How long should I boil?

[eviljafar]

When the FedEx guy/sexy beer loving chick arrives at my door in the next few days with my grain and hops I'll have everything I need to make my first AG. Except for wisdom (even Northern Brewer doesn't seem to sell that).

I still have a few questions to ask and I guess I have a lot more questions that I haven't even thought of yet. This one is about boil time and hop addition.

I plan to add hops (pellets) at 60, 30, 10 and 0 minutes. But when does my 60 mins start? I have read it starts somewhere between when the boil starts rolling to one hour after the boil starts rolling. How long after the boil starts do I add my first hops?

Cheers, Jaf.

 

[Beerrific]

Unless you are using pilsner malt, need to boil down to a specific volume, or are looking for some caramailzation from the boil aim for 60 minutes. I wait for the hot break, then boil starts moving along, then I give it a stir to make sure we are boiling from top to bottom then start my clock and add the 60 min hop addition.

 

[TheJadedDog]

As soon as I get my hot break I add my first hops and start my 60 minutes.

 

[eviljafar]

I've never seen a hot break before, what does it look like?

 

[TheJadedDog]

Basically the proteins start to build up causing the boil to "foam". This is what typically leads to a boil-over. At a certain point the proteins start to break up and the foam falls back down and disappears; this is the hot break. Here are some pics as it starts to approach a boil-over:

 

[eviljafar]

I have a Sankey keg and I'm doing a 5 Gal boil so I think a boilover is a small risk. So should I be happy to see foam and when it dies down by itself make my first addition and start my 60 minute timer?

 

[TheJadedDog]

That's what I would do. If boilover isn't a concern you could just add the hops as soon as the wort starts to boil and not wait for the hot break. Either way you'll be fine.

 

[eviljafar]

Do you say that because hot break and hop addition are both possible causes of foam, therefore boilover? So if I have a small kettle be careful at both hot break and 1st hop addition, but if I have a big kettle don't worry?

 

[TheJadedDog]

Pretty much. I wait for the hot break because otherwise the hop addition will cause a boilover for sure. If that isn't a concern, no real need to wait for the hot break.