Author: Marshall Schott

Way back in May 2013, I asked the fine folks over in the Homebrewing subreddit if they’d ever considered boiling an all grain batch of wort for 30 minutes, explaining I was planning to experiment with this on a batch of IPA. As you might guess, the majority of the comments I received attempted to talk me out of it with claims ranging from increased risk of DMS to haziness in the finished beer. And it worked. I left the idea alone, brewed the IPA with a traditional, err, conventional 60 minute boil. To be honest, I don’t even remember that batch, but I often recall the idea, that stupid idea…

But things are a little different now. Here I am, a trend bucking, convention questioning, myth busting dork willing to sacrifice gallons of beer for the sake of knowledge… ROOOOOAAARRR!!

Ehh, I don’t actually identify with the whole mythbusters thing, that’s never been what motivates me. Really, I’m just annoyingly curious and ask “but why?” probably more than anyone should. While thinking about ways I might shave a few more minutes off my increasingly shorter brew days, boil length came to mind and I was immediately reminded of the previously mentioned conversation. The time had finally come to test this popularly accepted principle out! I’ll admit, I was oddly excited to get the chance to present these findings to an audience that includes many of the folks who talked me out of this idea nearly 2 years ago. Not that I’m looking for vindication or anything…

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the impact a 30 minute boil has when compared to a beer of the same recipe undergoing a more conventional 60 minute boil.

| METHOD |

After comparing The Yeast Bay’s Vermont Ale yeast to WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast in an IPA, I was pining to give ‘er a go in a lower OG beer, eventually settling on a somewhat sessionable Pale Ale recipe hopped aggressively with Amarillo from the infamous 2013 crop.

American Pale Ale Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM OG FG ABV 5.5 gal 60/30 min 37.2 5.2 1.048 SG 1.014 SG 4.4 % Fermentables

Name Amount % Domestic 2-Row 4 lbs 8 oz 45.0 Gambrinus Vienna Malt 3 lbs 30.0 Rye Malt 1 lbs 8 oz 15.0 Crystal 10 1 lbs 10.0

Hops Name Amt/IBU Time Use Form Alpha % Galaxy 11 g/12.2 IBU 30 min Boil Pellet 15.0 Amarillo 14 g/3.3 IBU 15 min Boil Pellet 8.2 Amarillo 50 g/12.5 IBU Flameout w/ 15 min stand Boil Pellet 8.2 Galaxy 20 g/9.2 IBU Flameout w/ 15 min stand Boil Pellet 15.0 Amarillo 50 g in each fermentor 4 days Dry hop Pellet 8.2

Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Ferm Temp Vermont Ale The Yeast Bay 71% 67°F

I got my starter going a couple days prior to brewing, making sure to overbuild to harvest some for future use.

Given the independent variable in this xBmt (boil length), a double-batch brew day was warranted. Since the volume of wort boiled off over 60 minutes would be greater than that boiled off in 30 minutes, I designed 2 recipes that were the same in every respect except boil length, which was very easy with BeerSmith. I chose the no sparge method for this batch, as I do for nearly all 5 gallon batches these days, collecting about 0.5 gallons less brewing liquor for the short-boil batch to compensate for the reduced evaporation loss. BeerSmith came through on brew day and I nailed my target mash temp for each batch, despite their different volumes.

My rough-housing daughter, Olive, came out to assist for a bit, she can almost say “wort.”

The boil happened, I added hops, lots of them, then I chilled each batch in under 4 minutes using my King Cobra IC.

Due to my cool groundwater, I was able to get both worts down to 64°F without leaving them for an extended time in the cold chamber– I was aiming for my target ferm temp of 67°F since I’m not convinced pitching cooler than fermentation temp actually matters all that much, at least when healthy starters are used, but whatever. Refractometer readings made me awkwardly giddy, confirming I’d hit the same 1.049 OG target for each batch.

Each fermentor was placed in the fermentation chamber, equal amounts of Vermont Ale yeast were pitched, the ale fermentation schedule on my Black Box temp controller was engaged, and within 12 hours both had come alive.

It’s not often the beers I make require a blowoff. These did. Thankfully I caught it just before a mess was made. Annoying clean-up averted.

Both beers reached my target fermentation temperature of 67°F rather quickly and stayed there for a few days before the temps began to ramp up.

Activity in both fermentors began to slow after just 3 days, appearing mostly still only a few days later, so I took an initial FG reading.

While the difference wasn’t crazy, I was a little surprised that that short-boil batch dried out slightly more than the long-boil beer. I’m not sure why this surprised me, I guess I just expected the opposite. Anyway, after ensuring the FG hadn’t changed by checking them again a day later, it was time to crash, fine with gelatin, and keg these bad boys up.

