My wort didnt come close to boiling over. Normal?
- Thread starter RippinLt
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Probably not enough heat. On my stove, I have to cover the wort until it just starts to boil, then quickly take the lid off to prevent disaster. It's tough to maintain a good rolling boil.
With extract, I probably stir for about five minutes to make sure it's all mixed in. After that it is not necessary. The boil stirs itself.
With extract, I probably stir for about five minutes to make sure it's all mixed in. After that it is not necessary. The boil stirs itself.
smizak
Well-Known Member
I found it very difficult to boil more than 3 gallons on my stove. An hour just to get it there. Found a 10 gal pot on ebay for $40, SQ-14 on sale at HD for $39.99
I very rarely have boil overs. If you stir it as often as you claim you did and keep an eye on the heat, I wouldn't expect you to have any boilovers.
My electric stove doesn't get a strong boil going, resulting in very little foam at the start. Although I did have a boil over last night because I also do the lid until the last second before boil, but had to run out of the room for a minute and then it started to boil. Even without the vigorous boil and foam, my beers still seem to taste like beers.
Thanks, that was $40 I wasn't going to spend today. I always thought they were more like $80.
Thanks, that was $40 I wasn't going to spend today. I always thought they were more like $80.
Naked_Eskimo
Well-Known Member
Gremlyn...what is that/where did you get that? I do stovetop...and can maintain a 208-209F "boil" but never quite reach 212.
Didnt think that would be too much of a big deal..but have a) never had an active boil, b) never come close to a boilover. So wonder what effect those 3-4 degrees may have?
Didnt think that would be too much of a big deal..but have a) never had an active boil, b) never come close to a boilover. So wonder what effect those 3-4 degrees may have?
You can always insulate your pot if you're doing stove top:
I did this when I was doing stove top and it cut 10-15 mins off of the time to boil from room temp.
+1
A combination of that and leaving the lid on half-way** will get you a nice rolling boil... that's when you have to worry about the boil-over. The boil-over is actually a sign you're doing things right.
Another way to improve your boil-time: move to a higher elevation! I love getting rolling boils at 202*F
**You can even go 3/4 of the way on... just make sure it doesn't slip all the way on and cause a violent boil-over. That's happened to me a couple of times
Fantastical
Well-Known Member
I use the stove as well. I get it to boil faster by putting the two large elements on max and swapping the wort every minute or two. Much faster.
I wonder how this affects the brewing process/chemistry. It's not the act of boiling that isomerizes alpha acids or any of the other flavor-producing compounds, but the temperature. Do you boil longer or use more hops to account for the lower temp?
Indyking
Well-Known Member
That's because you were not technically boiling. You were simmering! Which is common when heating an enormous amount of water in regular stoves! But dont worry, your beer should turn out just fine
That is an excellent quandary. From what I can tell I get proper isomerization, i.e. my ~37 IBU pale ale has a similar bitter profile to SNPA... but that's all individual perception. I usually boil 60 minutes, sometimes 70 if I'm getting lazy/drunk by that point
I got mine at Dixieline, but pretty much any home improvement store should carry it.
shanecb
Well-Known Member
I don't get a ton of foam either, but always have a nice boil. Takes awhile to get up to boil on my stove, but once it gets there it's a good rolling boil.
I know this is an old post, but wanted to add my thoughts, as I am doing my first brew RIGHT now.
I am using an electric stovetop, and have no problem at all getting a rolling boil on about 8 3/4 on the knob out of 10, once it boils we turn my stove down (we do canning, and I know this from canning). I am also using an encapsulated bottom pan, which really helped, the water boiled in about 15-20 minutes.
I am getting very little foam because of my heat control. I have a sprayer handy though, the first hop addition resulted in a lot of foam but I turned it down and sprayed a little, no issue.
I am using a 20qt (5 gal) pot for a partial boil (2.5 gal water, 1/2gal LME). House smells nice
I am using an electric stovetop, and have no problem at all getting a rolling boil on about 8 3/4 on the knob out of 10, once it boils we turn my stove down (we do canning, and I know this from canning). I am also using an encapsulated bottom pan, which really helped, the water boiled in about 15-20 minutes.
I am getting very little foam because of my heat control. I have a sprayer handy though, the first hop addition resulted in a lot of foam but I turned it down and sprayed a little, no issue.
I am using a 20qt (5 gal) pot for a partial boil (2.5 gal water, 1/2gal LME). House smells nice
This may or may not be related, but I have been told on countless occasions to not leave the lid on during boil. This is due to the fact that the condensate that can form on the lid and come back into the wort can produce off flavors...is this true?
"DMS is continuously produced in the wort while it is hot and is usually removed by vaporization during the boil. If the wort is cooled slowly these compounds will not be removed from the wort and will dissolve back in. Thus it is important to not completely cover the brewpot during the boil or allow condensate to drip back into the pot from the lid. The wort should also be cooled quickly after the boil, either by immersing in an ice bath or using a wort chiller."
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html
