stir constantly, or just to avoid boil over

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biohaz7331

biohaz7331

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I looked around and people just simply state, stir the wort and don't let it boil over. I would like a little more info than that. I.E. should I let the wort foam on the top and rise up a little, or should I stir a lot and not even let the wort foam up at all? On my Last batch I stirred nearly every minute and never let the wort foam up more than an 1/8th inch. I now feel that this is a little excessive. Any info would be great!
 
You should only have to stir for the first 5-15m of the boil. After that you shouldn't have to worry about boil overs.
 
If you keep the temp stable then boil over should not be an issue. No need to stir constantly.
 
Alright I was not sure if the foam that would start to rise rapidly and now I know that I don't have to spend so much time and effort stirring. Thanks a lot any other advice and tips are also greatly appreciated!
 
I put a fan by my kettle, I point it so it blows just over the top of the kettle. Haven't had a boilover since I've done this..............
 
i use a water spray bottle.. foam starts and spray a couple times and thats it.. it is a little worse if you first wort hop though because it traps the steam a little more and the foam doesn't go away as quick.. i have a fan too but it doesn't always work for me :mug:

Edit:fermcap or baby gas drops work too but im cheep!!
 
Wow really a fan? Just enough to cool the surface I presume? Also I had read about spray bottle usage, does that mean don't even stir unless it gets really bad? And just turn the heat down if it keeps trying to boil over. Thanks I may have to try a fan!
 
Having a thermometer installed in you BK is a big help too....this way you can see the temp continuosly. An almost necessity of course for getting your mash step temps right and makes avoiding a boil over easier too.
 
The stirring is also to prevent the maillard reactions (the scorching of the LME/DME) at the bottom of the pot, is it not?
 
I have a near instant read thermometer that I check the wort about every 10 minutes. So to prevent scorching stir some and don't let the boil go wild. Also why does the boil have to go for an hour I understand to get certain things to boil our but why isnt a half hour boil sufficient?
 
If you are using a pre-hopped kit then boiling for 15min is enough but the boil is how you extract Alpha Acids from the hops.
 
biohaz7331 said:
I have a near instant read thermometer that I check the wort about every 10 minutes. So to prevent scorching stir some and don't let the boil go wild. Also why does the boil have to go for an hour I understand to get certain things to boil our but why isnt a half hour boil sufficient?
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You only need to boil as long as your longest hop addition. 60m is pretty standard but you will occasionally see a 90m boil.
 
So if I only have bittering hops and no aroma or flavor hops then 15-20 is good enough or would it be better to stick with 1 hour boil. I just did a NB nut brown ale extract kit and the hop addition was right after it starts boiling. Isn't there another statement of longer boils are better (at least for full volume boils)
 
biohaz7331 said:
So if I only have bittering hops and no aroma or flavor hops then 15-20 is good enough or would it be better to stick with 1 hour boil. I just did a NB nut brown ale extract kit and the hop addition was right after it starts boiling. Isn't there another statement of longer boils are better (at least for full volume boils)
Click to expand...

No, the later in the boil = the less bittering you will get from the hops. Stick with the hop additions that whatever recipe you are following tells you to, otherwise you will have a completely different beer.
 
H-ost said:
If you are using a pre-hopped kit then boiling for 15min is enough but the boil is how you extract Alpha Acids from the hops.
Click to expand...

You shouldn't boil pre-hopped kits at all for the reason you just listed. If you boil a prehopped kit, it will become more bitter and you'll modify the flavor and aroma characteristics of the kit.

Also, to get back on topic, to avoid boilovers I use fermcap-s. It's great!
 
Tombstone0 said:
You shouldn't boil pre-hopped kits at all for the reason you just listed. If you boil a prehopped kit, it will become more bitter and you'll modify the flavor and aroma characteristics of the kit.

Also, to get back on topic, to avoid boilovers I use fermcap-s. It's great!
Click to expand...

I was under the impression that the short boil is necessary to sterilize the wort before pitching.
 
H-ost said:
I was under the impression that the short boil is necessary to sterilize the wort before pitching.
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The malt extract would have been sterilized during the canning process. Also, you should add it to boiling water (or wort if there were other fermentables to add such as DME), which will pasteurize it anyway.
 
