Boil time

[steambrew]

My brother brewed a arkells beer from GW book mashed 90 mins but only boiled for 60 mins then cooled and pitched yeast then found he should have boiled for 90 mins will the brew be any good of is it down the drain

[guypettigrew]

It should be fine, but perhaps less bitter than he hoped for. The shorter boil will have extracted less bitterness from the hops but may have retained more of the flavour and aroma.

He might have just made the best beer he's ever brewed!

Guy

[IronBlue]

It will be absolutely fine. The utilisation of Alpha Acids (the bitterness of hops) starts to level out after about 60 minutes. (You may have got about 90% - 95% of your target IBU in 60 minutes compared to 90 minutes). So it will only be slightly less bitter than intended.

You will also have slightly more of it due to less evaporation, and the OG will be slightly lower.

However - this assumes any 'late hops' were still added at the correct times. ie. 10 minutes to flame out, 5 minutes to flame out etc... Whatever happened it will still be drinkable!

[steambrew]

Many thanks for information so glad we do not have to tip it down the drain will post how it tastes in future

[Kingfisher4]

The Graham Wheeler recipes all assume 90 mins boil, Other recipes I see are often 60 or 70, is it worth increasing the hop weight by 10% or so for the start of boil hop additions if reducing from 90 to 60 or 70 mins? Are there any other relevant reasons why the longer boil is worth the extra time etc?

I assume the later hops add so little to the IBU that you just add the same quantity as recipe states at appropriate times before the end of boil.

I also know that AA% can vary widely year on year or hop vs hop so his recipes are probably an average or typical AA so not absolutely accurate or precisely reproducible.

I don't have beersmith yet but may go that way eventually and know that might allow for more precise tweaks if I wished.

[Intothevoid]

When you think it's now quite common brewers are boiling for just half an hour but just adding more bittering hops it begs the question is an hour boil worth it?
Just out of curiosity has anyone tried a 30 min boil?

There's a couple of yanks that do 'basic brew' videos and one includes a thirty minute boil and this came out great

[Eric]

When you think it's now quite common brewers are boiling for just half an hour but just adding more bittering hops it begs the question is an hour boil worth it?
Just out of curiosity has anyone tried a 30 min boil?

There's a couple of yanks that do 'basic brew' videos and one includes a thirty minute boil and this came out great

There are some homebrewers who will drink almost anything alcoholic.

[Jim]

Also worth remembering that there are other things going on the boil besides extracting hop bitterness.

EDIT: the above is referring to very short boils, not the 60m v 90m of the OP - that will be fine.

[Manngold]

Also worth remembering that there are other things going on the boil besides extracting hop bitterness.

EDIT: the above is referring to very short boils, not the 60m v 90m of the OP - that will be fine.

Besides the obvious (to me) hop bitterness, increased gravity and hot break is anything else going on Jim? I have done a 45 minute mash and a 45 minute boil before, seemed to come out ok.

[Jim]

Also worth remembering that there are other things going on the boil besides extracting hop bitterness.

EDIT: the above is referring to very short boils, not the 60m v 90m of the OP - that will be fine.

Besides the obvious (to me) hop bitterness, increased gravity and hot break is anything else going on Jim? I have done a 45 minute mash and a 45 minute boil before, seemed to come out ok.

I was thinking of the hot break in particular. I've read that it can take 60 minutes to fully coagulate all the proteins in there - under boiling is rumoured to risk getting chill hazes for example. I don't have the chemistry to back it up, just stuff gleaned from Dave Line and Graham Wheeler books. 45 minutes will obviously be better than 30 though.

[Kingfisher4]

Also worth remembering that there are other things going on the boil besides extracting hop bitterness.

EDIT: the above is referring to very short boils, not the 60m v 90m of the OP - that will be fine.

Thanks Jim, attractions of 60 or 70 mins are numerous, shorter overall day and less steam to condense in the house being the main. The hot break and beer clarity have so far been fine with last 2x 70 min boils. Will continue with these I think.

The extra gravity, from more evaporation isn’t critical, as the Grainfather seems to be achieving better than the predicted 75% efficiency.

[Eric]

Also worth remembering that there are other things going on the boil besides extracting hop bitterness.

EDIT: the above is referring to very short boils, not the 60m v 90m of the OP - that will be fine.

Very much so Jim. The most obvious difference between 60 and 90 minutes boiling is clarity and some breweries have successfully boiled for 60 minutes for a long time. I don't know, but suspect breweries producing top quality beers with shorter boils probably use different equipment, procedures, ingredients and additives, or produce a restricted range, compared to those boiling for longer periods.

Beers boiled for less than an hour will be more cloudy again, but more significantly, shelf life is drastically reduced, so if you do make one, use some black malt and don't hang on to it too long.

The amount of bitterness extracted is not so sustantially reduced with shorter boils, but the extra protein (haze making) that makes the FV reduces the amount of hop flavours that make the finished beer.

[Rookie]

When you think it's now quite common brewers are boiling for just half an hour but just adding more bittering hops it begs the question is an hour boil worth it?
Just out of curiosity has anyone tried a 30 min boil?

There's a couple of yanks that do 'basic brew' videos and one includes a thirty minute boil and this came out great

There are some homebrewers who will drink almost anything alcoholic.

So? Just because you don't think good beer can come from a 30 minute boil doesn't necessarily make it so.

[Rookie]

Besides the obvious (to me) hop bitterness, increased gravity and hot break is anything else going on Jim? I have done a 45 minute mash and a 45 minute boil before, seemed to come out ok.

I went to a 45 minute mash/boil regimen several years ago and make beer that is more than ok. Including a maibock that got me the second highest score I've ever received.