Hi. So I've made a few extract beers and a few grain beers, but I would actually like to try and skip the boil when I do my next grain beer. What I would like to do is boil the hops separately while I do my mash. Then, I'd like to heat the wort to, say, 165F, and then add the "hop extract". As far as I understand, the boil is to convert the alpha acid, and obviously to deactivate the enzymes. There are a few reasons (least of which being the boiling wort in the house for an hour), and these include the following:
1. I would have the heating element heating the wort for a few minutes, and I suspect metallic flavour to come from the heating element, so I avoid that flavour.
2. Cooling 5 gallons of wort from 165F is much easier (shorter) than cooling that much boiling liquid. In fact, I can probably put 165F wort straight into the fermenter and wait for it to cool down in there (safer).
3. It's much less energy required.
4. I have more control over my hops because I can heat and cool that mixture much quicker.
5. It's not necessary (this is the point I'm trying to confirm).
If I can control the amount of wort I get out of my mash, then surely skipping the boil should be perfectly fine, and I can add my boiled hops to the fermenter? I just need to make sure wild yeast and bacteria are killed, and the enzymes are denatured, right?
Please note, I brew on a very tight budget. It has much higher WAF, and I also believe it's possible to create a great beer without emptying my bank account (I've made 3 excellent beers already). My mash tun is a kettle bucket, and my fermenter is a 5 gallon polycarbonate water cooler carboy. I can't afford a cooling jig, nor can I afford the stainless steel stuff.
1. I would have the heating element heating the wort for a few minutes, and I suspect metallic flavour to come from the heating element, so I avoid that flavour.
2. Cooling 5 gallons of wort from 165F is much easier (shorter) than cooling that much boiling liquid. In fact, I can probably put 165F wort straight into the fermenter and wait for it to cool down in there (safer).
3. It's much less energy required.
4. I have more control over my hops because I can heat and cool that mixture much quicker.
5. It's not necessary (this is the point I'm trying to confirm).
If I can control the amount of wort I get out of my mash, then surely skipping the boil should be perfectly fine, and I can add my boiled hops to the fermenter? I just need to make sure wild yeast and bacteria are killed, and the enzymes are denatured, right?
Please note, I brew on a very tight budget. It has much higher WAF, and I also believe it's possible to create a great beer without emptying my bank account (I've made 3 excellent beers already). My mash tun is a kettle bucket, and my fermenter is a 5 gallon polycarbonate water cooler carboy. I can't afford a cooling jig, nor can I afford the stainless steel stuff.