Written By: Peter Evans
Date: December 13, 2009 Once you are ready to add the hops and begin the boil you must realize the importance of the boiling process and what it does for your beer. Boiling appears to be just boiling, right? Wrong, there are some pretty important processes going on during this step that need to be understood.

Adding the hops on schedule is just a small part of what's going on during the boil. The boil acts as a sterilizing process. Much like boiling sheets did in the 1800s, only you can drink the beer if you boil right. The wort added to the boil is full of enzymes that must be completely neutralized to achieve a clear, pure tasting brew. IN addition to this, it stabilizes the proteins you've released during the mash process and more or less stops the chemical events you started there. Having a consistent boil assures a consistent beer, which once your personal taste is established, is a beautiful thing and what the “master' in “brewmaster” is about.

 Boiling extracts might seem like a quick way to get through the brewing process, and while they will save time spent on roasting and mashing, they are also very heat sensitive. This is due to the high sugar content. High fructose increases the chance of scorching, so extra attention should be paid to making sure the mixture keeps moving and the sugars don't have time to settle and burn. Cajun style beer is not even appreciated in New Orleans, if you catch the point.

 Using your own wort from your own mash will contain a lot of protein. The boil will eliminate a majority of these and help prevent cloudy beer and undesired taste. Remember to follow the recipe you have to the letter at least once before you go on any tangents to further customize your own brew. Regardless of what you do during the boil, remember it is important to bring the beer to a rolling boil and continue to boil it for at least one hour. Getting rid of all the proteins is not a good idea either as they contribute to the flavor and texture of your beer.

 Hops are another important ingredient to your beer. Hops will add bitterness and a preservative quality to your beer. In addition to that, hops will remove the undesired proteins from your beer. The rolling boil with hops added to schedule will gather all these unwanted proteins which will then become a cloud. This is called the hot break. Paying attention to this could mean the difference between a nice, full beer or something that doesn't even look like beer, much less taste like it. The best way to tell if you've reached the hot break is to take a sample of the beer; if you see little clouds suspended in the sample, you've reached the hot break. Once you remove the beer from the heat the clouds will fall to the bottom of your kettle.

 Once the beer is removed from the heat it is time to separate out the cloud, now called the “trub”. Stir the beer (wort) from the sides of your kettle creating a whirlpool effect. This will cause the trub to settle near the middle. You can now drain your wort into a separate container and get ready for the chill process.  One final strain through a fresh layer of hops flowers will increase the flavor of the beer, add a little extra taste preservative and act as a final cleaning agent for the wort to get out any of the trub you might have missed. Be careful not to splash though, air introduced into your hot wort can create an “off taste”.

 It might seem like a lot of hard work. No doubt you will find a sense of satisfaction from doing it all yourself though, that is one of the reasons you got into home brewing, right? Once you've gotten through this and on to the chilling process, perhaps you should have a beer….