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No Boil

B

bfriend

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I just was asked to help on a no-boil extract brewing system.  I created an equipment profile with 0 minutes boil time, 0 boil off, etc.  When I create a recipe I added hops and 0 for the boil time.  I get 0 for IBUs.  This can not be right as there is some bitterness extracted.  Not as much as from boiling but not zero either.

Am I doing something wrong or will Beersmith not calculate IBU for no-boil?

Thanks!
 
The three main IBU calculators (Garetz, Rager and Tinseth) do not cover isomerization of hop oils for a no boil method.  For trying to figure out bitterness, it would be best to add your hops as a 'whirlpool/steep' and use the time it takes to bring the wort down to temperatures below 175F to estimate a value for hop IBU.  I would then use your senses to modify this number by adjusting the utilization factor in the BeerSmith options to match what you think you have.  Alternatively, you can brew and send a sample out for IBU testing and adjust to that if you have the bucks to afford it.

 
After posting the original question, I found something in the no boil literature that said that hop utilization for a 60 minute boil was about 30% and the hop utilization for no boil was around 10%.  I did change the hops to Steep/Whirlpool for 15 minutes and had to increase the hops to about 4 times to get the same IBU.  I think you are right that this is the why to do it.

It would be nice if someone would come up with a formula or modification of one of the formulas to work for no-boil.  The Steep/Whirlpool assumption is that the hops are added at flame out.  The wort would be hotter then than in our no boil as we would not go above 180oF and most likely not much above 170oF.  I'm not going to be surprised if the IBUs were lower than predicted.

Thanks for the help!
 
bfriend said:
It would be nice if someone would come up with a formula or modification of one of the formulas to work for no-boil. 
Click to expand...

When you go off the well-worn path, you often have to make your own map! ;-)

The new release (Version 2.3) of BeerSmith is available for download. It will do calculations for no chill, at 185o F (85C) or above.

The utilization for no-boil still remains unresolved, but it isn't going to be much given the lower temperature and short heat cycle. In fact, you may find no boil beer making to be better suited for very low ibu, low abv and lightly sour styles, since sanitation by pasteurization is less reliable than a full boil.
 
When I did a couple of no-boil kits 25 years ago, the extracts were already hopped. There was no heating and no hop additions.

Do the directions say anything about adding hops?
 
Typically hops have to be boiled to get any isomerization and bitterness out of them.  For a true no-boil you would probably need to use isomerized hop extract which is extracted from hops that has been heated and isomerized.  BeerSmith 2.3 does support the new isomerized extracts now though.

The other option of course is to use pre-hopped malt extracts where the hops were already included in the extract and pre-boiled.

Brad
 
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