Boil intensity

Williams 728
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madcowbrewing

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So I boil in a half barrel converted keg and I always seem to have trouble with potential boil overs. I have seen ten gallon batches done in these and want to go from five to ten gallon batches. Am I over boiling? What intensity should the boil be?
 
I nice rolling boil is sufficient. What is your boil off rate? I think 10 to 15 % is about the norm.
 
Crud man 7 or 8 gallons and you are boiling over or close to it. Once you have had the hot protein break you can back it off to a nice rolling boil or something that matches what you need to boil off to hit your volumes. With my set up in a pony keg the hot break happens before it even comes close to boiling over and then I back the heat off a little till the boil kind of rolls around the keg.
 
The goal is to keep the liquid moving and the hops and other stuff moving around not stagnant..you'd be surprised how small of a boil you really need to achieve this.
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
The goal is to keep the liquid moving and the hops and other stuff moving around not stagnant..you'd be surprised how small of a boil you really need to achieve this.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I'm a newbie and thought it was necessary to have a vigorous boil the whole time. Do you get an effective hot break if you get it boiling but not a real rolling boil?
 
Epimetheus said:
Thanks for the info. I'm a newbie and thought it was necessary to have a vigorous boil the whole time. Do you get an effective hot break if you get it boiling but not a real rolling boil?
Click to expand...

No, not really.

You need to watch it like a hawk until after the hot break, plus using Fermcap helps. After the hotbreak it won't boil over.

But I've boiled over a 5 gallon batch in a keg, so it's definitely possible! I turned my back for a minute, and over it went.

After the hot break, you can back it down a bit as long as it's still a rolling boil.
 

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