AG without propane/burner

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Soulive

Soulive

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So my laziness led to another discovery last night. I can do 5-5.5 gallon AG batches in the comfort of my kitchen. I've been doing these batches in about 4-5 hours outside with the burner. Last night I did it indoors in 4.5 hours. I plan on doing double batches most of the time, but I was stoked to know I can do single batches inside. The bottom of my pot is wide enough to utilize the whole flame on my stove burner. Muuuch better than standing outside in the dark & rain last night. Sorry, I just need to rant from excitement...

6.25 gallons beginning to roll on my stove; :ban:


boil2.jpg
 
That's great isn't it! I would like to do 10 gallon batches, but I really don't want to move to brewing outside. Maybe in the summer, I'll get a bigger pot and do bigger batches outside. But being inside the rest of the year is awesome!
 
the_bird said:
Is my monitor off, or do you have purple wort? You're not brewing a "Grape Pale Ale," are ya? ;)
Click to expand...

I took the shot with my phone so its lacking in quality, however, it IS an Irish Red so not far off. Its just great knowing I can pull it off indoors in the same amount of time. Things actually went more smoothly than my last batch outdoors...
 
I've been doing a hybrid method, where I mash and sparge indoors, then bring the keggle outside for the boil. Works great for me (helps that the kitchen is right off the driveway). I've been able to get my mash temps balls-on virtually every time (lots easier to control the strike water's temp with a wussy electric stove than with 220k BTUs... :rockin:)

The next house will have natty gas, so I can brew indoors in the winter.
 
My wife and I have done 3 AG's in the kitchen. It gets faster ever time. Our 10 Gallon pot sets nicely over 2 of the burners on our natural gas cook top. We are in Rochester, MN right now so doing it inside is a luxury as the garage temps get down to the single digits, not to mention what is outside.
 
I just figured out how to get a full wort boil indoors on my stove too, so I share in your excitement, man! I used to do the old two-pot split-wort boil and it was a PITA, although not as bad as brewing outdoors in the winter.
 
FlyGuy said:
I just figured out how to get a full wort boil indoors on my stove too, so I share in your excitement, man! I used to do the old two-pot split-wort boil and it was a PITA, although not as bad as brewing outdoors in the winter.
Click to expand...

Yeah I saw that thread. I was thinking of doing the same thing but only on the upper 2/3s of my pot, so it wouldn't burn. It looks like I wouldn't need it now though. Either way, glad we made it...:mug:
 
I have a 16k BTU burner on the stove in the kitchen, but when I was doing PM's indoors it took 20+ minutes to bring 2.5 or 3 gallons to a boil. I moved to the garage with a burner and never looked back.

Although if I could boil indoors in the winter I probably would. I haven't brewed in about 5 weeks now and probably won't until it warms up again.
 
Soulive said:
Yeah, its all about that pot man. My old one was about 2in smaller in diameter. This one is able to cover all that heat from the burner...
Click to expand...
Great what was your pot size diameter and burner BTU. I think I can do it as well but am thinking you have to have the right size pot. Not too wide and decent BTUs. My stove top has 2 reg size burners, 1 small and 1 BIG one. I have had 4 Gallons boil but the pot is not big enough to boil 5 gallons. I am in thinking going with a 5 gallon AG system if I can do it inside. Charlie
 
balto charlie said:
Great what was your pot size diameter and burner BTU. I think I can do it as well but am thinking you have to have the right size pot. Not too wide and decent BTUs. My stove top has 2 reg size burners, 1 small and 1 BIG one. I have had 4 Gallons boil but the pot is not big enough to boil 5 gallons. I am in thinking going with a 5 gallon AG system if I can do it inside. Charlie
Click to expand...

I would guess my pot is about 12" in diameter. I don't know how many BTUs I have, but I use the bigger burner on my stove. I crank it to get up to the boil and then throttle back a little to maintain the boil...
 
cheezydemon said:
MMMMMMMMMMM gas. I hate our electric flat top.
Click to expand...

I have an electric glass top stove and I have boiled 4-4.5 gallons with no problems. I haven't tried a larger batch but I'm fairly confident I could do it if I tried. Have you given yours a shot with a big boil?

chris.
 
Ok this is interesting. When I get home I need to measure the size of my pot to see what you mean. Right now I am using a 20qt pot that does cover the single burner it sits on. Prob goes an inch and a half over in all four directions. However, I am not sure I would be able to get over 4 gallons to a full boil. I mean now I do about 3.75 gallon boils, but it totally takes 15 minues (with the top on until I see foam). Not sure what my btu's are. hmmm...
 
jzal8 said:
Ok this is interesting. When I get home I need to measure the size of my pot to see what you mean. Right now I am using a 20qt pot that does cover the single burner it sits on. Prob goes an inch and a half over in all four directions. However, I am not sure I would be able to get over 4 gallons to a full boil. I mean now I do about 3.75 gallon boils, but it totally takes 15 minues (with the top on until I see foam). Not sure what my btu's are. hmmm...
Click to expand...

