Boiling Hopped Extract To Sterilise

[itguy1953]

I am currently brewing from kits, LME, Dextrose and using hops for flavour/aroma.

As most of the kits have no flavour/aroma, would it be possible to boil the wort including the kits, dextrose, LME and hops for flavour for 15 minutes, and then pour it into the fermenter, and allow to cool overnight before putting in the yeast (along with a good stir up to aerate the wort). I figure as they do not have any hop flavour/aroma oils, then boiling the wort for 15 minutes should not hurt it.

I figure that this procedure would help sterilise the fermenter, just in case the normal sanitisation did not work. It will also kill off any nasties in the LME, dextrose and tap water being added to the extract.

I could then add more dry hops into the late primary ferment to add more flavour and aroma.

Anyone tried this before?

Any thoughts?

Barry

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Barry, without a wort chiller, you'll find most kit brewers do this a lot without problem. If adding additional hops, boiling the LME is preferable to add the hops to (rather than teabagging them in hot water). Your kit wort really doesn't need boiling as it should be sterile but boiling it will certainly pasteaurise it anyway. Just put an airlock on the lid and there shouldn't be any problems.

 

[maltedhopalong]

This is also sometimes done to get a "hot break" which may make your beer clearer. I believe it also coagulates some of the proteins in the kit that provide nutrients to the yeast, though this is also conjecture.

 

[brettprevans]

1st the topic title says hopped extract. that means it has been in contact with hops. DONT boil it
2nd - unhopped extract. go for your life and boil it. Full extract is boiled to kill the nasties and get hot break.
3rd - No reason to add dex into the boil but you can if you wan just DONT ADD MALTODEX. it goes mega thick and gunky
4th - using malt extract and hops in the boil is good because you get better hop utilisation from the malt than plain water.
5th - once youve added anything other than sanatiser to the fermentor it not sanatised anymore. infection can take hold regardless, if your not careful. but as Fatgodzilla said, unless you have a wort chiller, thts how everyone else does it.

 

[maltedhopalong]

Just re: the first point. I personally don't boil the kits because I can't see the point but I have been advised thousands of times to boil my kits for the reasons I stated. Boiling it (apparently) won't change the bitterness much, but WILL drive off aroma/flavour hops, but seeing as you're adding these anyway, it doesn't really matter.

Can't speak from a position of knowing from experience but there ARE a lot of brewers who recommend boiling hopped extracts, two sides to every coin... :shrug:

 

[LethalCorpse]

As it was explained to me, some kits use isohops, which should never be boiled.

 

[itguy1953]

As it was explained to me, some kits use isohops, which should never be boiled.

Can anyone confirm that isohops are boiled off if I boil hopped extract for 15 minutes?

Barry

 

[itguy1953]

1st the topic title says hopped extract. that means it has been in contact with hops. DONT boil it
2nd - unhopped extract. go for your life and boil it. Full extract is boiled to kill the nasties and get hot break.
3rd - No reason to add dex into the boil but you can if you wan just DONT ADD MALTODEX. it goes mega thick and gunky
4th - using malt extract and hops in the boil is good because you get better hop utilisation from the malt than plain water.
5th - once youve added anything other than sanatiser to the fermentor it not sanatised anymore. infection can take hold regardless, if your not careful. but as Fatgodzilla said, unless you have a wort chiller, thts how everyone else does it.

On 1. why not boil it. Just because malt extract has been in contact with hops is not a valid reason. If this was the case, how do you figure AG brewers get their hop bitterness into wort. I realise that I might drive off hop aroma and some flavour oils, but most of the low end kits do not have any of these anyway. I am prepared to dry hop to add aroma and flavour.

on 5. I agree. The instruction on the cans say add can contents to hot water, then add 1Kg of sugar (sucrose, LME or dextrose) mix, then add enough water to make up to 23 litres. If I started off with a 100% sanitised fermenter, and I add the can contents, the first source of potential infection is the can opener that the kids used last night to open a can of baked beans. Then the hot water, tap or measuring jug can be other sources of infection.

Then adding powdered dextrose and/or maltodextrin is another source of potential infection, as is the cold water to top up the fermenter to 23 litres.