Tombstone0 said:
The malt extract would have been sterilized during the canning process. Also, you should add it to boiling water (or wort if there were other fermentables to add such as DME), which will pasteurize it anyway.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking the water was what really needed to be sterilized because the extract would be fine coming from the factory. With boiling the water alone and adding the extract to that, I see what you are saying and fully agree.
 
Ah yes, the "Do I have to boil for a whole hour? " question.

I'm an extract brewer and I simmer for just over 30 minutes because I've carmelized so many batches in previous years - I grew tired of that molasses taste. I don't do a full volume boil, only about 2 /3 and just use a little more hops to get the desired results.
 
Thanks for all the replies! As a note so far I am only an extract brewer who uses northern brewer kits. Using kits that have LME, steeping grains, and hops that I only add at the specified times. I am not bold enough to mess with recipes...yet. I also try to boil as much as I can on an electric stove and I am doing around 3.5 to 3.75 gallons to try to use as little top off water as possible.
 
I find my boils get a little over active whenever I'm adding my hops additions as well fwiw...
 
biohaz7331 said:
So if I only have bittering hops and no aroma or flavor hops then 15-20 is good enough or would it be better to stick with 1 hour boil. I just did a NB nut brown ale extract kit and the hop addition was right after it starts boiling. Isn't there another statement of longer boils are better (at least for full volume boils)
Click to expand...

If you only have bittering hops you need to boil for however long it tells you to boil them.(typically 60m) If you only have flavoring/aroma hops you probably will have a much shorter boil.
 
After steeping you grains,rinse them into BK & bring to a boil. Right before it boils,you get the foamy hot break for about 3 minutes. Stir like crazy & use the water bottle spray. Then add only 1-1.5lbs of the extract & do your hop additions. I wait till flame out to add remaining extracts,including LME. Since the wort is still 180F+,it's more than hot enough to pasteurize,which happens at about 162F. I steep it covered for 15 minutes while I get thwe ice bath ready,fermenter sanitized & the like.
 
Personally I skim the hot break off as the wort comes to boil...and find this helps prevent boil overs for me. Plus it helps gets rid of some of the coagulated proteins.
 
Well this thread has given me some new information...

Do I not need to boil malt extract if I am not using hops? Are you saying I can just dilute the extract, add some yeast and wait? Where is the thread with details about this method??
 
Giggliato said:
Well this thread has given me some new information...

Do I not need to boil malt extract if I am not using hops? Are you saying I can just dilute the extract, add some yeast and wait? Where is the thread with details about this method??
Click to expand...

If you're using a prehopped extract kit, I think the instructions on the can say something like to boil some water to dissolve the sugar in, and add it to the can of liquid in the fermenter. Make sure it's under 75 degrees, and add the yeast.

It's been a very long time since I've seen one of those "kit & kilo" kits, but that's what I remember about them.
 
Well this is a bit off topic now but there are some threads about not boiling malt extract. Next weekend I am just going to pour some malt extract and some hop extract into some warm water and then add the yeast.
 
unionrdr said:
You can boil plain (un-hopped) LME & DME. You just don't boil Hopped LME or DME. Simple enough.
Click to expand...

I like smell of fresh hops boiling, but my main question is

Is there a need to boil the extracts that we buy or are all the sugars already fermenable?
 
IMHO, start heating water, add all LME & DME bring to boil (this is the hot break, where boil overs happen) lower the heat so it simmering and it will start to boil up, but as long you control the temp and keep it a slow boil, the protean break/hot break will come and go then you can relax and not watch it as much. The protean works with the yeast and is a welcome friend in the carboy. I'm not saying the other brewers are wrong, I am saying this is how I did it when I used kits.
 
mikescooling said:
IMHO, start heating water, add all LME & DME bring to boil (this is the hot break, where boil overs happen) lower the heat so it simmering and it will start to boil up, but as long you control the temp and keep it a slow boil, the protean break/hot break will come and go then you can relax and not watch it as much. The protean works with the yeast and is a welcome friend in the carboy. I'm not saying the other brewers are wrong, I am saying this is how I did it when I used kits.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think we can all agree that those proteins are good for the yeast, but if we don't boil the extract would the proteins simply be bound up inside the sugars? It seems like it would be more work for the yeast to get at them perhaps?
 

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