All grain boil

[Johnmorril]

Hi guys, on my 5th batch now and it suddenly dawned on me when discussing boil time. Do I start the clock when I hit 212F.

In other words my boils tend to take up to 30 mins to reach 212 but if always started the clock from 160ish so really only have 30 mins of true boiling.

Is this a bad thing? If so what is the impact on my beer typically? Am concerned it might be a cause for a slightly off flavour I’ve often had (which mellows with time tbf)

Info:

5 gallon batch
4kg extra pale, 500g of Munich
Hops - centennial, Amarillo, citra

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
Start the timer when there's a rolling boil.
I have been reading (and watching You Tube vids) about 30 minute boils.
There are some who claim to get the same resits from a 30 minute boil as they do a 60 minute boil. One You Tube vid suggests that the 60 minute boil is one of the myths of homebrewing that we don't need to worry about.

 

[wfr42]

I am pretty sure it is "meant" to be 60mins from a rolling boil, but bruphlosphy and some brewtubers have done some experiments with it making little to no difference.

End of the day it is your beer, if you're happy with the results keep brewing how you're brewing and if you want to experiment with it then enjoy!

 

[IainM]

The convention is that the clock starts once 212F is reached and the boil is rolling. Jumping the gun would result in lower hop utilisation, and possibly DMS which could add a cooked vegetable / corn taste to the beer.

 

[Johnmorril]

Bugger! Thanks guys perhaps that’s one of the reasons for my weird after taste I sometimes have. Lesson learned. Hopefully it won’t have too much impact.

 

[Clint]

The wheeler book says 90 minutes for all the recipes. ...as well as a 90 minute mash. Leads to quite a relaxing brew day.....

 

[jeg3]

There are a couple of factors:

Less time at 100 / 212 will mean less boil off leading to a higher post boil volume and lower than expected OG.

It also means the hops may not be boiling for long enough and the IBU from the bittering additions may not be as high as expected

 

[Fil]

The boil starts when it starts to boil
the three reasons for the boil beyond sterilisation which is a happy side effect are
1) to reduce volume /increase gravity to target
2) extract the correct level of bitterness and flavour from the hops, and stepped hop additions can fine tune this.
3) achieve a hot break which will 'clump' (im not a chemist) some of the proteins in the brew together allowing them to be filtered out/ dropped out as trub enhancing the flavour and clarity of the final product.

my understanding is that the hot break can occur from 30 minutes into the boil, but a 90 minute boil is a 'catch all' duration which should ensure a hot break in every brew.

The length of the boil you elect to employ will effect both boil of rate and hop utilisation so its wise to stick to a single boil duration so that your boil off rate and hop utilisation remain consistent between brews.

 

[simon12]

My understanding is a 60-90 min boil came from commercial brewers who use it purely due to the bittering hop cost/utilisation to energy cost ratio, so therefore as long as you calculate the boil off and amount of hops for the boil time correctly you can do much longer or shorter boils. No idea of the minimum time to get the required hot break.

 

[BeerCat]

The strange thing is i often have a taste of the wort a little after first hops are added as i get paranoid it wont be bitter enough. I have never noticed and corn like flavours. Next time you brew try it and see if anyone else notices. Maybe mt taste buds are shot.

 

[foxy]

90 minute boil for me, as has been said above protein coagulates in the hot break, dms and hop tannins will boil off, adding the hops at 60 minutes of a 90 minute boil prevents any oxidisation as after 30 minutes boiling the oxygen will have been boiled off.