-boil gravity check and a during- boil check? If so what have you run into?

I have a general estimate for my boil off. But there are so many things that can affect it. Like, almost empty propane,wind, weather. So I boil for the half hour and check my gravity to see how many points I went up. I can then either adjust my boil accordingly or adjust with DME or adjust my hops and make more beer

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Thanks. Something to look for from now on.