Beer Tips #6: Boil Size
This is probably the least "controversial" brewing thing I'll bring up. It is fairly common. I have some thoughts on it that might be less common though. It is also the natural next topic after my last one on batch sizes and a good one after my fourth batch where I truly utilized some of what I'm about to say.
Batch size is one way to control cost, equipment and other factors, but it certainly isn't the only way. Boil size is another way. You don't always need to boil 100% of the batch size. Especially if you aren't doing all grain. In fact, in many cases you may actually find it is better not to do so.
Again, I think a lot of forums, guides, etc... ignore this mostly because they are experienced all-grain brewers who have the equipment to do full boils. And if you're starting with the full amount of water to work your grains this just adds time and steps to the process. An all-grain brewer is also saving a lot of money on grains compared to an extract brewer, so if the gravity of the boil decreases hop utilization they are less concerned about adding more. For any number of reasons I think most all grain brewers don't normally think of partial boils (or late malt additions), etc... and in this case I don't think it is a case where they aren't recommending it because they look down on the process (though, undoubtedly some will).
Partial boils, like late malt additions, can help you keep costs down. Especially for extract brewers. Too little, or too much sugar in the pot while boiling the hops will affect how well the hops are used. Since you're typically just boiling the malt to get a hot break and to sterilize you can always boil the remainder separately (or as a late addition) if you're concerned about those things either at the same time or in advance.
Most people seem to think 10-15 minutes is long enough to sterilize and probably to get your hot break as well. If I were a planning person, I would say to do it first or starting at the same time as your main boil. Then you cool that portion down while working on the remainder which can be used to help cool down the main batch more quickly to pitching temps once the boil is done.
If there is no additional malts to worry about or you're not concerned about sterilization/hot break for the remaining additions, that's even better. Just add any extras along with cold water to the fermenter/boiling pot at the end to help finish bringing down the temperature.
Back to the main topic though... partial boils help in two ways. Since you aren't boiling the full amount of water (and possibly malts as well), you don't need as large a pot. You may even be able to boil on your kitchen stove with ease. Also, even if your recipe isn't the ideal starting gravity for utilizing your hops, you can make sure the portion in your partial boil is. This may allow you to scale down the amount of hops required to reach the same IBUs, flavor and aroma. And that means cheaper brew days as well. Now, you're probably not going to save tons. But if you only have so much on hand, or you're just getting started these could be important factors for you. Also, if you have no other reason for doing a full boil... why waste the time, money and effort?
Oh, one last point for partial boils. Cold break and cooling. The smaller the boiled batch to quicker it will cool to pitching temperatures and the more options you have for getting it there. If you don't have an immersion cooler or something better, then you may find partial boils as the best answer, especially for certain styles where achieving a cold break is more important than others.
There are certainly advantages to full boils as well. I'm not trying to sound like I don't recommend them. I certainly see the advantages. In fact, I bought an 8 gallon brew pot for my 5 gallon batches (hoping it will be enough) because I see myself going to full boil once I grab an immersion cooler and burner and the weather gets good enough to brew outside. I'll probably still leverage some of these concepts by using late additions for my malts as long as I'm doing extract brewing so that I can control boil gravity more.
But, right now, I'm still getting started. I don't think my stove could handle a full boil and I have nowhere (sane) to do this outdoors in the middle of winter here in the aptly named "snow belt" of Ontario. Whatever your reason, you should know that partial boils are a possibility. And more to the fact, they can even offer more control and some slight advantages over a full boil.
Obviously, there are limits to how effective this can be. But, couple this with the tips on batch sizes and should be able to increase the flexibility in batch sizes you can handle and the quality of beer you can produce.
[note]
One thing I had needed to research a bit was the cooling properties of a partial mash. Sorry for not finding a scientific article to back this up, but I have no reason to doubt the information here. Wanted to know at what point DMS stopped being produced and how much of a help mixing in cooled water after the fact would be. I knew it had to stop at some point, or at least slow down to acceptable levels, otherwise aging beer would be a terrible idea in general.
So, as hinted at, one of the biggest reasons presented for an immersion chiller is to stop the production of DMS. Another site mocked using a partial boil claiming that adding 3 gallons of cold water to a 2 gallon boiled batch is only going to bring down the temps to 160F on average. Well, funny thing... 160F seems to be the exact temps at which DMS stops being produced. Being able to bring the wort down to that temp almost immediately at least removes one of the biggest issues with not chilling fast enough. So, if you don't have an immersion chiller, this is yet another reason why partial boils can be beneficial.
Even if your proportions of top up water aren't the same or temps aren't enough to get it there right away, it certainly shows that topping up a partial boil with cold water can help keep DMS production well within acceptable levels.