Yeah but the catch is, my pot fully covered the entire flame (on high). So covering the burner itself is only half the equation. If we're talking about covering just the burner, I probably go about 4" over in all directions. I used to use a 20qt pot and the flame, on high, would escape out the sides slightly. It was enough to lose valuable heat that my new pot is able to utilize. My solution was draping foil around the bottom of the pot to contain the flame. Just be careful the foil doesn't burn up...
 
Soulive said:
Yeah but the catch is, my pot fully covered the entire flame (on high). So covering the burner itself is only half the equation. If we're talking about covering just the burner, I probably go about 4" over in all directions. I used to use a 20qt pot and the flame, on high, would escape out the sides slightly. It was enough to lose valuable heat that my new pot is able to utilize. My solution was draping foil around the bottom of the pot to contain the flame. Just be careful the foil doesn't burn up...
Click to expand...

Ok, yea I am talking more about the burner grates. Though the flame still does not escape around the sides (I don't think). However, I am still thinking I could definitely benefit from a wider bottom. Maybe tonight I should also take a look into my oven model and it's BTU's. Try to get a better idea of what it's capabilities are.

Where did you get the wider pot?
 
jzal8 said:
Ok, yea I am talking more about the burner grates. Though the flame still does not escape around the sides (I don't think). However, I am still thinking I could definitely benefit from a wider bottom. Maybe tonight I should also take a look into my oven model and it's BTU's. Try to get a better idea of what it's capabilities are.

Where did you get the wider pot?
Click to expand...

If none of the flame is creeping out from underneath, you should be good. I got my pot from Bobby_M for an excellent price. I use it for mash/sparge water when I use my keggle or I use it as my brew pot. Here it is in action...

[youtube]RENxL0HhRu4[/youtube]
 
I have an electric burner and i usually split my AG batches between two pots (3/4 gal.) I can get 6 gallons boiling, but i have to cover it and leave the lid at on after it heats up or i don't get a good rolling boil. i hate doing this cuz i always get at least a small boilover.
 
DeathBrewer said:
I have an electric burner and i usually split my AG batches between two pots (3/4 gal.) I can get 6 gallons boiling, but i have to cover it and leave the lid at on after it heats up or i don't get a good rolling boil. i hate doing this cuz i always get at least a small boilover.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's exactly what I used to do, and it sux. I was so thrilled to figure out how to do everything in one big pot on one element and save all the hassle.
 
Soulive said:
I would guess my pot is about 12" in diameter. I don't know how many BTUs I have, but I use the bigger burner on my stove. I crank it to get up to the boil and then throttle back a little to maintain the boil...
Click to expand...

12" sounds too small. Maybe not?? I'll have to measure mine. I really want to do AG inside. Maybe just leave the lid on when you know the exact amount of heat to prevent boilover.
Also: there would be less evaporation due to leaving the lid on so you would not need as much water.
 
I just did a little research on my Chefmate 20 qt stock pot. I couldnt find the exact dimensions, but Target lists its shipping dimensions as 13"x13"x11". That tells me that if the box they ship it in only has a 13" diameter, then the pot itself prob only has a 10 or 11 inch diameter. Looking at stock pots on a few homebrew supply websites I am finding 32 qt stock pots with 15" diameters.

I'm wondering if that 4-5" would make the difference for me.
 
Soulive said:
So my laziness led to another discovery last night. I can do 5-5.5 gallon AG batches in the comfort of my kitchen.
Click to expand...

This is great but it only will last until the wife says "I don't like the mess you left in the kitchen, would you please brew outside like you did before".
 
WBC said:
This is great but it only will last until the wife says "I don't like the mess you left in the kitchen, would you please brew outside like you did before".
Click to expand...

Actually the kitchen is left cleaner than when I started :D

I'm the chef and the brewer in our house and I like my work area clean...
 
Soulive said:
Actually the kitchen is left cleaner than when I started :D

I'm the chef and the brewer in our house and I like my work area clean...
Click to expand...

I am talking about when you are doing it and she walks in and looks at all the stuff while you are doing it. :mug: It does not matter to them that you put everything away and clean up.
 
WBC said:
I am talking about when you are doing it and she walks in and looks at all the stuff while you are doing it. :mug: It does not matter to them that you put everything away and clean up.
Click to expand...

Nah, the smell always distracts her. I brewed last night and she'll come in tonight and comment how it still stinks. That's well I'll reply with, "well I'm brewing again tomorrow night, maybe it'll cover it up"...:mug:
 
I share your enthusiasm!

I always brew outside, no matter how cold it is in the SF Bay Area (not that cold). The last several brews have been late starts, too.

Until last weekend, when my wife and kids were out of town. My brew pal came over and we popped off a Belgian golden strong ale on the stovetop.

