Boiling....and Boiling Over :(

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jjasghar

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I was attempting my boil extract this last weekend, and i got a pretty good boil going. Accroding to the recipe the wort was supposed to foam (it didnt) unless i put the lid fully on the pot...
That's when it boiled over...good god it was a mess.

My second part to this post is... because i had to take the lid off, most of the wort coverted to steam... and i only had like 2 gallons of wort at the end of the boil. Is that supose to happen? i ended up filling the rest of the fermenter up with water so it got back up to it's 5 1/4 gallon requirement.
Did i ruin something? Will it be stronger/weaker?

(god i hate being a n00b):confused:
 
You don't want to put a lid on the wort while it's boiling, because that will trap a chemical call DMS that gives the beer a bad flavor of cabbage or vegetables.

Boil overs are fairly common, I think. Sometimes the stuff kicks up so fast there's nothing you can do in time. I had two boil overs on my last batch, which was my eleventh batch, so I'm still learning to control it myself. :cross:

As for topping it off, most extract brewers top off their wort, which is usually around 3 gallons, with another 2-3 gallons of water to get the full volume of 5 gallons. Since you lost some of your malt in the boil over, your original gravity might be a tad low, and the beer will end up a bit weaker, but I'm sure it will still taste fine in the end.
 
If you had to put a lid on it to get a rolling boil, then I'd surmise that you're either boiling 4 - 5 gallons or your stove top unit sucks.

If you're doing extract you shouldn't have to boil more than 3 gallons.
 
i have had the exact same problem you describe. my glass cook top will not get hot enough to boil 3 gal of wort w/o the lid. so, i use a turkey fryer now. now, i get a rolling boil everytime. certainly should not use the lid (as stated above). as for the loss due to steam - i am working on that issue as well. thinking about upgrading my operation with a new pot - bigger is better.
 
oh sweet! I thought i was doing something wrong.

Thanks for the fast answer guys!

:-D
 
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