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dbarnes

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Hello everyone this is my first time on the forum and first time brewing and I think I'm hooked. I love the process and want to continue to learn about this new hobby that people love so much. Have a few questions if anyone can help.

1. Have a 4 year old stove which is fairly nice and has 1 high output burner, or so it says. Have a 7 gallon brewpot and wanted to boil 4 gallons water before putting Malt Extract in. Waited 1-2 hours, closer to 2, for water boil and nothing just small air bubbles would surface. This happen to anyone? Is it the size of the pot, the burner, etc? Any remedies?

2. I sanitized the airlock and put it back together. Poured Star San up to the line and put it in the fermentation lid. Should i dilute the Star San in the airlock with water like i did when sanitizing equipment? Do you put it in the airlock before or after you put the middle piece in? It's a 3 piece airlock.

3. Star San in airlock has spilled out overnight onto bucket lid. Not a big deal but it is now half of what i put in. Should i refill to line?

Sorry this is long everyone and thanks for all the help for those who respond. I hope I'm welcomed to the forums and look forward to trying my first batch. As long as my mistakes aren't costly. Good brewing to all. Thank You
 
1. Boil less water. Try 2 gallons next time. Your high output stove will kill itself trying to boil all that water.
2. I just use tap water after I've sanitized the airlock, some use diluted starsan, others use vodka.
3. I wouldn't bother it. If there's enough water to keep the air out, it's a-ok.
 
Your going to need to do some smaller boils or invest in a propane burner. Personally, I live in an apartment and I do 2 gallon boils on an electric stove which works just fine for me.
 
Did you use straight starsan in your airlock? If so, that is probably not good. If you are going to use starsan in your airlock, it should be at the same concentration you used for sanitizing your carboy (1 oz to 5 gal).

If you want to do full boils, and I think you should, you are going to need more equipment. As other said, one way you could go is by getting a propane burner and brewing outside. If this is not an option, or you just want to stay inside, look into building a heat stick. Check out this thread for more info on heatsticks.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/heatstick-awesome-142803/
 
I've never tried this, but heard it to be effective: Wrap your brew pot in foil (all around the sides of it) and it will insulate your pot better and give you a better boil. You still might not be able to do 4 gallons, but find what gallon amount works best. To start the boil you can put the lid on too, then remove when you're about to brew... that will speed it up tremendously.
 
1. Did you have a lid on the pot? If not add one, alot of energy is lost out the top af a pot.
2. I use vodka on my airlocks, it won't hurt the wort/beer if a vacume happens in the fermenter.
 
You should definitely dilute the star-san with water according to the instructions. I add the appropriate amount of star-san to a gallon of distilled water... then I add that to an empty spray bottle. This makes it so I always have sanitizer on hand and ready to go without mixing every time. Once the water bottle gets low, I top it up with the 1 gallon of distilled water/star-san mix. Make sure you use distilled water if it is going to be sitting for more than a day or so... as it will begin to get cloudy with normal water and lose its effectiveness.
 
The only sanitizer I use is unscented Clorox and then rinse like hell with hot water. Of the four fermenters I have, only one still gets enough seal for the airlock to actually work and so I just scotch tape the holes on the other three. LOL!! Of the 30 or so batches I've brewed, I've yet to lose one to any kind of infection. My point is that I think newbies get a little too anxious about sanitation and protection of their wort. I know I did! I've used just plain water in my airlock and everything turned out fine. I've actually dropped things in my wort, waited anxiously for months only to have the beer turn out great. No infection or off flavors at all. IMHO, beer brewing can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be.
 
I would not do this. I've read many times that boiling with the lid on will negatively affect the flavor. (never done it myself)

How would if affect the flavor? All you are losing is steam. All the minerals in the water stay behind, so that doesn't make alot of sense to me. Not that I'm saying its wrong, but I'd like to hear more about this. I may need to change up the way I've been doing things.
 
How would if affect the flavor? All you are losing is steam. All the minerals in the water stay behind, so that doesn't make alot of sense to me. Not that I'm saying its wrong, but I'd like to hear more about this. I may need to change up the way I've been doing things.

Here is a thread about it...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/wort-boil-lid-off-97345/index2.html

And Palmer explaining DMS (1/2 way down)
http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html
 
the lid can be taken off when it reaches a full boil. It takes less energy to maintain a boil than to create one.
 
I've never tried this, but heard it to be effective: Wrap your brew pot in foil (all around the sides of it) and it will insulate your pot better and give you a better boil. You still might not be able to do 4 gallons, but find what gallon amount works best. To start the boil you can put the lid on too, then remove when you're about to brew... that will speed it up tremendously.

For containing heat, this wouldn't work. Aluminum is a conductor of heat and all wrapping your pot in foil would do is help to transfer more of the heat away from the boil. Basically, aluminum foil isn't an insulator.
 
I would not do this. I've read many times that boiling with the lid on will negatively affect the flavor. (never done it myself)

Good grief! We've now complicated homebrewing to the point wherein we actually have differences over weather or not to boil with a lid on or off?

