J_Flint
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- Jan 14, 2020
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I was perusing a thread about having consistently produced watery beer and stumbled across a paragraph posted by Martin Brungard regarding how an excessive boil off rate can negatively affect beer quality.
"Well here's another myth that will die. Excessive and prolonged boiling CAN AND DOES actually damage wort. Back in the day, pro brewers did boil off with long and hard boils that evaporated 15 or more percent of the original wort volume. Then they had the realization in the 70's, that energy efficiency was actually a good thing (oil embargo) and there was a flurry of activity in investigating wort boiling and what its effects were. They found out about what it takes to deal with DMS and other volatiles in wort. They also devised better kettles that significantly reduce the heat stress on wort and the amount of evaporation. Now, modern breweries are typically evaporating 4 to 10 percent of the original volume and still producing the DMS reduction they need for good beer. I'm not going to steal the thunder of my upcoming HomebrewCon presentation, but I've spent over a year of intensive study on this subject and conference attendees and AHA members will learn more about this subject and why they shouldn't be abusing their wort that way.
One effect of excessive boiling that may align with this thread's subject is that you can reduce the wort's Coagulable Nitrogen content too low and that can reduce head retention and possibly some body."
My system boils off about 1.5g per hour, and I have produced some beers that were a little watery, moreso than I'd like. Anybody have thoughts on this subject?
"Well here's another myth that will die. Excessive and prolonged boiling CAN AND DOES actually damage wort. Back in the day, pro brewers did boil off with long and hard boils that evaporated 15 or more percent of the original wort volume. Then they had the realization in the 70's, that energy efficiency was actually a good thing (oil embargo) and there was a flurry of activity in investigating wort boiling and what its effects were. They found out about what it takes to deal with DMS and other volatiles in wort. They also devised better kettles that significantly reduce the heat stress on wort and the amount of evaporation. Now, modern breweries are typically evaporating 4 to 10 percent of the original volume and still producing the DMS reduction they need for good beer. I'm not going to steal the thunder of my upcoming HomebrewCon presentation, but I've spent over a year of intensive study on this subject and conference attendees and AHA members will learn more about this subject and why they shouldn't be abusing their wort that way.
One effect of excessive boiling that may align with this thread's subject is that you can reduce the wort's Coagulable Nitrogen content too low and that can reduce head retention and possibly some body."
My system boils off about 1.5g per hour, and I have produced some beers that were a little watery, moreso than I'd like. Anybody have thoughts on this subject?