What should wort look like after boiling?

I just finished boiling my first wort and had a very robust boil with 2 gallons of water for a summer ale. What should my wort look like after boiling? Mine looked like brown sludge and I'm concerned I had too much heat and it boiled off too much water. Once it cooled, it was like a molasses sludge but looked better after I added about 4.75 gallons of water to get back up to 5 gallons of liquid.

Does anyone have a picture they can post? Thanks!

Welcome to HBT!

I'm not surprised your wort looked like molasses sludge if you had to add 4.75 gallons of water to top off. I have no idea what a boil that small will do but it probably will produce beer. How long did you boil it and what kind of kit was it?

To answer your question, wort is not particularly pretty nor is fermentation.

Hmm...I am with Nurmey; adding 4.75 gallons is quite a lot...you lost a lot during your boil, for sure. I do 2 gallon boils and I typically lose somewhere around .5 gallons. I have one picture, which I have linked below. It was a Belgian Witbier I was brewing, so not much different in appearance than a Summer during the boil. I'd say this was around halfway through the boil after adding the extract. Not the greatest pic, but hope it helps for now until someone posts a better one. It really shouldn't thicken up much -

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p233/mchadwell/Wort.jpg

Did you happen to check the temperature during your boil? Seems you may have boiled too long or at too high a temp.

How much water did you have mixed with your extract before the boil? Were you trying to do this in an average sized pasta pot or something?

I would recommend you do some reading at John Palmer's excellent site, and of course here too, and I'm guessing but it sounds like you need to find a large (4-5 gallon minimum) dedicated pot for brewing so you can boil atleast 2-3 gallons of liquid at a time. good luck.

I do 1-1.5 gallon boils (which totally sucks, but it's limited by my equipment) and the resulting wort I wouldn't call sludge, per se, but it is thick. It's probably the consistency of whole milk and is very very dark. Even when I add it the the rest of my water it's still been pretty dark, but the results (two American ale's and a hefeweizen so far) turned out FANTASTIC.

Small boils aren't ideal but they work. My only advice is to watch the temp like a hawk. After you add the extract(s), start the heat back at medium. I maintain a moderate boil at the 5/10 setting on the stove top.

what is the ideal temperature to boil at?

I had the same problem with my first brew. Next time im going to boil 3 gallons and add water as it evaporates. Is there an ideal temperature to boil at? I just had my stove on high the whole time.

chemman14 said:

what is the ideal temperature to boil at?

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It boils at whatever temperature it boils at. I think it's like water- it boils at different temperatures depending on where you live, but it's 212 F at sea level. At my house, it's more like 208 F.

You want a rolling boil. It doesn't have to be any more vigorous than "rolling boil", though. More vigorous than a simmer, definitely. The actual temperature that it boils at is not a consideration, though.

so 215 wasnt too hot?

There is only one temperature at which water boils: 212° F (minus about 2° F for every 1,000' of elevation above sea level). If your thermometer read 215° F, you need to calibrate it.

chemman14 said:

so 215 wasnt too hot?

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That implies a calibration issue with your thermometer, as any impurities tend to lower the boiling temperature.

Yuri_Rage said:

There is only one temperature at which water boils: 212° F (minus about 2° F for every 1,000' of elevation above sea level). If your thermometer read 215° F, you need to calibrate it.

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its an old candy thermometer that my mom had :-/ how do you calibrate a thermometer?

Calibration is a bit of a moot point. A boil is a boil. You don't need to worry about the temperature. The more energy you put into the boil, the more vigorous it will be, but the water will always be the same temperature. A good, rolling boil is all you need.

Yuri_Rage said:

Calibration is a bit of a moot point. A boil is a boil. You don't need to worry about the temperature. The more energy you put into the boil, the more vigorous it will be, but the water will always be the same temperature. A good, rolling boil is all you need.

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yeah, but it needs to be somewhat accurate for the steeping grains

Basically, you find out what it reads for two temperatures you're sure about (such as boiling water and ice water - water on transition between states). Water doesn't like to exist at temperatures above its boiling point unless under pressure. So if you have a thermometer at 215 F at sea level, under atmospheric pressure, then your thermometer is off by three degrees at that end. Then you can check it in ice water - water which is turning to ice. If you have a liquid-based thermometer (alcohol or mercury) then I believe this is all you need to know to calibrate, as the conversion should be linear (you could have a scaling factor, like, for instance x1.2, and a difference, like -3, but it shouldn't be more complicated than converting between celsius and fahrenheit).
As I just pointed out though, water will generally not exist* at atmospheric pressure above its boiling point, so if you have boiling water, you've got it right! If you're losing a lot of volume, you may want to reduce the power supplied, as this will reduce evaporation, but I wouldn't worry about the temperature of the liquid as much as the excess energy should be lost through evaporation.

*As water is a poor conductor of heat, heat may build up in some areas (typically near the source) and could cause "scorching". The rolling boil helps move the liquid about and distributes heat, and so is a good thing to aim for. If you can reduce power and still maintain one, go for it.

If anyone wants to disagree, please point out my mistakes! I'm afraid I've already decided to RDWHAHB as exams are finally over!

Use a slush of crushed ice and water to calibrate it at 32° F. Then use the calculator at the link below to calibrate it at the boiling point. If there is no adjustment on your thermometer, simply note the differences in temperature and apply your best educated guess at the correction factor.

Water Altitude Boiling Point Calculator

A "molassas-like" wort will boil higher than 212, because it is not water.

About 1T of sugar in 1G of water will raise the boiling point about 1 deg F. (give or take)

its an old candy thermometer that my mom had :-/ how do you calibrate a thermometer?

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Get a new thermometer. A candy thermometer is designed for higher temps. I'm guessing yours has a range from around 80F to 400F? (my wife's does). I use a floating Dairy thermometer that has a range from 0 to 220F. Unlike your candy thermometer you can also use it to take the temperature during fermentation if you feel the need to do so. Your local homebrew shop will sell them, if not your local grocery store.

MrBeetle said:

A "molassas-like" wort will boil higher than 212, because it is not water.

About 1T of sugar in 1G of water will raise the boiling point about 1 deg F. (give or take)

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+1....the OP seemed to have nothing but malt extract, little water. boiling point is not at all like H2O...best way to check thermometer "calibration" is making sure it reads 212 for water

had to add 4.75g? so you had a quart?

most recipes call for more than a quart of extract... so you further boiled down the extract? wow.

Note please that water wasn't the only thing being boiled so temp can increase. Sugars added to water can increase temp to assorted candy syrup stages, he may be carmelizing the sugars resulting in darked color as well as thickened wort.