Then to give it a big stir with a potentially infected spoon.

There seems to be so many potential sources of infection that boiling the complete wort for 15 minutes seems to be a no brainer from an infection prevention point of view. Dropping the boiling wort direct into a cube or into the fermenter should ensure that the wort remains infection free, and if there was any residual infection in the fermenter (or cube) the boiling water should kill it.

I do have access to a wort chiller to drop the temp to yeast pitching temp, but if I use this in the boiler, I still do not get the chance to kill off bugs in the fermenter with boiling hot wort.

I agree that cooling the wort in the fermenter is a good idea and it will mean that I can pitch yeast on the same day, but I have read a lot of other brewers just leave their boiling hot wort overnight and pitch yeast in the morning.

Any thoughts?

Barry

 

[LethalCorpse]

no rinse sanitiser is your friend, Barry.

Sit the Big Pot on the stove, and 3/4 fill it with cold water. Stir in the dried fermentables. Bring it to the boil, add flavour hops (if you like), wait a bit, add aroma hops(if you like) and take it off the stove. Meanwhile, clean the bench and spray it with no-rinse. Sit the can in hot water to clean it and soften it up, then take it out and spray it with no-rinse. Clean the can opener and spray it with no-rinse. Clean the spoon, spray it with no-rinse. The fermenter should be clean from last time, spray it with no-rinse, spray the sink with no-rinse and leave it upside down in the sink to drain. Half fill the fermenter with cold water out of the tap, pour in the boiled wrt, open the can and pour it in, scraping it out with the spoon. Give the whole thing a good stir, top up to 23L. If it's down to temp, pitch, if not, seal it and wait until it is. Then have a homebrew.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

On 1. why not boil it. Just because malt extract has been in contact with hops is not a valid reason. If this was the case, how do you figure AG brewers get their hop bitterness into wort.

AG means adding hops at various times of the boil - say - 60 min (bitterness) 30 min (flavour) 5 min (aroma). If you wish to boil a kit for that length of time, be prepared for the isohops in the wort to change. How exactly - buggered if I know. Questions been asked a lot but answered mainly by people guessimating an answer. The main point is there is little need to boil your kit worts unless you are expecting something to happen. If you expect to lose hop flavour and aroma, you have to compensate by adding additional hops. As I said, I'm happy to guessimate that there is no need to boil a kit wort as a sanitation benefit, that said I have often added it to the boiled LME, steeped crystal and hops I added to any kit I make.

I realise that I might drive off hop aroma and some flavour oils, but most of the low end kits do not have any of these anyway. I am prepared to dry hop to add aroma and flavour.

Too big a call to say NO aroma or flavour. Let's just say not first class aroma or flavour

There seems to be so many potential sources of infection that boiling the complete wort for 15 minutes seems to be a no brainer from an infection prevention point of view. Dropping the boiling wort direct into a cube or into the fermenter should ensure that the wort remains infection free, and if there was any residual infection in the fermenter (or cube) the boiling water should kill it.

BR, did I read previously that you are a baker ? You know more than the most the importance of cleanliness. But no use getting completely manic, or else we'll all be brewing in sterile hospital wards. As I read (somewhere) pasteurisation of the kit wort will occur at temperatures below boiling point anyway (got to find that article - BYO magazine ?) so a 15 min boil on this premise is overkill.

I do have access to a wort chiller to drop the temp to yeast pitching temp, but if I use this in the boiler, I still do not get the chance to kill off bugs in the fermenter with boiling hot wort.

Bugs .. I bet you love "Men In Black" :lol:

I agree that cooling the wort in the fermenter is a good idea and it will mean that I can pitch yeast on the same day, but I have read a lot of other brewers just leave their boiling hot wort overnight and pitch yeast in the morning.

Point is, boil a kit wort in say 10 litres of water with extra malt and hops, you need 13 plus litres of very cold water to get the wort temp to at least 24C to pitch your yeast. I found doing that (mainly when I was using unhopped extract rather than kits) that I needed to leave the things over night to cool down. For that matter I did that three times last weekend when I made three AG batches - two ales overnighted in fermenters and one in a cube in the fridge (lager). I'm really not expecting any infections.

Good brewing.