sidepart
Well-Known Member
I wasn't able to find much guidance on the forums about this. I'm going to be creating a Doppelbock recipe to brew in October. One of the interesting things I'm finding in my research is that Doppelbocks typically have a lot of Melanoidins as a result of long boils. I thought it might be fun to try and develop a recipe with little to no caramel malt and try to color/caramel the beer with a long boil. Just trying to decide the best way to do this.
Typically I do a 7 gallon pre-boil volume and calculate my pre and post-boil gravities for a 60 minute boil. I usually boil down to 6 gallons and shoot for 5-5.5 gallons for bottling.
What I would like to do for this batch is (confusing, bear with me) to start with 7 gallons and boil for 90-120 minutes. When I'm ready to add the 60 minute hop addition, I plan to add top up water to get me back to 7 gallons (and the pre-boil OG that I'm targeting).
My question is if this is a good idea, or if it's better to plan a recipe with a much higher pre-boil volume instead of topping up before the 60 minute addition?
My understanding is that it's really not going to matter. I'll get a darker beer, more burnt/caramel flavors but the sugar is just sugar. Diluting with water before adding the hops doesn't matter as far as I know.
Typically I do a 7 gallon pre-boil volume and calculate my pre and post-boil gravities for a 60 minute boil. I usually boil down to 6 gallons and shoot for 5-5.5 gallons for bottling.
What I would like to do for this batch is (confusing, bear with me) to start with 7 gallons and boil for 90-120 minutes. When I'm ready to add the 60 minute hop addition, I plan to add top up water to get me back to 7 gallons (and the pre-boil OG that I'm targeting).
My question is if this is a good idea, or if it's better to plan a recipe with a much higher pre-boil volume instead of topping up before the 60 minute addition?
My understanding is that it's really not going to matter. I'll get a darker beer, more burnt/caramel flavors but the sugar is just sugar. Diluting with water before adding the hops doesn't matter as far as I know.