Didn't get a full, rolling boil - problem?

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danb35

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I've made some other fermented drinks in the past (mead, wine, cider), but just brewed my first batch of beer last night, using morebeer.com's Dunkelweizen kit and Wyeast 3068. Things seemed to go pretty smoothly, with one exception: I never obtained a full, rolling boil of the wort.

I had 3 gallons of water in the pot, and set an alarm on my probe thermometer at 211 degrees. At that point, it looked like there was a bit of a boil going (bubbles coming up in the center, foam around the edge of the pot, but not really vigorous), so I added the hops (in a hops bag), started a 60-minute timer, and kept the heat on high. Over the hour, though, the wort never reached a really active boil. In fact, by the end of the hour, the temperature had dropped to 210 degrees. At that time, the activity level looked about the same as when I'd added the hops.

I went on my merry way, and chilled, racked, oxygenated, and pitched.

What effect is this likely to have? I'm not thinking my beer is ruined, but I'm wondering if there would be harmful effects at all. However, I'm relaxed, I'm not worried, and I've had a Franziskaner (I don't have any homebrew yet, the condition I'm trying to address).
 
It should be fine, You may just not get all the utilization from your hops but I doubt it will be an issue you can tell. 210 is pretty darn close. RDWHAHB
 
My thermometer reads about 207 during the most intense boils. You'll be fine.
 
Defo agree with both above. I don't think you will have any ill effects. As long as you had that temp the full time i imagine it will come out great.
 
Thanks for the info. I'd expected the temperature would do the job, but then a review of howtobrew.com this morning suggested that a vigorous boil was a factor in hop utilization as well.

Niko, I'm trying to HAHB! (-: It's just time to let the yeasties do their thing.
 
Assuming that you're doing an extract kit, you'll be just fine. The boil is more critical for all-grain where you need to drive off some DMS precursors. I think the only effect it would have on hop utilization would be the stirring action, but you get plenty of convection well before you hit a true boil anyway.

Heck, even with all-grain, I had an Irish red where I ran out of propane with 15 minutes left in the boil and had to just let it sit until the pre-planned "flamout." The temp dropped to about 190 before I turned on the chiller and it turned out OK.
 
your beer will be just fine. in fact, it'll be great since you made it.

the only possible negative that i can think of is that a good solid boil has a minor effect on clarity, since you need a good boil to create the hot break. the hot break is the coagulation of proteins that gel together during the initial minutes of boil. having been stuck together as larger clumps instead of smaller particles, they will eventually fall out of suspension and become part of the trub. so your beer might be a tad hazier than if you had gotten a vigorous boil. should have no effect on taste, so definitely not a reason to worry.

However, I'm relaxed, I'm not worried, and I've had a Franziskaner (I don't have any homebrew yet, the condition I'm trying to address).
i really like this kid. welcome! :mug:
 
Thanks again (und nochmal vielen Dank) for the help/information. As for clarity, well, it's a Hefe anyway, so that isn't first on my list of concerns. Which leads to another question, but it probably belongs in its own thread...
 
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