boiling a kit

[sills]

1st post so hello to all.
Do any of you boil a complete home brew kit as you would if making it from scratch, the full 5 gallons. I'm sure I read that it helps improve the flavour and clarity of the finished beer.
Thanks

[Curious Brew]

I think kits tend to appeal to those who don't have the ability to boil the whole 5 gallons.

If I could boil I'd probably be doing AG by now.

[MightyMouth]

I would think boiling would tend to drive off the hop flavours and aromas so unless you are adding hops to the kit to bring those flavours back I wouldn't boil.

[booldawg]

I recall the instructions for the Brupacks kits involve boiling the extract from the tins for 10 mins. They also come with a hop bag that also requires boiling. I've not boiled any other kit.

[PMH0810]

Dogbolter kit states boiling required too but, having read this thread, can I get away without?

[PMH0810]

Fair enough!

[Martin the fish]

I've tried DaaB's method of making up kits. When(if) i do another kit i would always use his method.
Mainly because it made me feel i was doing more than just throwing ingredients together. I've yet to taste it so can't shed any light on that. It fermented better(started fermenting quicker) and seemed clearer straight from the FV. Actually tasted pretty good at bottling time too. More than i can say for any of the other kits i'd done.
In a couple of weeks it's due for a tasting. Can't wait.

[stevezx7r]

I always boil mine just 'cos I like cooking and can't keep away from the kitchen

I use a large (10 litre+) stainless pan and put around three litres of water in, heat it then add sugars till disolved, which takes ages. I then add the contents of the can and bring to the boil and keep it at a steady 90 ish for about ten mins. This does drive most of the hop flavour/aroma off but I replace them with fresh (frozen) hops of my choice in a draw string bag.
I then cool the pan asap in the sink then pour it into the FV along with fresh hops if needed. I top up with cold water (from a tap thats been running for a few seconds) to the 5 gallon mark, temp is usually about room temp, then I pitch the yeast straight from the fridge.

I've been doing this with lagars recently and it works well. I think I will pop back over to the bitter side as I miss a nice(er) pint. Besides, summer will be here soon so lagars will be hard to, er, lagar.



Steve.

[Grantie]

John Bull masterclass kits recommend you don't boil as you may lose flavour....

I haven't boiled either of my coopers' kits (Ale + IPA) and they turned out just fine !

I guess if in doubt, just do as the instructions say would be the best rule of thumb.

[Martin the fish]

If you check out DaaBs link you'll see that addition of hops are included to help with any loss of flavour.
I much prefer DaaBs method as, like Stevezx7r, i can't keep out of the kitchen for long and i love cooking. Each to their own eh?

[Aleman]

When I make a kit they all get at least a 5 minute boil, but no more (FOr sterility purposes more than anything) I also bung in a good handful of hops to help boost the hop flavour / aroma

Having said that I have the ability to boil that sort of volume (And an IC to crash cool it) so it's not too much of a problem for me. I have found the beer to be more stable (long term storage) in my boiled kits than non boiled ones.

[Graham]

Dogbolter kit states boiling required too but, having read this thread, can I get away without?

If a kit is boiled at manufacture, it will say so on the tin. Many kits are not properly boiled. Until Munton's brought out their Gold range in the mid 1990s no kits were boiled at manufacture.

[Graham]

Muntons make Dogbolter, does that mean it has or hasn't been boiled

Not all muntons stuff is boiled. When I visited Muntons I was surprised about how many brand names of kit there were in their warehouse.

However, I've just looked at Munton's website and they make no claims about boiling any more. Perhaps they've hit that one on the head and even they have given up the idea of boiling.

[Graham]

I would have thought they'd say on the tin that the kit required boiling if it hadn't already. I was assuming they boiled all their kits now because a majority don't say they require boiling, in fact Dogbolter is the only one I have heard of that still says it requires boiling and I thought that might me due to them not updating the instructions. It's probably safest to boil it anyway, it's not that much effort.

Kit manufacturers like to pretend that their kits are dead easy to make up, and you can hide an awful lot of sins behind a kilogram of sugar.

If the average kit brewer could boil a full quantity of wort to get a good hot break, then they probably wouldn't buy the kits any more - they'd buy malt extract and formulate their own beers.