Boil Temp

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Monsterc

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Location
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What temp do most of you guys do the hops boil at?

180+
190+
or 212

And do you do a vigorous boil the full time, or do you just bring it
up to a boil?
 
wait till it gets to a full boil, then throw in your hops. you want a nice rolling boil the whole time.

really, boiling is boiling...you can't go higher than boiling temperature and you don't want to go lower. water boils at 212°F

wort usually boils at about 208 from what i've seen :D
 
Water wont boil below 212F... yah yah, adjusted for altitude and pressure. 180? 190? That is really hot, but not a boil.

EDIT: If you are brewing in a vacuum chamber, you CAN boil at 180 or 190...
 
I don't perform a continuous rolling boil. I've found I can get excellent hot break, good hop utilization, and avoid boilovers by:

  1. Bring the wort temperature up to a full boil (212F) for ~5 minutes to facilitate the hot break.
  2. Reduce the temperature to ~205F and maintain for the duration of the "boil".
  3. Add hops and continue brewing as usual.

Try it sometime. I think you'll find it works well.
 
I don't perform a continuous rolling boil. I've found I can get excellent hot break, good hop utilization, and avoid boilovers by:

  1. Bring the wort temperature up to a full boil (212F) for ~5 minutes to facilitate the hot break.
  2. Reduce the temperature to ~205F and maintain for the duration of the "boil".
  3. Add hops and continue brewing as usual.

Try it sometime. I think you'll find it works well.

I think Id shoot myself... because Id have to watch the boil and monitor the temp... what is the purpose of dropping the temp by say, 5F? What do you gain?
 
Interesting discussion... Is there anything magical about the ~212* (altitude differences) that makes the beer or is it more of a process to kill off potential infection? In which case a full 60 mins of boil isn't needed, just maybe 10 or so with all the ingredients in the pot.

Do the hops need the ~212 to extract the bitterness, or is it enough to be in the hot water for 60/45/10/5/etc mins?
 
Well I will say this. You can take it on face value if you like but. The more vigorous the boil the better chance you have of driving off DMS. This has been discussed here often. I wouldn't even consider lowering my "boil" temps to say "simmer" also when you lower your boil rate you lower your evaporation rate as well.
Cheers
JJ
 
The hour boil is for a couple reasons, one is for hops utilization, 60 minutes is a good middle ground on pulling as much bitterness as you can out of your hops, you'll get a little more if you go for 90 minutes but not a lot.

Also for all-grain you are wanting to boil off water to concentrate your wort, this allows you to use more water in the sparge and get better efficiency, for that you want a good rolling boil to up the evaporation rate.

If you are doing a pre-hopped extract kit you should still boil it to sanitize but you should only boil for 15 minutes.

Hot break is what happens about 5-10 minutes into the boil as some proteins come out of solution and precipitate out, usually coincides with your boil over if you aren't looking. Cold break is a separate set of proteins that will precipitate out when you cool the wort quickly, this helps you have good clear beer at the end of the whole process.

Edit: Right DMS is also a reason to boil for 60 minutes (90 for pils) if you are doing all-grain. You also won't see much hot break when doing extract as that has already happened during the evaporation process.
 
I think Id shoot myself... because Id have to watch the boil and monitor the temp... what is the purpose of dropping the temp by say, 5F? What do you gain?

Ha, well, I certainly wouldn't want to see anyone shoot themselves over some boiling wort. :cross:

I use an electric heating element with the temperature controller so I can control the temperature within a couple of degrees. I perform the "hot break" for 5 minutes before I add the hops to achieve the protein coagulation and avoid coating my hops in, well, protein (I use a mesh bag) and, thus, lowering their exposure to the wort.

The main thing I gain from slightly lowering the temperature is "no boilovers, ever!" when I add the hops. I still get plenty of evaporation at just below boiling, so I see it as "cheap" insurance against a big mess.
 
The main thing I gain from slightly lowering the temperature is "no boilovers, ever!" when I add the hops. I still get plenty of evaporation at just below boiling, so I see it as "cheap" insurance against a big mess.


I boil for 60-90 min. depending on the beer. I think that I have had only one boil over, and that is when I wasn't watching. After 10 minutes of boiling is passed, I really don't need to watch it at all(allthough I still do for fun!). I guess one thing is to make sure that you have a big enough pot.
 
Hey Pol,

What do you fly?

Here's what I fly when I'm not home brewing: Chuck Stuhrenberg's RV-7A Project

And now that I'm done building it I have more time to brew.

Hey, I fly an EMB170 and the EMB175, I am typed for the 190/195 as well.

As for boiling, I suppose I dont worry about boilovers since I only do 5 gallon brews and I have a 15.5 gallon keggle. Even at that, the risk of a boilover is mainly only in the first 5 minutes.
 
Pol,

Looks like your bird has a few more seats than mine.

I did my first AG yesterday and also use a 15 gal keg.
I was pressed for time so I didn't reach the boil till the last 10-20 min.
or so. I hope it turns out ok. It's an American/Kolsch Hybrid using WL060
American Ale Yeast Blend.

What kind of HERMS system do you have?
Did you build it yourself? Have you posted any pics of it?
I might have to build one someday.
 
Yeah, a few more seats perhaps than the RV7.... I built my own HERMS, should be alot of pics of it in my gallery in fact, or in my 10 Gallon HERMS thread on here. I detailed the build and operation of it in a few threads.
 
