To Boil, Or Not To Boil....

[Sir Cursealot]

There has been a bit of conjecture in the last week over weather you should boil or not boil a kit prior to brewing it. This is a post from one topic

You would boil it to sterilize the malt. Obviously the kit shouldn't need this, but there are other things that will come into contact with the malt that may not be properly sanitised... Can opener, stirring spoon etc. I don't boil kits, but I boil everything else as I am not confident in their sanitation. I then add the kit to the boiled extract/sugar at flameout and pasturise it for 10-15 mins.

only to find this post just a few days earlier

Why do you boil the Kit, it will only drive off the hop oils and reduce the bitterness

remembering that there are people new at this hobby and we want to make sure we get the best possible outcome for our beers, what is the overall concensus?

 

[mwd]

Nope: If you are going to waste time boiling a kit to get rid of hop flavour just save the energy and buy unhopped extract.

Would you boil the kit and then make up to 23l with tap water ?

 

[manticle]

I think it's unnecessary. It's certainly not essential.

@tropical - the only reason I can think of is if you find el cheapo tins of something at the supermarket (people have posted about <$5 tins from discontinued lines etc) but are not a fan of the hop profile (eg Cascade Spicy Ghost).

BTW - boiling a kit will not drive away the hop bitterness - only flavour and aroma.

 

[Eyelusion]

Nope: If you are going to waste time boiling a kit to get rid of hop flavour just save the energy and buy unhopped extract.

Would you boil the kit and then make up to 23l with tap water ?

Ditto

 

[rclemmett]

Surely you are taking the piss sir cursealot?

Where is the conjecture?

And no you don't "need" to boil a kit.

 

[manticle]

The first quoted post was simply an answer to someone asking "why would anyone boil a kit". It's a suggestion why some people might, not a recommendation (as you can see the first quoted poster states "I don't boil kits")

 

[bum]

Nope: If you are going to waste time boiling a kit to get rid of hop flavour just save the energy and buy unhopped extract.

I was thinking about this a little while ago and initially took your position but then I thought about how the different kits will have different colours but if you use just the same unhopped extract all the time you're kinda buggered on that front. And there's also the bittering, as manticle rightly points out.

 

[manticle]

You can get different coloured unhopped extracts though.

 

[bum]

Yes, but most (generalisations are always wrong) LHBS don't have as wide a selection of different extracts as even the smallest of supermarkets would have different coloured kits. I know mine doesn't anyway. I'm talking about a "making the best of a bad situation" type deal rather than ideal circumstances.

 

[manticle]

Makes more sense. MY LHBS luckily has a reasonable range of LMEs

 

[discoloop]

Life's too short to boil kits. The goo in the can is sterile anyway. If your sanitation is up to scratch there should be no need to sterilise further.

 

[rclemmett]

Yes, but most (generalisations are always wrong) LHBS don't have as wide a selection of different extracts as even the smallest of supermarkets would have different coloured kits. I know mine doesn't anyway. I'm talking about a "making the best of a bad situation" type deal rather than ideal circumstances.

Change your HBS, or visit the sponsors above.

Have you asked your LHBS to get some other malt in for you?

 

[buttersd70]

Boiling a kit is not necessary. Due to it being tinned, it is sterile. However, some people do boil kits, and with good reason....By boiling the kit you drive off the hop flavour and aroma. This will leave you with a tin of extract, which is already bittered, alowing you to use it in an all malt extract brew without the requirement of a bittering addition (or with a smaller addition, depending on the bitterness of the kit, and the bitterness required). The hop additions are then added for flavour/aroma, as per a normal full extract beer.

Before moving to AG, BribieG used to do this quite often, usually selecting a kit that is fairly bland in hop flavour to begin with, such as Coopers Canadian.

so to summarise;
For K&K, you wouldn't do it; for K&B, you might do it in order to change the hop profile; in full extract brewing, you could do it to change th hop profile and to save on the hops for the bittering addition (and, ironically, the 1.7kg kits are often available cheaper - via supermarkets - than the 1.5kg unhopped extract, so it can give you a saving there as well).

 

[bum]

I suppose I should I point out that kit-boiling is not something I do. It's a waste of time if you're doing a straight K&K. I might pull some out of the fermenter (post top-up) for a small hop-boil if I didn't have any LDME about the place. Would consider boiling the whole kit if a recipe that came highly recommended called for it.

 

[bum]

Change your HBS, or visit the sponsors above.

Have you asked your LHBS to get some other malt in for you?

I already use the above sponsors (well, not all of them, obviously). I just get my tinned products locally. Not terribly mail-friendly items.

I haven't asked my LHBS to get anything in for me but I've recently started to use a lighter malt and play around with spec grain for a bit of colour - more fun that way.

[edit: extra words make extra sense!]

 

[rclemmett]

Before moving to AG, BribieG used to do this quite often, usually selecting a kit that is fairly bland in hop flavour to begin with, such as Coopers Canadian.

I heard a rumour he does a good MB clone

 

[buttersd70]

I heard a rumour he does a good MB clone

:lol: roflmao

 

[mwd]

so to summarise;
For K&K, you wouldn't do it; for K&B, you might do it in order to change the hop profile; in full extract brewing, you could do it to change the hop profile and to save on the hops for the bittering addition (and, ironically, the 1.7kg kits are often available cheaper - via supermarkets - than the 1.5kg unhopped extract, so it can give you a saving there as well).

The best balanced answer to the OP so far as usual from Mr B. Never actually thought about the cost savings, as with K&B I usually buy a kit closest to the style of beer I am aiming for and have not boiled one to get rid of the taste.

( Or not being that smart just follow somebody else's recipe and use what they used )

 

[raven19]

I only ever boiled for partials, never a K&K.

All AG now - gotta boil!

2c.

 

[King Brown]

If your worried about the sterilisation ask yourself this, do you boil the water you top the fermenter up with? (yes I know some people do but many, including myself, dont, and its never caused me an infection) Just be very dilligent in the rest of your sanitisation.
Personally I used unhopped dry extract (you can buy it in bulk, its easier to measure out, and according to the sources Ive read it keeps its freshness longer) and use specialty grains for colour (they are very easy to use, and make a HUGE flavour difference on your beer!)