A beginning home brewer friend of mine asked a question that sounds like it should have a simple answer, but the answer isn't quite as simple as it seems at first glance. His question: "I'm brewing a light-colored beer (a Kolsch). I want to be sure it doesn't come out too dark. Should I limit my boil to only 20 minutes?" The gut reaction when you hear this question is to say "No. Boil for the full 60-90 minutes." After all, boiling is important to breaking down proteins and making sure that you get the full bitterness from your hops pellets. If you're doing an all-grain recipe for a light-colored beer like this, you probably want to do a full-size, full-length boil to ensure you get a good result. An extract-based recipe changes the answer a little. Malt extract doesn't generally need a full-length boil. It's basically just a concentrated, already boiled wort. You want it to boil for about 15 minutes to ensure that any bacteria o...