Have you ever boiled AG batch less than 60 min?

[msh227]

I know there will be people hitting this from the technical stand point but.....

I'm just curious has anyone ever boiled an all-grain batch for less than 60 minutes just to see what happens? If so what was the end result?

Thinking about trying this myself on a 1 gallon batch just to get an idea how well it will ferment and what the finished product will taste like. I'll probably use a very small amount of hops if any at all. Mostly curious about the effects on the grain bill.

 

[TyTanium]

Yes, all the time. If I'm over on my preboil gravity, I'll boil less to hit my target OG (and adjust IBU accordingly). I also usually boil less if I don't have a 60m addition, like if I start adding at 30 mins I may only boil for 40 or so. No issues thus far.

 

[buzbey]

I have boiled a few 60 minutes all grain batches. I don't think there is gonna be a problem unless your using a lot of pilsner malt.

 

[Nooga]

I always thought the 60 min boil was the standard for the isomerization of the hop alpha acids. I had never heard of the pilsner malt thing. Could you elaborate on that?

Why do pilsner malts need a long boil?

 

[buzbey]

Pilsner malts have a lot of dms that needs to be boiled off. If you do a 60M boil and have a lot of pilsner malt you'll probably end up with a sweet corn kinda vegetable taste in your beer

 

[buzbey]

They say a 90 minute minimum boil with pilsner malt

 

[TyTanium]

Nah, no need for 90 with pils... just boil hard for 60. Never had a problem.

Nooga - the isomerization is correct, if you want a standard 60m bittering charge. Bitterness increases with boil time. A lot of times I don't want it very bitter, so I boil shorter.

 

[buzbey]

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/485

 

[SavoryChef]

Nah, no need for 90 with pils... just boil hard for 60. Never had a problem.

Nooga - the isomerization is correct, if you want a standard 60m bittering charge. Bitterness increases with boil time. A lot of times I don't want it very bitter, so I boil shorter.

Unless your boil off(standard boil off) is x amount per hour then you boil harder for an x+ amount loss, so you have to adjust your calculations bases on two boil offs. One for rolling boil and one for hard boil. Just boil for 90. That's if you care about being precise.

 

[buzbey]

Wouldn't boiling really really hard for 60 minutes to drive off the dms in return give you a bunch of melanoidins? Which wouldn't be desired in a pils or saison or something light that you would be using a lot of pilsner malt in?

 

[msh227]

Well I'm glad to hear some of these responses. I'm going to stick with my plan to do 1 gallon batches and only boil for 20-30 min tops. I have no plans to use pilsner malt and I'm not going for hoppy beers, but if I do want a hoppy beer I know I have to increase my hops based on shorter boil times.

Think I'm also going to play with mash times to see how long it takes to achieve conversion. Probably stick with some SMaSH beers for this experiment.

 

[TyTanium]

Unless your boil off(standard boil off) is x amount per hour then you boil harder for an x+ amount loss, so you have to adjust your calculations bases on two boil offs. One for rolling boil and one for hard boil. Just boil for 90. That's if you care about being precise.

Wouldn't boiling really really hard for 60 minutes to drive off the dms in return give you a bunch of melanoidins? Which wouldn't be desired in a pils or saison or something light that you would be using a lot of pilsner malt in?

By boiling hard I mean a solid rolling boil; how your boil should be anyway. Not a simmer, but also not an explosive cauldron. Just a solid rolling boil. I've never had an issue with excessive melanoidins either, even in really pale beers.

 

[buzbey]

By boiling hard I mean a solid rolling boil; how your boil should be anyway. Not a simmer, but also not an explosive cauldron. Just a solid rolling boil. I've never had an issue with excessive melanoidins either, even in really pale beers.

Well that's interesting. I've never actually tested it I've only read about it, so I've always done 90+ boils with it. I think for the OP this would be a cool thing to test on one gallon batches.

 

[buzbey]

For the original post if your going to do this I would suggest doing two 1 gallon batches from the same mash and be sure to add the exact same amount of yeast. If you just do one 1 gallon batch there's to many variables that could effect the out come. Mash efficiency, mash temp, quality and freshness of grains used, ferment temp, yeast health. To name a few. So how would you really know if there was a difference from the boil length if you couldn't factor the variables out?

 

[msh227]

Yup I agree having a control batch that I can compare the 30 min boil against would be best way to do it.

The other thinking is if I do a 30 min boil and it tastes fine to me then so be it.

Cheers!

 

[msh227]

Just deemed a name for the brew, think I'll call it my 30-30 (Winchester) Ale! Regardless of the recipe.