markgionfriddo
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Thanks for the info, the longer you leave the wort to boil is that better all will it make the beer bitter
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TopherM
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The boil time isn't what makes beer bitter, it's the hops and their acid content, which is measured in your beer in IBUs (international bitterness units).
What you are probably referring to is that the longer any given HOP addition is in the boil, the more IBUs it contributes to the beer. So a hop addition with 60 minutes of the boil to go contributes more bitterness than the same hop addition with 15 minutes of boil to go.
As a general rule, hops added about 30-60 minutes left in the boil add significant bitterness, hops added 15-30 minutes left in the boil add hops flavoring and some bitterness, and hops added 0-15 minutes left in the boil add little bitterness, some flavoring, but mostly aroma. It is, of course, a gradual continuous spectrum all inbetween those numbers, but you get the idea.
However, this isn't an infinite scale, you can't put a hop in and boil it for 2 hours and get a significant more bitterness. A 60 minute boil pretty much extract all the hop oil a hop has to offer.
Typically, you want to stick to 60 minute boils for most brew styles. The only style that I know of that requires a 90 minute boil as a rule is ones that contain mostly Pilsner malt.
So, back to the bitterness, there are several sites that will tell you what a hop addition at given times will do to the bitterness of your beer, like below:
http://www.rooftopbrew.net/ibu.php
A brewing program, like BeerSmith, will also calculate your IBUs.
When formulating a recipe, you generally want to stay within the IBU range for the style you are making, or else it is going to be out of balance, i.e., you can't add 100 IBUs of hops to a light lager and expect it to be a good beer.
The IBU ranges for each style are also within brewing software, like BeerSmith, or you can look them up on the BCJP website:
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php
Hope that helps!
What you are probably referring to is that the longer any given HOP addition is in the boil, the more IBUs it contributes to the beer. So a hop addition with 60 minutes of the boil to go contributes more bitterness than the same hop addition with 15 minutes of boil to go.
As a general rule, hops added about 30-60 minutes left in the boil add significant bitterness, hops added 15-30 minutes left in the boil add hops flavoring and some bitterness, and hops added 0-15 minutes left in the boil add little bitterness, some flavoring, but mostly aroma. It is, of course, a gradual continuous spectrum all inbetween those numbers, but you get the idea.
However, this isn't an infinite scale, you can't put a hop in and boil it for 2 hours and get a significant more bitterness. A 60 minute boil pretty much extract all the hop oil a hop has to offer.
Typically, you want to stick to 60 minute boils for most brew styles. The only style that I know of that requires a 90 minute boil as a rule is ones that contain mostly Pilsner malt.
So, back to the bitterness, there are several sites that will tell you what a hop addition at given times will do to the bitterness of your beer, like below:
http://www.rooftopbrew.net/ibu.php
A brewing program, like BeerSmith, will also calculate your IBUs.
When formulating a recipe, you generally want to stay within the IBU range for the style you are making, or else it is going to be out of balance, i.e., you can't add 100 IBUs of hops to a light lager and expect it to be a good beer.
The IBU ranges for each style are also within brewing software, like BeerSmith, or you can look them up on the BCJP website:
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php
Hope that helps!
