does beer lose flavor as it boils?

[short_bus_rider]

I've noticed that I'm losing a lot of water volume as it boils. I'm I losing any flavor or anything else

 

[Hogarthe]

no, it actually gains flavor. there are malliard reactions taking place, the sugars being boiled are being changed, the hop acids are being isomerised to give bitterness.... some styles of beer benefit from boiling for a longer time, to increase all these flavor enhancements.

 

[lumpher]

the boiloff is steam... very hot water. wort + water = bmc . wort - water = good tasty homebrew

 

[short_bus_rider]

Thanks was a little worried. First brew Irish red ale

 

[GeorgiaTiger]

well technically, if you boil beer it may lose taste. Boiling wort, however, makes it better. Sorry, had to do it. It isnt beer until its got yeast in it.

 

[short_bus_rider]

well technically, if you boil beer it may lose taste. Boiling wort, however, makes it better. Sorry, had to do it. It isnt beer until its got yeast in it.

Lol thanks

 

[shaggy727]

This leads me to a technique question. Is it better, worse, or indifferent to boil a larger amount so it boils down to the 5 gallons in the boil time or add water to get the batch size up to the 5 gallons? I know some recipes have a boil size and I assume that is the actual water volume to boil but a little unclear for me on always getting the right final size.

 

[Qhrumphf]

As a general rule, starting with enough wort (usually 6-7.5 gallons depending on equipment and boil length) to have the full volume after the boil without topoff is ideal. Although if a recipe is designed for a smaller boil followed by top-off, the hopping rate will likely have to be adjusted if you're doing a larger boil, since you'll likely extract more bitterness from the hops.

 

[helibrewer]

This leads me to a technique question. Is it better, worse, or indifferent to boil a larger amount so it boils down to the 5 gallons in the boil time or add water to get the batch size up to the 5 gallons? I know some recipes have a boil size and I assume that is the actual water volume to boil but a little unclear for me on always getting the right final size.

The issue gets more dramatic with high gravity all grain recipes since a large volume of mash and sparge water lead to large boil volumes for the same batch size. My Belgian Dark Strong had about 10 gallons in the kettle for a 6 gallon batch, so there's a lot to boil off, you just have to watch your hop timing.

Your best bet is to boil then take you post boil gravity reading. If it's low, adjust with DME or boil longer, if it's high adjust with water. I'm more concerned with the proper starting gravity than the exact volume.