Deviations from By-the-Book Brewing Practices, Part 1

Bubba Wade

Well-Known Member
Trial Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2017
Messages
857
Reaction score
1,519
Points
93
Location
Bella Vista, AR
Over the years, I have started deviating from some of the standard brewing practices that were published years ago. I suspect that many of these practices were scaled down versions of commercial brewing practices, modified for homebrewing use. Here's my heretical practice #1.

#1 - The 30-minute boil. The Book recommends a 60 or even 90 minute boil. I have had no issues with hot break or clarity. After running various calculations regarding hop utilization, I have found that I can shorten the boil with no ill effects if I increase the bittering hops quantity by about 30%. The rough formula is this:

70% of potential bittering at 30 minutes
83% of potential bittering at 45 minutes
89% of potential bittering n at 60 minutes
98% of potential bittering at 90 minutes

Now, I'm not suggesting that anyone swap over to the 30 minute boil. I do this as I am often time-constrained and need to finish the brew day sooner.

I am curious if anyone else has any experiences with boil times.
 
I wouldn't use a shortened boil for Pilsner malt due to the threat of DME but for other beers, why not? I believe the 60-minute boil exists to optimize hop use in commercial applications. There are some Maillard reactions that occur over the longer boil that can be desirable but that effect can be replicated by using a slightly darker malt. All in all, I don't see any problem shortening the boil as long as you're aware of possible impacts.
 
Haha. I look forward to following this thread! I love seeing brewers like the Brulosophy crew go against the grain and testing things that we've all adhered to for years just because it's been handed down like gospel over and over and people have just accepted it as fact because it's what they've seen and heard for years.
I've fermented lagers warm and done no boil brews with fantastic results.
 
@Bubba Wade :
Nice idea for a thread!
As for the hops?
I get that you increase the amounts, but when do you add them?
Do you add all the hops recommended for say 60, 45 and 30 minutes all together at the beginning of the boil?
 
@Bubba Wade :
Nice idea for a thread!
As for the hops?
I get that you increase the amounts, but when do you add them?
Do you add all the hops recommended for say 60, 45 and 30 minutes all together at the beginning of the boil?

I usually design most of my recipes from scratch, so I use the recipe builder and enter 30 minutes on the hops. I adjust the bittering hops until I hit the IBU target for my recipe.

If I am converting a recipe, I use the utilization rates shown above. So for converting a 60 minute hop addition to a 30 minute, you use 89/70 = 1.27. So if you have a 1 oz. hop addition at 60 minutes, it becomes a 1.27 oz. hop addition at 30 minutes. (Note that I would just use 1.25 or 1.30 ounces as my scale is only accurate to 1/20 of an ounce.)

In general, I would not design a recipe with more than one bittering hop addition. Adding hops at 60, 45, and 30 are all just adding IBU's and not much in the way of flavor or aroma. After 20 or 30 minutes, most of the flavor and aroma compounds seem to have boiled off.

If the recipe calls for 5, 10, or 15 minute additions, these would remain unchanged.
 
Thanks. It's totally clear now ;)
 

Back
Top