Getting temps down the rest of the way down to pitching temps may still take plenty of time.
[/note]
Batch size is one way to control cost, equipment and other factors, but it certainly isn't the only way. Boil size is another way. You don't always need to boil 100% of the batch size. Especially if you aren't doing all grain. In fact, in many cases you may actually find it is better not to do so.
Again, I think a lot of forums, guides, etc... ignore this mostly because they are experienced all-grain brewers who have the equipment to do full boils. And if you're starting with the full amount of water to work your grains this just adds time and steps to the process. An all-grain brewer is also saving a lot of money on grains compared to an extract brewer, so if the gravity of the boil decreases hop utilization they are less concerned about adding more. For any number of reasons I think most all grain brewers don't normally think of partial boils (or late malt additions), etc... and in this case I don't think it is a case where they aren't recommending it because they look down on the process (though, undoubtedly some will).
Partial boils, like late malt additions, can help you keep costs down. Especially for extract brewers. Too little, or too much sugar in the pot while boiling the hops will affect how well the hops are used. Since you're typically just boiling the malt to get a hot break and to sterilize you can always boil the remainder separately (or as a late addition) if you're concerned about those things either at the same time or in advance.
Most people seem to think 10-15 minutes is long enough to sterilize and probably to get your hot break as well. If I were a planning person, I would say to do it first or starting at the same time as your main boil. Then you cool that portion down while working on the remainder which can be used to help cool down the main batch more quickly to pitching temps once the boil is done.
If there is no additional malts to worry about or you're not concerned about sterilization/hot break for the remaining additions, that's even better. Just add any extras along with cold water to the fermenter/boiling pot at the end to help finish bringing down the temperature.
Back to the main topic though... partial boils help in two ways. Since you aren't boiling the full amount of water (and possibly malts as well), you don't need as large a pot. You may even be able to boil on your kitchen stove with ease. Also, even if your recipe isn't the ideal starting gravity for utilizing your hops, you can make sure the portion in your partial boil is. This may allow you to scale down the amount of hops required to reach the same IBUs, flavor and aroma. And that means cheaper brew days as well. Now, you're probably not going to save tons. But if you only have so much on hand, or you're just getting started these could be important factors for you. Also, if you have no other reason for doing a full boil... why waste the time, money and effort?
Oh, one last point for partial boils. Cold break and cooling. The smaller the boiled batch to quicker it will cool to pitching temperatures and the more options you have for getting it there. If you don't have an immersion cooler or something better, then you may find partial boils as the best answer, especially for certain styles where achieving a cold break is more important than others.
There are certainly advantages to full boils as well. I'm not trying to sound like I don't recommend them. I certainly see the advantages. In fact, I bought an 8 gallon brew pot for my 5 gallon batches (hoping it will be enough) because I see myself going to full boil once I grab an immersion cooler and burner and the weather gets good enough to brew outside. I'll probably still leverage some of these concepts by using late additions for my malts as long as I'm doing extract brewing so that I can control boil gravity more.
But, right now, I'm still getting started. I don't think my stove could handle a full boil and I have nowhere (sane) to do this outdoors in the middle of winter here in the aptly named "snow belt" of Ontario. Whatever your reason, you should know that partial boils are a possibility. And more to the fact, they can even offer more control and some slight advantages over a full boil.
Obviously, there are limits to how effective this can be. But, couple this with the tips on batch sizes and should be able to increase the flexibility in batch sizes you can handle and the quality of beer you can produce.
[note]
One thing I had needed to research a bit was the cooling properties of a partial mash. Sorry for not finding a scientific article to back this up, but I have no reason to doubt the information here. Wanted to know at what point DMS stopped being produced and how much of a help mixing in cooled water after the fact would be. I knew it had to stop at some point, or at least slow down to acceptable levels, otherwise aging beer would be a terrible idea in general.
So, as hinted at, one of the biggest reasons presented for an immersion chiller is to stop the production of DMS. Another site mocked using a partial boil claiming that adding 3 gallons of cold water to a 2 gallon boiled batch is only going to bring down the temps to 160F on average. Well, funny thing... 160F seems to be the exact temps at which DMS stops being produced. Being able to bring the wort down to that temp almost immediately at least removes one of the biggest issues with not chilling fast enough. So, if you don't have an immersion chiller, this is yet another reason why partial boils can be beneficial.
Even if your proportions of top up water aren't the same or temps aren't enough to get it there right away, it certainly shows that topping up a partial boil with cold water can help keep DMS production well within acceptable levels.
Getting temps down the rest of the way down to pitching temps may still take plenty of time.
[/note]
Comments
Post a Comment