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wobrien

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I boil the starter for five minutes, remove from heat and add a little water mixed with yeast nutrient too soon and cause a volcano of starter wort on my stove. EVERY TIME!

Maybe I'll learn one day...
 
Add the nutrient before the boil.

I have created my share of volcanos. It's such a helpless feeling. I'm at about 75% boilovers and it has always been when I try to add additional water, extract or stir bar without waiting long enough after the boil stops. I restart the boil after the addition.

I must constantly remind myself to leave it be.

I squeeze the contents of one of these simethicone tablets into my boil and it helps break up the bubbles of a simmering boil quite well.
 
Put the DME and the yeast nutrient in, add the water to the required volume you need, bring to a boil leave for 5-10 minutes and cool

If you are using a flask get some Ferm cap or baby drops with simethicone. Once on heat, add a few drops and you're good to go
 
They say the definition of insanity is repeating the same action and expecting the results to change.

I now just boil my starters for 15 minutes in a pot, then pour into my sanitized flask. My last boilover was more than a dozen starters ago.

Oh yeah, and +1 on the Fermcap.
 
I know I know, you guys are right. But I'm such a creature of habit that I always forget. It won't happen next time though.

Also, for the first time ever, I will not pour the stir bar into the fermenter. Yeah right...
 
I switched to 2000ml Pyrex beakers.
No more Erlenmeyer flasks.
Boil in the beakers.

I do two at a time, for my 10 gallon batches.

Add water.
Place aluminum foil over water to sanitize.
Boil water 10 minutes.
Remove the foil,
Turn off the heat, add the DME.
Once DME is dissolved I boil.
Turn off the heat.
Put foil back on, Chill.

Pitch the yeast, place in fermentation chamber.

Every thing is heat sanitized, and no house flies in the chamber.
 
The flask shape accentuates the effects of the boilover. FYI, I always boil and cool in a sauce pan, pitch yeast and then pour the entire thing into a 2L flask. After my first kettle boilover, I had visions of a flask exploding and and spewing hot stick wort and glass shards everyware like napalm.
 
I rest a wooden spoon, handle side down, into the neck of the flask, that helps deter boil overs.

I also use a spray bottle filled with water, which is far and away the best boil over tool at your disposal.
 
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