questions on the impact of boil size

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pwiesner

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as an apartment dweller with a wimpy stove i am sadly unable to brew full boil. i have read in numerous posts that brewing full boil is better because it facilitates more efficient hop and grain utilization. as i understand it this efficiency is the result of a full boil being closer to the optimal OG (i know i read the value on a post but i cant seem to find it right now) for alpha acid extraction.

i have also read that the optimal OG can be reached by mixing approximately one gallon of water and one pound of malt extract. if this is true, is there any reason why i should not boil one gallon batches and add the remaining malt in the last 15 minutes of the brew or possibly flame out? several threads suggest that the late addition of extract will cut down on carmelization. so in theory it sounds like the smaller boil and late extract addition are a good idea, am i missing something?

speaking of carmelization, does it have an impact on the taste or is it purely an issue of coloring?

thanks
-p
 
I do 1.5 gal (end up at about 1 gal) boils all the time.

Add your bittering hops as usual and only 1 lb of DME for 45 mins.

Remove from the heat.

Add remaining malt and either boil another 15 mins or just let it steep for 15 mins.

By adding all the hops to only 1 lb of malt and 1 gal of water the gravity is at 1.040. This will extract the max bitterness from the hop.

Adding the malt late keeps the color lighter than if you boiled it all.
 
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