temperature for wort boil

I was just wondering if there is a correct or target temperature for boiling the wort. All of my batches, I have been strict on my steeping temperature, cooling temperature, yeast temp, and fermenting temperature, but I have not been as conscious about my boiling temperature. Any tips will be much appreciated.

i try to boil my wort at 212 degrees exactly... give or take geophysical altitude differences . in reality, boiling is boiling

Just a small rolling boil is all you need..

As lumpher said, boiling is 212*, no need to worry about messing that up.

a steady rolling boil is best. small boils don't boil off the dms's as well, leaving beer a little more bitter than it could be. a huge boil boils off a lot of liquid unnecessarily

what lumpher is saying is that boiling temperature is an innate property of the liquid.. there's nothing you can do to change the temp except to change the substance being boiled.

Now you can do a hard boil and boil off more, or do more of a simmer, but that's a whole different issue.. either way, the temp is going to be the same.. approx 212F

Agree.. Boiling is boiling...

You can't have a variance in temperature. Once you get to a rolling boil water cannot get any hotter. All inputed energy (your burner) is used to break bonds between the elements and organic compounds.

This is all assuming standard pressure. (standard real-life scenarios)

SCIENCE

iijakii said:

You can't have a variance in temperature. Once you get to a rolling boil water cannot get any hotter. All inputed energy (your burner) is used to break bonds between the elements and organic compounds.

This is all assuming standard pressure. (standard real-life scenarios)

SCIENCE

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I guess elevation can play a role in evaperation!

yes, it definitely can. heavier concentration of air particles at lower elevation inhibit evaporation. there is also a difference in slow rolling boils vs heavy boils; not sure why some people think all boils are the same... temps are the same, but since heat is based on the amount of energy applied, and the temp remains the same, then it has to have a faster release, hence a harder boil. ask any cook if you can get different levels of boil (slow, rolling, hard boil, etc)

lumpher said:

yes, it definitely can. heavier concentration of air particles at lower elevation inhibit evaporation. there is also a difference in slow rolling boils vs heavy boils; not sure why some people think all boils are the same... temps are the same, but since heat is based on the amount of energy applied, and the temp remains the same, then it has to have a faster release, hence a harder boil. ask any cook if you can get different levels of boil (slow, rolling, hard boil, etc)

Click to expand...

Agree with you there... I guess I've always used a slow rolling boil so not to cause a boil over especially when I added my finnings cause it to happened once right when I added irish moss when I started brewing

edmanster said:

I guess elevation can play a role in evaperation!

Click to expand...

That's why I carefully worded my post to say "Once it reaches boil".

The closer to sea level you are the more atmosphere is above you. That means you are experiencing a greater atmospheric pressure. Think of it this way, when water is coming to a boil the particles are bouncing around trying to break free. When you are at a higher elevation there is less pressure holding them down, so it takes less energy for them to break free.

212, 213, whatever it takes.

It should be slightly higher than 212*F at sea level though and it will depend on how strong the wort is. The sugars increase it a little.

SpanishCastleAle said:

212, 213, whatever it takes.

It should be slightly higher than 212*F at sea level though and it will depend on how strong the wort is. The sugars increase it a little.

Click to expand...

Technicality, but i'm glad someone said it so i didn't have to. :cross:

Yeah, well that isn't really always the case. What you are boiling in can affect the temperature at which the liquid inside boils. It's all about pressure.

I was talking to a brewer from Deschutes on Monday. He mentioned that they boil at 204 on one of their systems, 208 on another and 214 on their pressurized system. I asked how in the hell that was possible.

We determined that it was the kettle design itself. Their kettles are fluted I guess for lack of a better term that I can think of, and the steam gets sucked out of the kettle and up the 'chimney' lowering the air pressure above the wort thus decreasing the temp in which it boils.

That's what we came up with anyway.

My wort started to boil at 190 degrees. I'm wondering if my thermometer is off because I've been reading that it should boil at 212?

I get a hard boil going until the hot break then turn down the temp to a slow steady boil. I prefer to scorch as least amount of sugars as possible.