[chandlergr]

Can brewers affect the intensity of browning reactions such as maillard and caramelization in the boil kettle? Will boiling more or less vigorously increase or decrease how much the wort darkens in the kettle? Are there other manners of influencing these reactions, such as mashing techniques or water treatment?

[denny]

First, a techniocality....you can get Maillard reactions in the kettle, but you can't get caramelization as long as liquid is present.  To your question, I've found you can increase the color by boiling longer.  But it's a difficult way to control color.

[morticaixavier]

maillard reactions are also pH sensitive. you could increase the speed of the reaction (and therefor, one assumes the total amount in a given time span) by increasing the pH of your wort. would you want to? would it cause any other, possibly unpleasant, changes in your beer? perhaps.

[chandlergr]

Denny, is there any way to minimize maillard reactions over a long boil? It seems when I intend to brew pale beers with pilsner malt and 90 minute boils, my resulting wort tends to be darker than I wish. Does anybody else experience this? This is my ultimate reason for asking.

[morticaixavier]

how hard are you boiling? you really only need to see the surface turning over. I see a lot of brewers boiling the beejeesus out of the wort and it's just not necessary and will darken your wort.

[HoosierBrew]

how hard are you boiling? you really only need to see the surface turning over. I see a lot of brewers boiling the beejeesus out of the wort and it's just not necessary and will darken your wort.

Yeah, I agree. A gentle rolling boil is fine.

[chandlergr]

sounds good, that was my best guess. I got some new burners and have indeed been boiling pretty vigorously lately. thanks guys

[ynotbrusum]

I did a single decoction Helles recently that was a bit dark due to both the decoction and the 90 minute boil.  As long as tastes good, I won't worry about SRM being a bit high....but if entering comps, you have an issue.