I am new to the all grain world, and when looking at the instructions for the boil, some say to boil 30 min before adding bittering hop, some say 15, and some just say to add the hops as soon as the wort is boiling. What is the correct answer here?
Forgive me if this has been discussed, i didn’t see anything on the search.
You need a 60min boil for AG, more like 90min if you are using pils malt. You can add hops at any time after the boil commences, it really just matters becaus ethe longer you boil the more bitterness you get. For instance a 60min boil might give you 24% conversion and a 90min boil, 27%. Not a huge difference but knowing this you can choose when to add the bittering hops. Also, the later in the boil you add hops, the more of the floral/citrus/pine flavor/aroma compounds remain. Thats the purpose for late additions (15min, 5min), but some people like to do their bittering addition at 30min left in the boil to get added flavor. You sacrifice some of your conversion of alpha acids but a lot of the new hops are super high so you still get plenty of bitterness plus the extra flavor.
Check out “How To Brew” online for a good discussion on hops and when to add them.
I usually do roughly a 75 minute boil in order to give time for the foam to break and to reduce the likelihood of a boil over because we only use a 8 gallon pot with 6.5-7 gallons of boiling wort. Once the boil starts I wait fifteen minutes or so until the first hop addition.
I also typically wait until after the foam has subsided and the hot break has formed before I add the first hop addition. That almost always takes less than 10 minutes after the wort starts boiling.
If using pils malt, I’ll do a long boil. So I might wait 30-40 minutes before adding my 60 minute bittering hops.
When using FWH, there is of course no wait.
I’ve done it a dozen ways over the years and don’t think it really matters how/when but boil for 60m. Lately I just chuck the bittering hops in before the boil starts. It doesn’t completely prevent a boilover but it does help. Typically I am cleaning up mash tun at this point so I am not paying that much attention.
Never had an issue with dms and 60 minute boils with pils malts but I can chill wort pretty quickly here in Ohio.
I have been know to extend a boil if I oversparge and need to reduce another 1/2 gallon or so. I delay any late hop additions until I feel I am on track.
Focus on mash pH and calcium requirements first.
