To Boil Or Not To Boil ?

[mick]

I have heard that boiling your kit and all your sugars etc is of great benfit , Does anyone do this and found any great differences ?

or is this method best if you have a full malt brew ( no kit ) etc ?

Morgans cans state in the instructions not to boil because it will spoil the hop balance ??

 

[Guest Lurker]

If you are using kits and not adding hops then in my opinion you are better not to boil the kit. The kit is already kettled so there is no need to boil for hot break etc and you will drive off some of the hop aroma and potentially darken the beer. Doesnt really matter how well the sugar/malt is dissolved, the yeast will find and eat it anyway. But, if you are adding hops, then boil away, and while losing a component of the hops in the kit, add your own much bigger hop bittering and aroma

 

[deebee]

When I use kits I usually add them to the boil right at the end.

So I steep or mash my grains, add any necessary extracts or other fermentables and boil as required. Right at the end of the boil I add the kit and any flavouring hops. Be careful to stir gently and stop it from burning on the bottom of the pot. As it comes back to the boil I take it off the heat and chill it. When cool, pour it into the fermenter and aerate.

I prefer this way because the whole concentrated wort gets properly cooled before pouring into the fermenter. Pouring boiling water onto kits in the fermenter, as the instructions often say, always sounds like hot side aeration to me.

You also reduce the prospect of big gluggy lumps of concentrate sitting in the bottom of the fermenter and fouling your gravity readings.

I am led to believe that boiling kits reduces the hop flavour and bitterness from the kit. I only boil mine for a matter of seconds and generally add my own hops at the end for flavour and aroma anyway so it's not a problem.

 

[Jovial_Monk]

If you do feel the need to boil your kits, for goodness sake add the extract OFF HEAT. this will prevent scorching. Stir to dissolve, add slowly back to your boil.

My opinion is, if you want to do full wort boils, buy bulk extract not pricy kits.

A long thread either on hbd or oz Craft brewer list some years ago: some kits give a funny flavor if boiled





Jovial Monk

 

[johnno]

mick,
I have done this. One of the first books I read recommended this.
I enjoy the experimentation of it.
To me, the results have been pleasing.
The only beer brew I didn't boil was the first one when I got my kit. I cant
really say if it makes a difference or not because I have not made just a Kit
with hot water and add sugar many times.

This was my third brew after I started taking notes.

1 x Coopers Australian Bitter
1 x Coopers DLME 500gm
1 x Brewiser Brew Booster
1 x Brewiser CL80 finishing hops

I used a 9 lt pot and started with about 2.5 lt of water. I first added the DLME,
then the can ( I took it of the heat and was careful not to let it scorch like JM
says) then i topped up to about 7.5 lts.
I boiled for 10 mins. I had to really watch this when the boil came on. It was
foaming like mad. I think i saw my first "hot break" that day. Cooled it down,
added to fermenter and topped up to 23 lts.
Chucked in hop bag after letting it steep for 10 mins.
I only used the yeast that came with the pack. And I didnt start it up.
OG was 1068 but I dont think thats right as I didn't know you had to stir it back
then.
Racked to secondary a week later and bottled 8 days after that. FG was 1012
I reckon this is a pretty bitter beer but very malty as well. Everbody that has tried it has commented on the bitterness.
Its a deep coppery color and holds the best head of any beer I have made so far. Probably the most potent so far as well. Damn..only got about 3 bottles of this left.
I reckon I will be doing something like this again quite a few times.
I am confident enough now to use unhopped LME and all the other ingredients I need but because I can't brew large amounts in summer I am trying the MSB kits at the moment.
First chance I get when the weather cools down I will be doing part mashes.
anyway thats my experience so far.

cheers and good brewing