Stout makers input please.

[YamahaXS]

So I was reading in Koronoz (sp?) that boiling worts for 3-4 hours can make a stout extra smooth... He might of even used the term silky.


My question is does anyone here have first hand experience with this technique?

thanks in advance

[Payson]

The last stout I made went for 2 hours instead of the recommended 90 minutes. It was the second time I made the same type and I would have to say it had a better mouthfeel. In fact, it was better overall. It boiled the additional time as a result of my being behind on sanitizing...sort of a fortunate accident!

[fretlessman71]

OH I wish I had seen this before I brewed that last batch.... it's already tasting great, but how much better could it have been.....? :)

[LorenzoJ]

On a Stout related note, I just bottled a Milk Stout after 5 or so days in primary and 2+ weeks in secondary which didn't ferment down as much as I expected. The primary fermentation using an XL pak was very vigorous, damn near blew the airlock off a 6.5 gal carboy. Temps were good throughout. Anyway the taste of the sample at bottling was SMOOTH with a very subtle sweetness. Can't hardly wait for carbonation to build.

[fretlessman71]

Dumb question... how much milk do you add to a stout to make it a milk stout? I added lactose to mine, but that apparently doesn't qualify....

[LorenzoJ]

Common......... you know that Milk Stout is just an old term and that lactose is the actual additive. !

[noby]

is there a guideline to boil times, or is it a case of the darker the beer, the longer the boil??
most recipes I see seem to be based on 1 hour boils. Although I have seen shorter times for lighter coloured lagers.

[YamahaXS]

small update:

I was looking through a few recipes for stouts and the rule seems to be 60-90 minute boil times. I saw one for 200 minute boil.

[Moondoggy]

How is the loss in luquid calculated for in longer boils.

I lost a gallon during a one hour boil my first time and I just topped off the fermenter to get back to five gallons.

After a three hour boil I would imagine starting with at least 8 gallons for a full boil.

[mortong]

Go here (http://www.promash.com) and download promash. They've got a lot of great brewing related tools in their program, including one to calculate boiloff based on time and amount of boil.

[brewmonkey]

Did it discuss the issues of the hot break going back into solution and that was what created the effect of a smooth beer? I have heard this in the past but no one has raw data to back i tup.

I don't see how a longer boil will smooth out a beer. Longer boil will certainly effect your maillard reaction darkening the beer even more and adding some kettle carmelization to it, but I don't think that would smooth out the flavor profile.

I generally reserve long boils for my Barleywine and Wee Heavy (both get 3 hours) looking for the kettle carmelization to come through during the extended aging they get (at least 1 year before serving).

[Stodbrew]

I agree with Brewmonkey, I've never heard of longer boils creating smoother beers.

Brewmonkey-

What do you age your barleywine and wee heavy in for that long? Fermenters, aging tanks, serving tanks, or kegs? I know I don't have that kind of capacity in my brewery to do any extended aging like that. I wish I did! The longest I could probably pull it off would be about three to four months.

[Beerconnoisseur]

...is Snyder, of The Brewmaster's Bible fame, who mentions on page 44:

A technique once used in brewing dark, heavy German beers is to boil the wort for up to 3 or 4 hours. Using this method, the protein coagulated in the hot-break is eventually dissolved back into the wort, resulting in an extremely smooth, velvety, and full-bodied beer. A longer boil also lends a darker color and more toasted/caramel flavors.

However.... since I have never brewed a batch for 3 or 4 hours myself, I can't personally vouch for this. But use it if it helps. :)

[YamahaXS]

yep it was was the same arguement. I certainly thought it was Korzonas that was saying this, though I just went and tried to find it and couldn't. Maybe it was Snyder...

Anyways, I was just curious if anyone here had some antidotal if not empirical evidence that speaks to the matter.

[unkle bik]

One would tend to think that a longer boiltime would lead carmelizing.
Would you think this sweetening effect could smooth out the flavor?

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by Stodbrew
I agree with Brewmonkey, I've never heard of longer boils creating smoother beers.

Brewmonkey-

What do you age your barleywine and wee heavy in for that long? Fermenters, aging tanks, serving tanks, or kegs? I know I don't have that kind of capacity in my brewery to do any extended aging like that. I wish I did! The longest I could probably pull it off would be about three to four months.

I aged in kegs so I would not tie up any tanks for that time. Once upon a time we lucked into about 100 kegs from Odell's that he was selling off dirt cheap. They are great for the long term projects!