It took longer than ususal to bring the 6 gallons to a rolling boil, but it sure was nice sitting in the kitchen like civilized folk, knocking back a few beers, with tunes and snacks at the ready! :tank:
 
Quercus said:
It took longer than ususal to bring the 6 gallons to a rolling boil, but it sure was nice sitting in the kitchen like civilized folk, knocking back a few beers, with tunes and snacks at the ready! :tank:
Click to expand...

Exactly! Not to mention having heat. Last night was light rain and 42F. F that!
 
balto charlie said:
12" sounds too small. Maybe not?? I'll have to measure mine. I really want to do AG inside. Maybe just leave the lid on when you know the exact amount of heat to prevent boilover.
Also: there would be less evaporation due to leaving the lid on so you would not need as much water.
Click to expand...

An uncovered boil is necessary to drive off a few volatile compounds (eg DMS); if your steam is precipitating back into the boil, you won't lose those.
 
Kai said:
An uncovered boil is necessary to drive off a few volatile compounds (eg DMS); if your steam is precipitating back into the boil, you won't lose those.
Click to expand...

I found that covering the kettle with foil-but leaving part of it uncovered really helped get the temp up to the boiling point. There was plenty of room for steam to escape-but I covered about 80-90% of the kettle. Is this enough to get rid of DMS?

Also-in regards to the OP, I'd like to be able to do it all inside, but my stove is pretty cramped...and SWMBO is not a fan of the smell of boiling wort-so it's mash inside/boil outside for me.
 
Thanks, Soulive for this thread, it has really inspired me to look into my own situation.

Upon further examination I have found that my 20 qt pot has a 12" diameter and that my gas stove has 12,000 BTU burners. I currently am trying to boil 4.8 gallons on the stove and seeing if I can do it in under 30 minutes.

If I can, then the next thing I am wondering is if I can bring 5.5-6 gallons to a boil in a 32 qt SS pot with a 15" diameter. If that is possible then suddenly I am looking at doing AG with no top offs in my kitchen (I for some reason am not even willing to deal with two boils).

Any thoughts?
 
jzal8 said:
Thanks, Soulive for this thread, it has really inspired me to look into my own situation.

Upon further examination I have found that my 20 qt pot has a 12" diameter and that my gas stove has 12,000 BTU burners. I currently am trying to boil 4.8 gallons on the stove and seeing if I can do it in under 30 minutes.

If I can, then the next thing I am wondering is if I can bring 5.5-6 gallons to a boil in a 32 qt SS pot with a 15" diameter. If that is possible then suddenly I am looking at doing AG with no top offs in my kitchen (I for some reason am not even willing to deal with two boils).

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

No problem man. I would be willing to bet you can do full boils on your stove, with the 32qt pot. You'll definitely have enough headspace and your burner will be able to do it. The one thing you have to give it is patience. I was able to get it all done in 4.5 hours, but I honestly would've been content if it took an hour longer. I'll take the longer brew day if it means being able to do it inside...
:mug:
 
jzal8 said:
Upon further examination I have found that my 20 qt pot has a 12" diameter and that my gas stove has 12,000 BTU burners. I currently am trying to boil 4.8 gallons on the stove and seeing if I can do it in under 30 minutes.

If I can, then the next thing I am wondering is if I can bring 5.5-6 gallons to a boil in a 32 qt SS pot with a 15" diameter. QUOTE]

Ok, So from 150 degrees F to a rolling boil it took about 35 minutes. Does anyone think that increasing to the 32 qt pot with a 15" diameter would enable me to do a 5.5 gallon boil? I guess I might just have to take a leap of faith if I want to do it.
Click to expand...
 
jzal8 said:
Ok, So from 150 degrees F to a rolling boil it took about 35 minutes. Does anyone think that increasing to the 32 qt pot with a 15" diameter would enable me to do a 5.5 gallon boil? I guess I might just have to take a leap of faith if I want to do it.
Click to expand...

Dude, 32qt pot = 8 gallons roughly. If you want to do 5.5 gallon batches, you can boil 6.5 gallons in there with 1.5 gallons headspace. That's .5 gallons more than I have! 12k BTUs will be enough to do that size...
 
cheezydemon said:
MMMMMMMMMMM gas. I hate our electric flat top.
Click to expand...

I also have an electric flat top. I could barely get 3 gallons to boil. The big problem with the flat cooktops is that your pot must have a very flat bottom, or you'll have poor contact - thus poor heat conduction.

My pot had about a 2 inch strip around the perimeter that contacted the stove and was raised about an 1/8th inch in the center. I got some metal strips from home depot that I placed on the glass burner, and set the pot on these. This gave a lot more contact between the stove and pot. I also wrapped the pot in insulation. Now I have no problems getting a boil. :mug:
 
Kai said:
An uncovered boil is necessary to drive off a few volatile compounds (eg DMS); if your steam is precipitating back into the boil, you won't lose those.
Click to expand...

REally I didn't know this. Just getting my feet wet in the AG world. Thanks
 

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