Well I will say this. You can take it on face value if you like but. The more vigorous the boil the better chance you have of driving off DMS. This has been discussed here often. I wouldn't even consider lowering my "boil" temps to say "simmer" also when you lower your boil rate you lower your evaporation rate as well.
Cheers
JJ


Good advise.

A vigerous boil also helps coagulate protien to get a good hotbreak as well as drive of DMS and boiling temps also help extract more bitterness from your hops. I boil hard.
 
Well I will say this. You can take it on face value if you like but. The more vigorous the boil the better chance you have of driving off DMS. This has been discussed here often. I wouldn't even consider lowering my "boil" temps to say "simmer" also when you lower your boil rate you lower your evaporation rate as well.
Cheers
JJ

+1 to ya Jaybird
 
Pol,

Looks like your bird has a few more seats than mine.

I did my first AG yesterday and also use a 15 gal keg.
I was pressed for time so I didn't reach the boil till the last 10-20 min.
or so. I hope it turns out ok. It's an American/Kolsch Hybrid using WL060
American Ale Yeast Blend.

What kind of HERMS system do you have?
Did you build it yourself? Have you posted any pics of it?
I might have to build one someday.


Stay tuned for some new pics in my gallery, going to pick up our FIRST Mokulele Airlines bird (E170) for our operations in Hawaii tomorrow.
 
Boiling does a lot of things including:

de-oxygenates the mash

dissolves, coagulates and precipitates proteins

alters the ph

destroys enzymes

sterilizes the wort

stabilizes salts in solution

extracts hop resins and drives off harsh hop oils, malt oils, sulfur compounds, esters....and probably more. all the books i have read call for "a vigorous boil". some even say to "never simmer the wort in lieu of a vigorous boil".

of course if you are using extracts these have already been boiled once...so not all the same rules apply. some do..but not all.
 
The boiling temperature is mainly dependent on the concentration of sugars you have dissolved in the wort. So if you are working with a higher gravity beer the boiling point will be higher (For example I am working with one now that didn't hit a boil until nearly 225F. An easy way to remember it is that the lower gravity the wort the closer to 200 F it will be and the higher the gravity the farther it will be from 200 F.
Also something that helps get to those high temperatures is putting the lid on the pot securely. I know simple right. Just don't walk away those pesky boil overs are nasty. And once you reach a boil you should be able to maintain it with the lid off.
 
wait till it gets to a full boil, then throw in your hops. you want a nice rolling boil the whole time.

really, boiling is boiling...you can't go higher than boiling temperature and you don't want to go lower. water boils at 212°F

wort usually boils at about 208 from what i've seen :D

I know this thread is old but being a re-emerging brewer :) I have a question. This last Saturday, I brewed a wheat beer which included some grains. I added 3gals of water to my 8 gal pot. I put the grains in the pot at the beginning and took them out when Temp reached 170 (approx 20 mins) and added 1/2 of my extract plus my 1st pkg of hop pellets and brought it to a boil *212) and continued for 45 mins then added my second pkg of hops along with the last of the extract for the last 15 minutes Stirring constantly. But by the time the timer went off and I took the pot off the burner, it looked like I only had about 1/2 of the 3 gals left (I'm guessing) Not sure it was a real good idea to keep it at 212 degrees the whole time since so much of it boiled off. Anyway I cooled it down and added enough water to bring it to 5 gals. I checked the O.G and it was at 1.042 (Recepie said it was suggested that it be at 1.043) Then I rocked the primary bucket for awhile and added the Wyest 1010. By Sunday I had good fermentation going. But I'd like to know, was that a good idea to hold it at 212 degrees since so much boiled off?

Elevation about 2300
Outside temp about 38
Stainless steel Kettle
Idaho


Thanks
 
I know this thread is old but being a re-emerging brewer :) I have a question. This last Saturday, I brewed a wheat beer which included some grains. I added 3gals of water to my 8 gal pot. I put the grains in the pot at the beginning and took them out when Temp reached 170 (approx 20 mins) and added 1/2 of my extract plus my 1st pkg of hop pellets and brought it to a boil *212) and continued for 45 mins then added my second pkg of hops along with the last of the extract for the last 15 minutes Stirring constantly. But by the time the timer went off and I took the post off the burner, it looked like I only had about 1/2 of the 3 gals left (I'm guessing) Not sure it was a real good idea to keep it at 212 degrees the whole time since so much of it boiled off. Anyway I cooled it down and added enough water to bring it to 5 gals. I checked the O.G and it was at 1.042 (Recepie said it was suggested that it be at 1.043) Then I rocked the primary bucket for awhile and added the Wyest 1010. By Sunday I had good fermentation going. But I'd like to know, was that a good idea to hold it at 212 degrees since so much boiled off?

Elevation about 2300
Outside temp about 38
Stainless steel Kettle
Idaho


Thanks

Most people boil off 1-2 gallons per hour, depending on where they live. I'm closer to 2 gallons per hour since my climate is pretty dry, but in the summer when it's humid it's quite a bit less. Someone in AZ would boil off a lot more than in Florida, without taking into consideration other things like the strength of the burner, the vigor of the boil, etc.

You want a rolling boil. The pot doesn't have to rock, but the wort should be breaking and turning over, regardless of temperature.

The easy answer is to just boil as much as you can on your stove, but plan on 1.5ish gallons per hour to be boiled off in general.
 
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