Based on the evaporation percentages that pro systems produce and the percentages we homebrewers often experience, it's my opinion that we homebrewers typically boil too hard and have too much exchange with the atmosphere...which results in too much evaporation.
Yes, the wort needs to be moving during the boil to help extract the elements from our hops and to expel undesirable elements from the wort. But we don't need the wort to be leaping from the kettle throughout the boil duration. I've gone to partially covering my kettle to help reduce the exchange with the atmosphere. In addition, I limit the boil vigor to the point that I can see that the wort is moving trub and hop particles throughout the kettle. The other thing I do at the end of the boil is to increase the vigor to try and expel any DMS that might have accumulated in the early boil. It seems to be working, but without comparative trials, its just conjecture on my part.
Boiling too hard, just wastes energy and you end up with a lesser volume of more concentrated wort. Since you can't produce kettle caramalization at boiling temps, that argument seems dubious to me. I think that perception that brewers say they achieve is just the result of the more concentrated wort.
Topic: rolling boil? (Read 11979 times)
