Boil time - 60 or 90 mins?

[biggtime]

Hi all. Planning to brew a Golden Ale on Wednesday, probably just with Pale Malt and some Torrefied Wheat aiming for 4.5%ABV. I'm just wondering what the real reasons are for using different boil times. What's the benefit of going for 90 mins over 60 mins, or the benefits of the opposite? To my mind, if boiling for 60 mins doesn't do any harm then why not always go for that - takes less time and uses less energy. But perhaps I'm missing something?

 

[Jeltz]

I went for 75 mins :) it works for me.

 

[Aleman]

What's the benefit of going for 90 mins over 60 mins, or the benefits of the opposite? To my mind, if boiling for 60 mins doesn't do any harm then why not always go for that - takes less time and uses less energy. But perhaps I'm missing something?

No specific boil time, I always try to 'Boil to secure the hot break'

 

[biggtime]

No specific boil time, I always try to 'Boil to secure the hot break'

Now you've got me - what's the hot break?

 

[graysalchemy]

when the proteins start to come out of suspension aided by irish moss addition in the last 15 minutes. Personally i do 90 minutes it is also more efficient for extraction of bitterness ie you will use marginally less hop.

 

[PD]

60 mins....you use appreciably less fuel....( electric or gas )

 

[biggtime]

Would one approach lead to the beer being 'drier' than the other? I ask because I'm interested in getting relatively balanced beers, in general - hoppy, aromatic, but not too bitter and dry on the palate. From what I've read, boiling longer adds a certain amount of 'caramelisation', suggesting greater sweetness, and also that it boils out some of the bitterness from the bittering hops - so does longer equal better balance? For some reason, that feels a little counterintuitive to me - I'd have thought the longer boil would encourage loss of sweetness and greater bitterness from the bittering hops...

 

[Duncs]

No specific boil time, I always try to 'Boil to secure the hot break'

So how do you work out hop additions if you don't know how long you're boiling for?

 

[Aleman]

No specific boil time, I always try to 'Boil to secure the hot break'

So how do you work out hop additions if you don't know how long you're boiling for?

Hot break normally occurs between 60 and 90 minutes into the boil.

For big beers where I am boiling for 2-3 hours it's even easier.

 

[Ben711200]

I quite fancy trying to go shorter again. It looks like people go down to 45 minutes with no real ill effects. I reckon with a good strong boil, and adjusting your hopping to suit, you could get away with as short as 30 minutes. Obviously DMS could become an issue but that's the point of an experiment.. I wouldn't be using a lager malt so I doubt DMS would actually be a problem anyway.

 

[dennisking]

Always 90 for me. We recently fitted a smart meter so you can see how much electric you are using, and how much it's costing. The extra 30 mins cost me under 10p last Saturday.

 

[Wezzel]

For my last brew I split the difference at 76 minutes. It seems to work very well.

 

[graysalchemy]

90mins for me. As Aleman says you have got to secure the hot break and this may take longer than 60 minutes. I would prefer to make sure I had clear beer than save less than a pound in boiling for less time. :thumb:

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

sometimes 60 mins, sometimes 75 sometimes 90...depends whats going on and how strong a boil Ive got...

sometimes I have to pick up the kids from school, fantastic for the 15 minute steep, I try to get the boil to finish for then and work the bittering to suit that...

As Aleman said, for big beers with loads of bittering hops a long boil is a good idea

 

[biggtime]

Useful info gents. Hot break aside, what 'qualities' might boiling for longer give to the beer that would be lost by boiling for less time? Let's assume I'm talking session strength ale and not a biggie at this point - I know the rules change when brewing bigger beers.

 

[Pumpkin Escobar]

Certainley interesting stuff.

All of my AG brews so far the hot break has coincided with the wort reaching boiling point virtually.

I start my 60 min boil at this point.

Didnt give it much thought until reading this thread :hmm:

Should my 60 min boil start as soon as the pot goes on heat or at the point of the wort boiling?

 

[graysalchemy]

Boil time should start when the wort starts a rolling boil. :thumb:

 

[Pumpkin Escobar]

Thats what I thought and have always practiced, I was doubting myself for a moment

 

[markmark]

Certainley interesting stuff.

All of my AG brews so far the hot break has coincided with the wort reaching boiling point virtually.

I start my 60 min boil at this point.

Didnt give it much thought until reading this thread :hmm:

Should my 60 min boil start as soon as the pot goes on heat or at the point of the wort boiling?

This is not the hot break. The hot break occurs much later than this, 60-75 mins through the boil.
A longer boil will give you a more stable beer as more of the undesirable proteins have a chance to coagulate and drop out of suspension.
For low gravity, running beers that are drunk young you can get away with a 60 minute boil.
I usually boil for 90 minutes, but will boil for 2 hours if the beer has a high ABV and is going to need some time to mature before drinking.

 

[biggtime]

I played safe and went with 90 mins in the end!