Late addition for extract?

[snarf7]

I've seen some recipes where they break up the adding of the extract, often in half. So say the recipe called for 6 lbs of extract, it might specify 3 lbs at the start of the boil and the other 3lbs as a 'late addition'? What does this mean exactly? How late is late? And what effect does it achieve on the end product?

Happy Thanksgiving all!

 

[agrazela]

You’ll get more hop bitterness extraction (utilization) from your lower-gravity early wort, and less overall browning / darkening of the batch just due to less sugar being exposed to heating time.

Just so long as your late add extract sees some boil to pasteurize, last 3-5 min of the boil is fine.

 

[Pappers_]

What s/he said ^^^^^^ And just to emphasize, you will lose the boil, probably, when you add in the late addition extract, so you'll need to bring it back up. If you're doing partial volume extract (where you top off the wort with water at the end) that's not a problem, but if you're doing full volume, it might impact your boil off amount and your final volume.

 

[madscientist451]

Extract is already boiled, you can add it at flameout if you want to.
If extract goes to the bottom of the kettle and sits there, it can get scorched, so its actually a benefit to add it when the heat source is off.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

you can add it at flameout if you want to.

Basic Brewing Radio has been doing a number of "no boil" hop tasting experiments. IIRC, 1 gallon carboy, 1 pound DME, heat the DME to a boil then remove the heat, add 1/2 to 1 oz hops for a hop steep. I have a nice Citra session IPA-ish recipe based on this concept.

If extract goes to the bottom of the kettle and sits there, it can get scorched, so its actually a benefit to add it when the heat source is off.

The Brewing with Briess web site has a blog post (link available upon request) where they suggest adding DME at flame-on (not the start of the boil, flame-on). This technique also shows up in Chapter 1 of How To Brew (4e) as part of the wort a/b (partial boil with late additions) concept. I've tried this (adding DME at flame-on) a couple of times, it's easier than adding the DME at the start of the boil and I have not seen a noticeable impact on the final beer.

 

[masskrug]

Interesting. How long is the hop steep? Do you have to maintain a certain temp?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Interesting. How long is the hop steep? Do you have to maintain a certain temp?

I don't remember the Basic Brewing Radio process. So what I'm doing may be different from their approach.

I brew this a couple of different ways depending on if I'm looking for a more NEIPA-like result or a more traditional IPA result.

Ingredients: water and DME to yield around a gallon of wort at OG 44-ish (pale ale) or 60-ish (IPA), around an ounce of hops, US-05 yeast.

Process: add all the DME at flame-on. When the wort starts to boil, cut the heat and add hops based on the following approaches:

Approach 1 (NEIPA-like?): 20 minute hop stand at 180* F. Bring the wort to a boil, lower the heat until the wort temperature gets to around 180* F. Add hops. Let it sit for 20 minutes. Chill rapidly to pitching temperature. Temperature control doesn't need to be precise. I get good results with a 175 - 185 temperature range. Also, I've read that some people will stir the wort to simulate a whirl pool. I just toss the hops in.

Approach 2 (IPA-like?): add the hops at flame-out (rather than cooling the wort to 180 before adding the hops). Let the kettle sit until wort temperature cools to around 170* F (around 20 minutes?). Chill rapidly to pitching temperature.

Please note that I'm not doing anything original here, just talking about what I'm currently doing.

 

[masskrug]

Cool. I am currently trying a low ABV (3%) extract beer. My boil time is already 20 minutes, so this is not saving me too much time. I'm wondering if the hop presence is any different with these temps.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I'm wondering if the hop presence is any different with these temps.

This link should be a good overview: https://beerandbrewing.com/the-best-way-to-use-whirlpool-hops-in-homebrew/

My boil time is already 20 minutes, so this is not saving me too much time.

Agreed. I currently don't boil (or hop steep) for less than 15 minutes. Either of the "no boil" hop steep approaches can be viewed as just a lazy way to try out hops or make SMaSH-style beers. No time savings over a 15 minute boil - just tastefully different results.

If one is interested in shorter time frames (say a five minute boil, followed by a rapid cool down): Basic Brewing Radio, November 1, 2018 (IBUs vs Wort Gravity and Hop Stand Temps) may be of interest.