60 or 90?

[alefric]

Just done my first AG brew and followed the Wheeler method of a 90 min boil but have noticed on some threads that many of you boil for only 60 mins!...Does it make any difference and if so which is best?...Also regards late hopping i don't have a chiller so have to transfer from boiler to FV to cool .How long should i leave late hops in boiler before i start to cool?

Cheers Andrew

[Dennis King]

I`ve always boiled for 90mins. no other reason other than its always worked.

[Whorst]

I boil for 60 minutes. If I boiled for 90 minutes, I'd have to add water. I boil off roughly a gallon and a half.

[alefric]

I boil for 60 minutes. If I boiled for 90 minutes, I'd have to add water. I boil off roughly a gallon and a half.

Whorst do you mean you loose a gallon and a half to get to your intended volume ?

[prolix]

does it make a difference? probably not hop, utilization will be slightly less and some volitiles might still be lurking. But many have had great beers using 60mins.

Personally I do 90 unless time constrained easy way to save half and hour in the brewday

[Danny]

I was doing 90 mins until i read on here that peeps were doing 60 ... i think some of the issues were a bit of haziness perhaps but i've not experienced that .. the main thing for me is that it gets brew time down which is much more palatable for Mrs Danny ...

[alefric]

Rodger dodger Boil 90 mins if i can 60 if i'm stuck for time,thanks.......any ideas about the late hopping time though

[hoppingMad]

Just done my first AG brew and followed the Wheeler method of a 90 min boil but have noticed on some threads that many of you boil for only 60 mins!...Does it make any difference and if so which is best?...Also regards late hopping i don't have a chiller so have to transfer from boiler to FV to cool .How long should i leave late hops in boiler before i start to cool?

Cheers Andrew

Difficult to say when you will have achieved the flavour your looking for from late hops, and just when to remove. You should experiment with removing them after 10 mins/20 mins or what ever over several batches and see what you like. There's no golden rule, except if you are following closely some recipe.

Others might have a more acurate idea as to when to remove.

Generally the longer you leave them in there with high heat, the more "cooked" the flavour of the hops. In other words, the more similar to 15 min, 10 min, 5 min hop additions you will get.
Another way of looking at it is to think of whirlpooling hops ( in cold) will give you more of a similar taste to dry hopping, but not the same, and you need quite a bit more hops too.

If the beer you are brewing is say a Pale Ale, or an India Pale Ale, you might want to leave hops in longer. But if its something more akin to a bitter, then a very short late adition or none at all. If a Mild, then you don't want late hops in there at all.
Hope this helps a bit, and sorry if I'm covering stuff you already know
Perhaps post more information about the recipe and style.

[alefric]

thanks HoppingMad will take your advice

[prolix]

The taste and flavour aromatics boil off quickly some as low as 70c, if you want your beer to taste hoppy rather than just bitter then late additions are good and the more, the more flavour. no more than 15 mins though or you will loose the hoppiness. for smell wait 'till the boil is off, you might see people in their reciepes saying at flame off, some wait untill the wort has cooled first to 70 - 80c. then there is dry hopping but that is for another day.

[hoppingMad]

alefric, here's a great little article on late hopping.
http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.htm

[Barley Water]

One really good reason to do 90 minute boils is that if you are using alot of pils malt, it gives enough time to get rid of the DMS (and pils malt is higher in the precursor of DMS than some of the darker kilned malts). Another good reason to do longer boils involves carmelizing some of the wort. If you use direct heat to boil, you will likely have some hot spots which will carmelize some of the wort. Depending what type of beer you are making, you may indeed directly affect the taste of the final product by doing longer boils. Some folks that make Scotch and Scotish ales boil even longer for flavor development. Finally, if you want to get the most out of your bittering hops, a longer boil will yield better isomerization which will lead to higher IBU's for a given dosage of hops.

On the other side of the argument, a 60 minute boil will not cause as much wort darkening due to the afore mentioned hot spots in the copper and may be preferred by brewers of really light styles. Of couse many of those styles use a high percentage of pils malt so you can get into the DMS issue. For what it's worth, I have had good luck making CAP's as well as Helles bier and wort darkening has not been an issue for me (and I use a propane fired boiler which I know damn well has hot spots). Of course, a 60 minute boil will reduce the lenght of your brewday as well as save some propane or electricity with the attendant monitary savings.

[Stonechat]

Alefric, the best way to find out is to do two identical brews, but give one a 60 minute boil and the other 90 minutes. Four weeks maturation later and the taste and appearance of the finished beers will tell all