I read Martin Brungard’s “Advances in Wort Boiling” article in the latest Zymurgy the other day and am curious as to how long many of you boil your wort. I normally boil for 90 minutes to get a good hot break and never add bittering hops before 30 minutes has elapsed in the boil. It also gives me an idea of whether I need to add some extra time to the boil before adding hops in the rare case that my pre-boil kettle gravity is a bit low. The only hops that obviously go into the kettle early are FWH, when used. I know that increased boiling times contribute to Maillard reactions that darken the wort, but this has never been a real issue in my lighter beers with a 90 minute boil.
Martin’s informative article got me thinking that maybe I can decrease my boil times to maybe 70 minutes, save some energy, and cut some time off my brew day. Hence, inquiring minds want to know.
I rarely boil for more than 60 minutes and have never detected DMS in my beers made with Pilsner malt. After reading that article I’m wondering if I should cut it down to even less. I had never heard of the effect longer boils could have on oxidation stability over time.
Just for perspective: I do full volume 2.5gallon BIAB batches. Longest boil time I’ll do is a 60 minute. Sometimes I’ll do a “short and shoddy” batch and cut the boil time down to 30 minutes. Obviously have to make water adjustments in the beginning as the boil off is roughly half of a 60 minute boil. It all depends on my time constraints. If I am looking for a quick batch - then 30 minute mash followed by a 30 minute boil it is. Otherwise, I’ll roll with my normal 60 mash and 60 boil. Always been very happy with the results either way. Have I ever noticed a difference? Can’t say that I have.
I used to boil longer and harder once upon a time, but became aware of the issues Martin discusses some time ago (I think it was George Fix that first sent me down that rabbit hole) and worked to reduce my boil length and intensity. I’ve gone as low as 45 minutes and a 4% reduction, but found that that extreme wasn’t necessary, or maybe even ideal, and besides I hardly had time for a snack before it was time for the Whirlfloc. I’ve gone back to 60 minutes, aiming for about 8% reduction. The kettle is almost completely covered, heat balanced heavily to one side and just enough to generate good circulation at a bare simmer, until the last 15-20 minutes when I open it up and raise the heat to get more vigorous circulation. I brew on the stovetop (6.5 gallons post boil,) across two burners, and never get to full heat on even one of them, except when initially bring the wort up to the boil. I find the improvements to the flavor, aroma and stability of the beer are at least as good as at 45 minutes. (The improvements when I first stopped boiling long and hard really were mindblowing.) Also, FWH is sometimes my only addition. I do often include a mid boil addition if I need more hops than I can fit in the kettle at FWH; and of course another hop addition can be helpful as it stimulates a further “break.” Late additions are rare, I just don’t get much out of them. (Yes, I brew classic lagers and ales with whole cone hops, not NEIPA!)
Depends on what type of malt you have imO. At the brewery we decreased our boil time to 70 minutes on pils malt but occasionally would pick up DMS on tasting panel so raised it back to 90-100 and that problem went away.
I might suspect this is a matter of kettle geometry, volume to surface area ratio, and lack of or presence of circulators or agitators, no? Homebrewers should be able to expel DMS much faster, as even commercial plants can, depending on design. Just for comparison, Keith, what is your % boiloff to achieve satisfactory DMS reduction at the brewery? That seems to be a good index of exposure of wort to air.
Yeah it depends on the base malt, but you can probably get away with much shorter boil times than you think.
I boil my ales for 30 min because they use 3.5 lovibond or higher malts. I could probably shorten it even more. When I use pilsner malt as the base, I boil for 60 min, but I suspect I could shorten that; I haven’t played around with it vis-a-vis detectable DMS. These boil times are largely based on Martin’s wise words.
I don’t care a wit about reducing boil-off loss. For me it’s all about saving time where I can.
Here’s an interesting but mostly superfluous observation: I make a really nice American light lager that’s 100% extract. I use Briess pilsen DME and rice solids. I do a 10-min boil for this–just 10 min!–and there’s zero DMS. However Briess makes this product seems to be eliminating all the SMM/DMS in it. I’m fascinated how this is done.
I’ve had very good extract beers, so I know it can be done, but I like the control with all grain. As to DMS, I would think it would be pretty non-existent, since the extract version would have likely boiled it off in the process of making the liquid or dried malt extract.
I’m not saying it isn’t minimally present in extract, but I would guess that it is at very low levels.
My current boil time is 75 min. I still believe there is value in a 60 min addition of hops for most of my beers as it allows me to have more control over final bitterness, so I don’t usually do anything less. Tacking the extra 15 min to the 60 min boil allows the hot break to clear & the hops then don’t stick to the sides of the kettle. I tried 90 min a few times but honestly found no benefits, it merely extended my brewday & created more steam (DMS not an issue for me).
I’d like to also note, I handle boil-off a little different than most. Instead of try to predict volume post mash & post boil, I drain, sparge, & top up (if necessary) to my desired volume marking in my kettle. I then start the boil @ 75min, let it run free until 60min, add hops, top up volume, then repeat every 20 min until the boil is done (hops aren’t always added every 20 min). That way, I have flexibility to make adjustments right after the mash & I always end with the desired volume. I also find the lack of pre-calculating boil-off rather liberating!
I lightly boil for 60 minutes. I used to boil for 90 minutes for Pilsner malt because of the dreaded DMS, but I haven’t noticed any with a 60 minute boil. I also like using less propane.
My routine has always been to hit hot break, then add the bittering addition and that’s when the clock starts.
Usually, that means its about a 75 min boil, give or take a few mins, when the longest hop addition time is 60.
I’m open to trying to shorten things, though, if it works well.
I boil for at least 60 and most times 75. Rarely do I go 90 mins unless I’m making a big beer and then its more like 120 mins. I don’t mind long boil times at all. Its more time in the brewhouse and more time spent there is time well spent!