To boil or not to boil extract?

[bburen]

Hello all,

I just brewed my first batch of beer and it has turned out to be delicious and well done. I'm very pleased.

I would like some suggestions here for future brewing. I would like to do one more extract kit before trying some mini-mash projects. My question is should one boil the LME from the kit or not? I was listening to the BrewStrong podcast on kits and I believe John said not to. But I also have read several books that suggest that one should. I did on my first batch and it turned out acceptable.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

B.

[brewinhard]

I have always boiled the extract (Be it DME or LME) for two reasons

1. your hops will be better utilized due to the isomerization that occurs during the boiling of the wort

2. you are assuring yourself that your precious wort is sanitized completely before chilling

[pythoner]

You could do a late extract method to get proper utilization and not have carmelization or lose of head retention or the "extract twang"

[thatguy314]

Palmer was speaking specifically of prehopped malt extract kits

If it is unhopped, the hops at least must be boiled. Water is a different pH than wort so you'll get a different chatacter boiling hops in beer. If using hops in the boil and any unhopped extract boil at least some of the extract at least as long as the hops (technically extract first, wait for hot break and then add hops or you'll see foam lik you wouldn't believe). I would think mayb on the order of 2-3 pounds of extract per 5 galloms (giving a 1.020-25ish preboil gravity, same gravity as a small beer. less malt same gravity for partial boil). Hopped extract/remaining unhopped add at end to pasteurize it.

[bburen]

Awesome. Thanks yall!

[fatcat660]

I have allways done the full hour boil with very good results. I think I might try the late extract method just to see how it works. After all this is the fun of it all.....besides drinking it LOL

[krizwit]

I boil for 20min and like the results.

[Shiney_McShine]

Full boil is the best way. You can then boil all ingredients for a complete 60 minutes, or more. It made a huge difference for me. I went from making mediocre beer to award winning beer by utilizing full boils.