The full kegs were left in my keezer to carbonate and finish clearing up for a few days before I began the data collection.

| RESULTS |

The authors of my favorite new book, Experimental Homebrewing, received samples of this beer for evaluation– Denny and his pal Brandt evaluated the beers while Drew enlisted the palates of a few Maltose Falcons members. James Spencer and Steve Wilkes from Basic Brewing Radio also participated in the xBmt, which we discussed in an episode that is available now. Much thanks to these folks as well as my local friends for their contributions!

Twenty-four people participated in this xBmt including 6 certified BJCP judges and 4 provisional judges awaiting results on the tasting portion of the exam. In order for statistical significance to be reached, 13 participants (p<0.05) would have to correctly select the beer that was different. Each taster was presented with 2 samples of the long-boil beer and 1 sample of the short-boil beer. A whopping 9 people (38%) correctly selected the different sample, with the other 15 tasters choosing the samples that were similar, a remarkably even split that suggests making a correct selection was nearly as good as selecting at random. Not surprisingly, the majority of tasters who were correct, 5 of 9, reported being not very confident about their selection, while only 2 said they were very confident.

When it came to comparing only the 2 different beers, all but 2 tasters reported appearance as being exactly the same, and those 2 believed the short-boil beer to look better than the other. Aromatically, 7 tasters reported the beers to be somewhat similar, 1 believed they smelled exactly the same, and 1 thought the aroma was not at all similar; of the 8 who perceived some difference, 6 preferred the long-boil beer’s aroma. All 9 participants agreed the flavor between the short- and long-boil beers were somewhat similar, with 5 preferring the former and 4 preferring the latter. Mouthfeel was said to be somewhat similar by 7 tasters while 2 thought they were exactly the same, the preference again being essentially split with 4 choosing the long-boil and 3 preferring the mouthfeel of the short-boil beer. The short-boil beer was the winner of the overall preference award with 6 participants choosing it and only 3 saying they preferred the long-boil sample.

After being made aware of the nature of the xBmt and completing the comparative evaluation, participants who were correct in the triangle test were asked to choose which beer they thought was boiled for only 30 minutes. I like this question. I like it a lot because it provides the participants a framework, allowing them to hone in on any potential problems they might expect to be caused by the manipulated variable. In this case, tasters would certainly have prepared their nostrils and tongues for differences in perceptible DMS character. Surprisingly, a 6 to 3 majority wrongly chose the beer boiled for 60 minutes.

My Impressions: This is another one of those cases where, when I poured the beers for myself, I swore I could taste a difference, but in situations where someone else poured them for me, I couldn’t tell them apart at all. I’ve the pleasure of knowing the nature of each xBmt the entire time, which likely allows me to avoid some of the expectation error I believe others fell victim to, hence I didn’t note any differences in aroma, flavor, or mouthfeel. My mind probably would have invented something if I was primed to expect a difference, I’ve no doubt.

| DISCUSSION |

As much as I want to say “I told you so,” as compelled as I feel to suggest that 60+ minutes boil are unnecessary, I’ll refrain because, well… that’d be pretty stupid. Sure, the results from this xBmt were not statistically significant, suggesting 30 minute boils don’t guarantee creamed corn off-flavors, at least when making hoppy ale. But as I’ve said before, this is only a single point of data, one dude’s experience with one batch of beer shared with 24 people. While I’m nowhere near smart enough to get into a discussion about the conversion of SMM to DMS and its subsequent volatilization during the boil, shit’s way above my head, I do wonder where in history it was decided it takes an entire hour of boiling for DMS to be reduced to imperceptible levels. Maybe this 60 minute rule was more a function of the fact the hop varieties of yore were so low in alpha acid that they simply required more contact time to impart proper amounts of bitterness. Or perhaps the fact I’m able to chill my wort so quickly has something to do with it. I really don’t know. But I’m curious.

A quick note about the actual beer– blegh! I almost felt bad for the folks who had to taste it, many who kindly provided positive feedback. I can’t say for sure whether it was the hops or not, as I apparently really enjoyed a friend’s beer made with the 2013 Amarillo crop, but I certainly didn’t care too much for the beer I used it in. It wasn’t a dumper, don’t get me wrong, but it had this sort of earthy/grassy character that didn’t sit well with me, not the wonderful orange-citrus character I was expecting. If you participated in this xBmt and didn’t like the beer, neither did I and I’m sorry; if you actually enjoyed the beer, you can find it on tap at my uncle’s house.

I plan to repeat this xBmt using a grist of mostly Pils malt and compare my standard 90 minute boil to a 30 minute boil. If you’ve messed around with boil length in your brewing, I’m beyond interested to hear of your experiences!

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