I've broken just about every "rule" in homebrewing that you could imagine and yet I still turn out great beers. Well....great to me, anyways.

Trust me....."lid on" or "lid off" doesn't make one bit of difference. That's someone's opinion and you know what they say about opinions, right?
 
I would not do this. I've read many times that boiling with the lid on will negatively affect the flavor. (never done it myself)

Boiling wort with the lid on will negatively affect flavor. Leaving DMS behind. Maybe this is what you're thinking. I don't see any problems boiling H20 with a lid on though?
 
Good grief! We've now complicated homebrewing to the point wherein we actually have differences over weather or not to boil with a lid on or off?

I've broken just about every "rule" in homebrewing that you could imagine and yet I still turn out great beers. Well....great to me, anyways.

Trust me....."lid on" or "lid off" doesn't make one bit of difference. That's someone's opinion and you know what they say about opinions, right?

You sound like you're making extract beers. DMS isn't as big of an issue if you're going with extracts. It *can* make a difference if you're going all grain. Note I didn't say it *would*, I said it *can*.

It's generally just a good habit to get into. Unless you have a tempered glass lid you're at risk of a boilover without realizing it if you boil with the lid on.

If you're having trouble getting water to boil, or even wort to boil, putting the lid on to get it up to a boil isn't a bad thing. DMS forms during the boil. Even I do it with my turkey fryer just to save on fuel and cut down the immense amount of time a brew can take.

PS: Get yourself a turkey fryer. When you boil 5 gallons of water in 25 minutes you'll thank yourself.

PPS: Lid on/lid off isn't exactly "new". It's been common knowledge for years.
 
You sound like you're making extract beers. DMS isn't as big of an issue if you're going with extracts. It *can* make a difference if you're going all grain. Note I didn't say it *would*, I said it *can*.

It's generally just a good habit to get into. Unless you have a tempered glass lid you're at risk of a boilover without realizing it if you boil with the lid on.

If you're having trouble getting water to boil, or even wort to boil, putting the lid on to get it up to a boil isn't a bad thing. DMS forms during the boil. Even I do it with my turkey fryer just to save on fuel and cut down the immense amount of time a brew can take.

PS: Get yourself a turkey fryer. When you boil 5 gallons of water in 25 minutes you'll thank yourself.

PPS: Lid on/lid off isn't exactly "new". It's been common knowledge for years.

Just to be completely accurate, DMS doesn't form just during the boil. DMS FORMS, if there are significant DMS precursers in your wort, anytime the wort is over 140 degrees. But, during the boil is when DMS that has formed is released through the bubbles that come out of the wort while boiling.

Where you have significant precurseres is dependent mostly on what type of malt you use. The lower degree to which barley is malted, the more DMS potential of that malt. So, if you are using Pilsner Malt, then you have significant chance of creating DMS. If you are using 2-row, it is reduced and so on with other malt types.

It is very true though that if you are brewing extract brews, DMS is not as much of a concern and that is probably why Baccus is not noticing any problem with his beers even though he boils with the lid on.

For all-grain though, DMS is a very real concern and should be avoided if at all possible. DMS is not merely an academic subject in the world of brewing. Comercial brewers deal with it by venting the tops of their brewhouses and collecting condensation from the inside of the brew kettle so as to prevent DMS from falling back into the wort.

All this is simply the long way of saying what has already been said. Definitely use a lid to get your wort up to a boil if needed, but once you have reached a boil, you should remove the lid in order to facilitate removal of DMS from your wort.

Additionally, DMS is one of the reasons that it is so important that you cool the wort quickly after boiling. As long as the wort is between 212 and about 140, new DMS is being created and since you are no longer boiling it will not boil off. Therefore, the faster you get that temperature down, the less DMS will be in the beer.
 
Just to be completely accurate, DMS doesn't form just during the boil. DMS FORMS, if there are significant DMS precursers in your wort, anytime the wort is over 140 degrees. But, during the boil is when DMS that has formed is released through the bubbles that come out of the wort while boiling.

...

It is very true though that if you are brewing extract brews, DMS is not as much of a concern and that is probably why Baccus is not noticing any problem with his beers even though he boils with the lid on.

For all-grain though, DMS is a very real concern and should be avoided if at all possible. DMS is not merely an academic subject in the world of brewing. Comercial brewers deal with it by venting the tops of their brewhouses and collecting condensation from the inside of the brew kettle so as to prevent DMS from falling back into the wort.

You're right, DMS is formed when the wort is hot, not just during the boil.

Also, you're absolutely right about the brewery venting off the steam. That's why driving by the Budweiser plant on brew day smells like wet cabbage and a dirty gym sock.
 
That's why driving by the Budweiser plant on brew day smells like wet cabbage and a dirty gym sock.

Are you sure DMS is the ONLY reason why driving by AB you smell "off odors"?
JK
Each post I read here just makes me more and more excited about what I will find out next about homebrewing!!

You all rock:rockin:

Keep brewing
 
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