First of all- I'm NOT insane...

[ckelly999]

Greetings all- I have an unusual question for the group...

I enjoy brewing German Hefeweizens in the summer, I try to make them as easy as possible so I typically use an extract recipe. The problem is, whether I use dry or liquid extract, the beer always comes out a lot darker than my target (should be between SRM 2 and 8, according to style guidelines), it looks more along the lines of a Dunkelweiss; it's tasty, but this has been bothering me for some time now. I attribute this to one of 2 things: I figure it's either caramelization of the malt sugars during the boil, or during the processing of the malt extract.

Here's my question: has anyone ever tried adding the extract AFTER the boil? I figure, boiling only the hops should convert the acids to their desired state (depending on boil time); once the hops are boiled, I would think you can add the extract and just have it dissolve in the hot water, then proceed as normal...

Any opinions on this?

Thanks in advance for all responses.

CK

 

[jekeane]

many people add extract during the last 5-10 minutes of the boil.

 

[Rockn_M]

Adding extract in the last 5 minutes of the boil will sterlize the extract and make sure it's dissolved. This will also help keep the wort from darkening.

 

[WayFrae]

Try adding 20% of your extract at the start of the boil and then the remaining 80% with 10 minutes left in the boil and it should help with the darkening. The darkening is caused by the maillard reaction which is the same type of reaction that causes toast to change color.

 

[Yooper]

Add 1 pound of extract per gallon of water boiled in the boil kettle, and then add the rest of the extract at flame out. At flame out, it's plenty hot to sanitize, and won't give you a 'cooked extract' color or flavor.

Use the lightest extract you can find- extra light DME would be the first choice for the extract, plus your wheat DME.

 

[agrazela]

Extracts are darker than you'd think because the concentration process browns them. Dry malt extracts are typically not as dark as liquid, because liquid extract continues to brown as it sits simply because there is water there for reactions to take place in.

Aside from that, as said, add the bulk of the extract late, as late as after the heat is off but the wort's still hot (to aid dissolution). The longer you boil extract (or any wort, really), the darker it will get.

Also bear in mind that extract only has to be heated to sanitization. So you could boil only long enough to get whatever bittering you need from the hops (although you'd need to increase the hopping to account for reduced boiling time), you don't need 60+ min for the extract's sake.

 

[ckelly999]

Thanks all, I've been brewing for years but have never considered this until now.

Other concerns-

1- Do I need to adjust the hop quantities? Since there will be no other "stuff" in the boil, I would thing that the theoretical yield would be higher than in a concentrated wort.

2- The next recipe I'm making calls for Irish moss at 45 min, should I just skip this, or add the malt extract AND the Irish moss at this time? Will it make any difference?

CK

 

[Barley_Bob]

1- Do I need to adjust the hop quantities? Since there will be no other "stuff" in the boil, I would thing that the theoretical yield would be higher than in a concentrated wort.

2- The next recipe I'm making calls for Irish moss at 45 min, should I just skip this, or add the malt extract AND the Irish moss at this time? Will it make any difference?

CK

1 - This is what the prescribed 1lb per gallon of extract is for. It allows for the utilization of the hops.

2 - Irish moss is optional. If you're doing a full boil to utilize all your hops as normal, you could add it at the standard interval. But I really don't think it's necessary for you to use it at all, especially given that most of your extract is going in at the tail end of the boil.

 

[Cyclman]

Or, go to BIAB brewing, and you don't have to worry about extract issues. Burner + Pot + Bag = AG brewing.

 

[unionrdr]

Irish moss, Whirlfloc & the like are added near the end of the boil, not 45 minutes that I ever heard of. I've don PM wheats & AE ones as well. Adding most of the extract at flame out, or all of it in the case of PM, really does help a lot in getting lighter, cleaner color & flavor.

 

[Barley_Bob]

Irish moss, Whirlfloc & the like are added near the end of the boil, not 45 minutes that I ever heard of. I've don PM wheats & AE ones as well. Adding most of the extract at flame out, or all of it in the case of PM, really does help a lot in getting lighter, cleaner color & flavor.

I read that as adding his Irish Moss 45 minutes into the boil. A few people write their notes that way. But, you're right, 15 minutes into the boil would be way too soon, and it's worth checking that's what he means.

 

[podz]

Hefeweizen is drop dead simple to make from extract. There's really no need to be cooking it; that only over-complicates matters.

I made one earlier this summer and it turned out so good: around 6% ABV, excellent color, taste, and head. Hops were at the perfect level with nothing more than dry hopping of Hallertau pellets.

Here is my "recipe" and process.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/advice-coopers-wheat-beer-kit-473527/#post6108352