Boiling too Hot

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Sudz

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This weekend I was making a new brew using my new Hurricane burner and a new 15 gal SS pot. The burner has been modified to run on NG and I was curious to see how it would handle things. The new SS pot has a rather broad base which really offers a optimum surface for big heat.

Anyway, this setup cooks... maybe too well. The boil was really intense and I discovered I had failed to mark the pot so I didn't have a clue as to how much wort I was working with. This isn't normally a big deal since my previous brews tend to come out right on target with respect to volume (6.5 boiled to 5.5 gal).

This time however, the boil eliminated much more than I expected. I ended up adding about 2 gal of bottled spring water to the final product to get the volume back. The OG was targeted for 1.051 and I ended up with 1.052 so I guess things will be okay.

Are there any issues with this correction I should be aware of?

I'm assuming the bottled water is okay without a boil so this is kinda like making an extract brew from a all grain process I guess. And this was done using about 2/3 throttle on the Hurricane.

Comments?
 
Really the only thing I would be concerned about is hop utilization for the later additions. With that condensed wort, you'll be a little low on the IBUs.

Without knowing your hop schedule though, this might be a big issue or not an issue.
 
As wort condenses from boiling and the sugar concentration increase the potential for mailliard reactions increases.

Meaning, your wort may darken too.
 
I myself would never add water without sterilizing it first. It wouldn't matter whether it was an extract batch. Either way it's bound to have some nasties in it. You may or may not get lucky though.
 
You will be fine. Different setups have different boil off rates. You just need to adjust your boil volume to accommodate. Or, if your boil is straight out of hand, turn down the burner.
 
+1 to Boerderij Kabouter The Donkey Sniffer

You will be fine. Actually you will be more than fine since you will have beer..... AND a new hurricane burner!
 
I myself would never add water without sterilizing it first. It wouldn't matter whether it was an extract batch. Either way it's bound to have some nasties in it. You may or may not get lucky though.

I added bottled water straight to the fermenter for top up for over 200 extract batches and never once had an infection so I am thinking that he would have to be a lot more unlucky than lucky.

Beer is a LOT hardier than people give it credit for.
 
Thanks guys.

I feel better now. The brew is fermenting wildly at the moment so at least it's headed in the right direction.

I'll report the results in a few weeks just for the record.

Cheers....
 
Thanks guys.

I'll report the results in a few weeks just for the record.

Cheers....

The brew turned out exceptionally well with respect to taste but I did encounter my first chill haze. Puzzled by that since I did get a good cold break...

However none of my fears on the over boiling appearr to be an issue.
 
A trick that i do is while the kettle is boiling I have boiling water on another burner so that right before I add any hops I add the boiling water so that my utilization stays efficient and I don't lose wort to evaporation.
 
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