Your boil time

[Steve Ruch]

How long is your normal boil time? Why did you choose this length?

 

[Minbari]

Normally I'm the 1 hour range.

3 reasons mostly.
1) Isomerization of the hops
2) getting there gravity where I want it . (Mostly I start out with less water than I need, so this one is rare)
3) Malliard reaction takes time

 

[Limey]

60 minutes. Mainly because that is what most recipes recommend - and it seems to work for me! However, I do use an all-in-one electric brewer (Anvil Foundry) so long boil times, especially at 220v, are not a big issue.

 

[Daniel Parshley]

Usually 30 minutes because I add the most hops at or after turnoff (170-180 F) and let them sit for 30 to 60 minutes. The wort ramps down to ~ 150 F and I cool from there. A full 60 minute boil for porters, amber, and dark beers.

 

[Craigerrr]

For hazy IPA'S 30 minutes
Most other beers 60 minutes
Scottish Ale 8.7% went for 120 + I boiled some wort separately for an hour

 

[dmtaylor]

My last batch of witbier I boiled for 45 minutes because:

1) bitterness isn't significant for this style,
2) don't care about clarity or haze for this style,
3) 45 minutes ain't that different from 60 minutes anyways regardless of style,
4) save a few minutes of your life.

When I care about clarity or getting the most bitterness from my hops, I'll boil for 60-75.

If I am brewing a high gravity beer, I'll sparge extra to collect extra wort, then plan for a long 2-3 hour boil, which maximizes efficiency, and might result in a little extra color and caramelization vs. standard 1-hour boil.

But most often I boil an average 70 minutes just because. And maybe I'll turn this into 45-50 to save a little time without much loss on bitterness or clarity.

 

[Zambi]

Mostly around an hour
Mainly because I was told to do it that way and 90 for pilsner.
I no longer treat pilsner different from pale ale malt

I generally put hops as fwh as it's simpler

Sometimes I boil 45 minutes.
I don't like very bitter and hoppy beers, so maybe I should try 30?

 

[Megary]

30 minutes. I found no difference in the finished beer between 30 and 60 so why not save time? The only time I’ll change is if I need to adjust on the fly for volume or gravity.

 

[Josh Hughes]

Usually 90 minutes. Most of my beers are lagers that include significant amounts of Pilsner malt. I am aware that you don’t have to boil 90 minutes with Pilsner malt. I feel like my volume and gravity is better and easier to predict when I boil for 90. I also do most of my hop additions at the start of the boil. So if I need to boil longer I don’t worry about extra IBU. I’m usually brewing and interacting with family at the same time. The extra time to boil actually gives me some extra time to be away from my kettle.

 

[Donoroto]

An hour or so. Mostly to reduce volume. I check with iodine, and if my hops are done* I start the whirlpool.

(*If they've spent enough time to isomerize; unrelated to iodine)

 

[Anon E Moose]

Does DMS now fall under the 'brewing myth' category?

 

[jschein]

Does DMS now fall under the 'brewing myth' category?

No, DMS is real. There are steps to reduce DMS

 

[dmtaylor]

Does DMS now fall under the 'brewing myth' category?

It's not a complete myth. But I will say that it is usually not an issue for homebrewers with 21st century malts. I tried to get DMS on purpose once and succeeded, but like I said, I was trying on purpose -- I did a very short weak boil of pilsner malt with the lid on, etc.

 

[Dave Y]

For hazy IPA'S 30 minutes
Most other beers 60 minutes
Scottish Ale 8.7% went for 120 + I boiled some wort separately for an hour

A point of question:
Why do you only boil the Hazy IPAs 30 minutes as opposed to 60?
I haven’t boiled shorter than an hour for a while now, so I’m curious if it’s convenience or more.

 

[Craigerrr]

A point of question:
Why do you only boil the Hazy IPAs 30 minutes as opposed to 60?
I haven’t boiled shorter than an hour for a while now, so I’m curious if it’s convenience or more.

First hop additions are in whirlpool, and I don't think there is any risk of DMS, just time savings really.

 

[dmtaylor]

Why do you only boil the Hazy IPAs 30 minutes as opposed to 60?
I haven’t boiled shorter than an hour for a while now, so I’m curious if it’s convenience or more.

It will also tend to turn out more hazy, the shorter the boil is. Longer boil helps clarify, which obviously you don't need in a hazy.

 

[JIGSAW]

The past 3 years, Only 30min boils, even with just Pilsner malt.

Why? > Well the beers turns out exactly as good as if I had to do a 60min boil. I scale the recipe within the software and just move the 60min hops down to 30min and match the original IBU's.

After seeing a few YT videos with people doing 30min mash's, that is my next step

PS: Beers are just as clear as if it was a 60min boil .... and I DONT use boil clarifiers ... Only gelatine once I keg ... comes out super clear.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Like many here, I boil an average of 70 minutes mostly because I need to hit my target gravity. 60 if I can get away with it, 90 if I need to. I have been under the impression that bitterness is not increased when hops are boil more than 60 minutes, so if it goes longer it's not a big deal.

High gravity beers are the worst. I have boiled for 3 hours to get the gravity up. Yuck.

 

[Steve Ruch]

Mostly around an hour
Mainly because I was told to do it that way and 90 for pilsner.
I no longer treat pilsner different from pale ale malt

I generally put hops as fwh as it's simpler

Sometimes I boil 45 minutes.
I don't like very bitter and hoppy beers, so maybe I should try 30?

I do a lot of bitters and milds for 30 minutes, sometimes 20.