Boiling Wort

After you have steeped your grains, it is time to get boiling. Crank the heat to high. Once you reach a nice rolling boil, you should remove the kettle from the heat. It is time to add the Malt Extract.

The thick concentration of sugars in your Liquid Malt Extract causes the syrup to fall to the bottom of the kettle when it is added. Turning the heat off prevents any scorching, or burning, of those sugars.

Once you have added all of the extract per your instructions, it is time to heat again. At this time, we highly encourage you to keep a close eye on your boil. If you have ever had a boilover when cooking pasta, you know it can be pretty messy. A boilover on brew day is 50 times worse. You will want to do everything you can to prevent that (PRO TIP - A spray bottle of drinkable water can help keep the foam at bay).

When the wort starts to boil again, you will be setting a timer for 60 minutes and adding the hops according to the instruction sheet. As you begin to add hops into your wort, you will want to be particularly mindful of boilover as hops can cause foaming. Turning down the heat as you add the hops and adding them slowly will reduce the risk of boilover.

Some brewers choose to put their hops into mesh bags instead of adding them directly into the boil. This is done to easily remove the hop matter from the kettle after the boil, but is not necessary.

Once the timer goes off, turn off the heat and cover the pot.