Partial boil thought

[edsa1984]

So I'm going to do a SMASH partial boil but....instead of adding the hops to the wort I'm going to add to the water I'll boil then cool the night before, adding that into the boiled wort to, a: Cool it and make volume and hopefully, b: Add in the hop flavour, aroma, bittering etc
The style is APA and I realise that some will wonder why I'm doing this, answer is curiosity and to cut brew time but I love to know peoples thoughts or if it has been/gets done by anyone?

 

[billl]

Sounds like a pretty bad plan, but let us know how it turns out. You are going to boil the wort and likely eliminate any hop aroma and flavor.

Also, if you are starting with grain, you still need to boil your wort for about an hour.

 

[day_trippr]

The OP's phraseology needs some work, but if I'm interpreting it correctly, the hops will go into sanitized then cooled water then added post-boil as top-up liquor.

So the hops won't have been boiled at all...which could leave this beer wanting...

Cheers!

 

[edsa1984]

Sorry I'll explain, the water to top up with, will have had the hop additions as the wort normally would in full boils. I always do full boil, all grain beers which (so far) have turned out great and wondered what impact adding the cooled, hop infused water would have.

 

[chickypad]

I don't see how this is a time saver, you're still boiling the wort aren't you? The old wisdom is that you need some sugars in the boil to extract the bittering but as I recall the brew radio guys did an experiment boiling hops in water and adding all the extract later and it seemed to work fine. I would think you would want to boil both the wort and top off with hops though, otherwise you still run into the issue of dilution if you're making a very hoppy beer. You will max out on your IBU's in a smaller volume then dilute them topping off (usually it's the other way around - topping off boiled wort with water, in this case the reverse but should be same effect).

 

[billl]

If you mash/sparge with only a fraction of the water, your efficiency is going to nosedive. If you boil hops in only a fraction of the water, your utilization is going to drop.

So, your plan is going to require more grain than usual, more hops than usual, and a second hour long boil? Not looking like a simplification to me.

 

[edsa1984]

Ok I see some good points being made. I'll have a bash at it and see, ultimately it's an experiment and it may be crap. Whatever happens I'll put it up. The recipe I've made up requires flame out hops anyway so that'll go in at the end, it's the bittering hops that may struggle. We'll see.....

 

[edsa1984]

So I completed the experiment. Some good, some bad. The day I brewed the actual beer was fine but as predicted my efficiency was only 66% when it's normally around 78%. However, the beer has turned out well. 3.9% abv, nice colour and a nice toasty flavour which I'm really pleased about as I roasted 1lb of the malt for the first time. On reflection, the only real benefits were the quick chill due to the very cold, hopped water being added, and the not having to worry about hop additions in the boiling wort. You just let it boil.
I probably wont do it again but I would do if I had a smaller set up or had trouble chilling my ale on hotter months etc

 

[kh54s10]

How long do you boil your top up water? If I boiled my top up water, (I don't) I would only boil it for a couple of minutes. That is not enough time to isomerize the hop oils. I don't think you are going to get good results from this. Let us know.

Am I missing something? I don't see anywhere that you are going to be saving any time. You are going to boil the top up water and you are going to boil the wort. What does it matter whether the hops go in the top up water, or in the wort.

OOPS! Missed your last post.