I did my first all grain yesterday (a Hefe) and not knowing what my boil-off would be I put 3.5 gallons in the brew pot (doing 2.5 Gallon batch) anyway at the end of the hour I still had 3 gallons so I just continued the boil to get it down to 2.5. I still nailed the O.G. at 1.049. It all seems ok but I have no idea what that extra boil time may do.
Depending on how much longer you boiled, the beer might be slightly darker and/or have a slightly more caramelized flavor than it would have had with a shorter boil. No need to worry though. If any effects, they should be very minor.
Given a boil-off rate of .5 gal per hour, I wonder if your boil is vigorous enough. Next time you brew, make sure you have a rolling boil–not just a simmer.
If you increased the boiling time with any late hop additions already added (flavor or aroma hops) then they will have contributed more bitterness than you were planning for. Nothing you can do about that now. But now you know that with your set-up, you will boil off 1/2 gallon per hour. That will remain pretty constant regardless of how much volume you put in that kettle until it gets to the “almost gone” level.
thanks for the replies. no late hop additions. this was done on the stove with the eye full blast and temp hovering around 215°. if a low boil won’t hurt my beer i well just take that into account next time (which is why i started with a cheap beer)
A low boil has different issues than a long boil. If the wort is not boiling vigorously, you won’t get the hot break to fall out and your beer may suffer from clarity and stability issues.
