Boil Intensity...

I'm brewing extract with a 3.5 gallon boil on a turkey fryer. I can have a nice rolling boil or I can crank up the heat at any time and induce a boil over. Where should I be? Is there a benefit in pushing it toward the boil over stage?

Not unless you want to end up with less beer A nice rolling boil is good. Too hot and you can scortch your pot or caramelize (sp?) your sugars. The more you push it the more water you are going to loose as well which will effect your OG and wort volume.

Benjibbad said:

Not unless you want to end up with less beer A nice rolling boil is good. Too hot and you can scortch your pot or caramelize (sp?) your sugars. The more you push it the more water you are going to loose as well which will effect your OG and wort volume.

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Just the response I was hoping for! Thanks.

It's a clone of La Fin Du Monde by the way... Biggest beer I've brewed so far at 9% abv. Going to pitch more yeast a few days before bottling.

Craig311 said:

It's a clone of La Fin Du Monde by the way... Biggest beer I've brewed so far at 9% abv. Going to pitch more yeast a few days before bottling.

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Is there any real benefit to that? I always figured if there's enough yeast to finish the fermentation, there will be enough left to carbonate. I thought the main thing to do with bigger beers is pitch a nice healthy 2L starter.

It depends on the strain of yeast you are using, and how much alcohol it can handle. But 9% should be fine for most yeasts. Adding more can help bottle carb a little quicker by adding a fresh batch, but you are essentially sending them in without a lot of food or oxygen to feed off of. IMO I say save the money for another batch.