Late addition of Extracts

[UglyDude]

I have heard mention of late addition of extracts. I was under the impression that you need to boil the extract to kill off any possible nasties?

When I brew, so far always from a prepackaged kit, after the steep, I get the boil going, add the steep/rinse water, bring back to boil, add liquid extract, bring back to boil, add hops, boil 60 min, add finishing hops...

what would I gain or lose by waiting to add the extract? and how late into the boil is considered a late extract addition?

Thanks and Cheers!

 

[dkevinb]

Interestingly I've just been listening to a Basic Brewing podcast interview with one of the head guys at Briess. Basically the wort will darken a bit (1-2L, according to him) if you boil the LME for 60 minutes. You can wait until there is 15 minutes left in the boil to add the LME. This will reduce wort darkening, but still be plenty long enough to sterilize it.

You don't want to boil hops in just water, though. This can cause "grassy" flavors. You want to have some malt in the boil. Many people do half and half, or one quarter and three quarters, etc. Also, the specific gravity of the wort during the boil will affect the hop utilization - lower SG = hoppier, so late additions will lead to hoppier beers.

He also mentioned that LME will darken more with age than DME. It also oxygenates with age faster. You want to make sure your LME is fresh. If not, use DME instead.

I've done it both ways and what he says seems to be true in my case. Adding later makes lighter colored, hoppier beer.

 

[itchygomey]

I add the bulk of my extract at flameout and have no issues with nasties. I've done as little as 1lb during the boil with the rest at flameout. I usually mix my flameout additions with 1 gallon of top off water do it's super easy to add and speeds cooling. I typically stick to .75lbs per gallon with the rest at flameout. I do adjust my hops accordingly using beer smith. Fwiw my fav extract brew is only boiled 20 mins and comes out great every time



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[petrolSpice]

At boiling temps any nasties in the extract at kill instantly, so there is no real need to boil the extract for 60 minutes. At temps around 160 they are also killed but still only takes a minute or less. You can look at some pasteurization time vs. temp charts for reference.

If you use less extract in the boil, hop utilization goes up, so keep that in mind.

In my last couple brews I added about 1/4 of the extract at 60 minutes and the rest at about 10 minutes. On my next brew I'm going to try adding the remainder at flameout. It will help cool the wort also.

 

[dkevinb]

Fwiw my fav extract brew is only boiled 20 mins and comes out great every time

I have a 15-minute blond and a 15-minute APA that sound like pretty much the same thing. Boil water, add malt extract and hops, boil for 15 minutes, and you're done. You do have to up the hops for the shorter boil time, as you say.

 

[unionrdr]

When I was brewing AE,I modded Cooper's cans to get various styles. I used half a 3lb bag of plain light DME in 2.5-3.5 gallons of water in my 5 gallon kettle. Do all hop additions. Then at flame out,add the remaining DME & the Cooper's can. Stir well to mix completely. Since pasteurization happens in seconds @ 160F,it works real well. Then chill asap to about 75F,straining into fermenter to get gunk out & aerate it. Top off to recipe volume with water chilled in the fridge a day or two before brew day. Stir roughly about 5 minutes to mix the wort & top off water. Then take hydrometer sample & pitch starter or re-hydrated yeast & seal it up. This gives lighter color & cleaner flavor.
Now that I do pb/pm biab,I mash 5-6lbs of grains in 2 gallons of local spring water,sparging with 1.5 gallons @ 170F. This gives about 3.5 gallons boil volume in my 5 gallon BK/MT. So I use that for hop additions,adding 3lbs of plain DME at flame out,again topping of to recipe volume of 5 gallons in the fermenter.

 

[UglyDude]

you guys are awesome! thanks for all the cool tips, I am definitely going to sytart adding my LME later in the boil so I can get a lighter color to my blonde. So far I have been having "dirty Blondes" and will be switching to a Surfer girl blonde LOL