Couple of questions Hops and boiler

[chor808]

Hello Again,

A couple of questions I'm sure you can answer for me,

I'm doing all grain brewing and some of the recipes call for hops at switch off, is this the same as dry hoping? I have been throwing them in as I shut off the boiler and then removing once the wort is cool.

Second question I am using a electrim boiler, it has a dial on the side 0 -10 on the boil I just leave it at ten, it is a pretty vigorous boil. [FONT=&quot]The instructions state for the boil turn down to 7 however when I do that it boils then switches off for some random time then boils again. It is an on or off device if you see what I mean. Should I just leave it on max and boil away?

Thanks!
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[Grizzly299]

I use a tea urn and crank it up to full, however it's made of steel. Not sure what to advise with regards to your boiler.

Although I will offer some points that would make me go for a strong rolling boil.A poor boil can give you a few issues;

Bad hot break
DMS in beer
Lower OG (because of not hitting evaporation targets)
Poor Alpha acid Isomerisation

As far as hopping goes, putting the hops in at 0 mins or at "flameout" is not quite the same as dry hopping because the wort is still hot when the hops are added.

The principle is the same.You are trying to get maximum hop aroma/flavour(in the form of hop oils) into your wort.

"Flameout" additions,whilst very effective, will lose some potency because the heat of the wort will still drive the aromas from the wort.Once you start fermenting, the vigorous first few days will also drive off a lot of aroma because of all the co2.

Dry hops may be added at any point post boil and cooling and there are some weird and wonderful ways of doing it too. Some people will dry hop during primary fermentation some will only dry hop for a few days before bottling.


0 min additions and dry hopping shouldn't increase the IBU rating of your beer , because Alpha acids are not being Isomerised.They can still increase percieved bitterness though.

 

[Fil]

wot he said ..

nail head squarely hit imho..

 

[Grizzly299]

All of the points that I mentioned about the boil can likely be offset by increasing the time you keep the beer in the boiler.

Say your boiler is off for 30 secs on for 120, you could get the right boil time(or close) by calculating how long it's been on for in total.

So for a 90 minute true boil time you would have 90 mins on and 22 minutes off. Giving a total of 102 mins, I think? It's early and numbers hate me.

I just think it would be difficult to calculate bittering, though bittering is always an estimate anyway because there are so many variables.

 

[Spapro]

Hello Again,

Second question I am using a electrim boiler, it has a dial on the side 0 -10 on the boil I just leave it at ten, it is a pretty vigorous boil. [FONT=&quot]The instructions state for the boil turn down to 7 however when I do that it boils then switches off for some random time then boils again. It is an on or off device if you see what I mean. Should I just leave it on max and boil away?

[/FONT]

You are looking for a reasonably vigorous boil, I would only turn it down to the point where a rolling boil is held but not boiling over - how about 8 or 9 ?

It must be some kind of thermostatic control so avoid a boil over but try and hold a rolling boil.

 

[chor808]

You are looking for a reasonably vigorous boil, I would only turn it down to the point where a rolling boil is held but not boiling over - how about 8 or 9 ?

It must be some kind of thermostatic control so avoid a boil over but try and hold a rolling boil.

Even at 8 or 9 it is just an on off control, there is no control over the heat it just shuts down for a few mins then back to the boil again. I think I'll leave it at ten.

Thanks for the hops explaination.

 

[Spapro]

Even at 8 or 9 it is just an on off control, there is no control over the heat it just shuts down for a few mins then back to the boil again. I think I'll leave it at ten.

Thanks for the hops explaination.

Just watch out for boil overs until you know it doesn't boil over if left at 10. Good luck with your brews.

 

[JFB]

As regards the "flame out hops" there seems to be a few trains of thought.
First is simple turn off boil then add hops and chill.
Then you have turn off the boil chill to 80c then add the hops and chill.
And of course some will then not chill down for 20-30 mins after adding the flame out hops in both of the above.
I don't think there is a right or wrong way and is down to preference.

I've started to no chill all my beers and this brings in another whole kettle of fish!

 

[chor808]

As regards the "flame out hops" there seems to be a few trains of thought.
First is simple turn off boil then add hops and chill.
Then you have turn off the boil chill to 80c then add the hops and chill.
And of course some will then not chill down for 20-30 mins after adding the flame out hops in both of the above.
I don't think there is a right or wrong way and is down to preference.

I've started to no chill all my beers and this brings in another whole kettle of fish!

Oh so you just leave it to cool overnight? I've been using a wort chiller with cold tap water.

 

[JFB]

Using a wort chiller is the most common way and may make better beer? A big plus is that most recipes are designed around using a wort chiller so you know your following it correctly.
But the whole thing just took to long for me especially if you waited 20mins for flame out hops. What used to take me 5 1/2 hours now is 3 1/2 doing "no chill":thumb:
I'm probably not the best person to talk about it as I'm still quite new.
Theres loads of great stuff on here and youtube about it. You'll need to look at changing hop addition times and include first wort hopping(not as crazy as it sounds).
I would carry on the way your going for now but its something to look into if you want to save time and water.

 

[JapanBrew]

Grizzly nailed it.

Jfb also has good advice. I like 80 c then let sit 20 min.

Try it out. Split it in have. At flameout add the hops to one half. The chill a bit the other half and throw in some hops. One won't be better, but one you'll prefer.