Can't get beer to boil over!

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Slipgate

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I brew on the stove and use the "power" burner. I have a 16 quart SS pot and start with about 10 quarts of water. My beer always boils, but doesn't boil over. I read on these forums that you really need a good strong boil in order to properly prepare the grains. Even at full blast, I cannot get my beer to really boil hard. So I alternate putting on the top, which does make it boil hard/boil over, but then I need to watch it like a hawk for an hour.

Short of getting a propane burner, what can I do to increase my boil?

The stove is an almost new Kenmore.
 
There was a thread about this not too long ago. Try here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=53683&highlight=kettle+insulation

FWIW, the strong boil helps to drive off compounds which can cause off flavors in AG. Putting the lid on sort of defeats the purpose as everything just hits the lid and falls back in.

If you're only boiling 10 quarts, it sounds like you're probably working with extract and doing a partial boil. If so, the extract maker should have done most of driving off of icky compounds for you. As long as you're getting some boiling action to get the bittering compounds from the hops and dissolve the extract you should be ok.
 
I wouldnt put on the top unless you are trying to make a Harry Potter inspired Butter Beer!

Honestly, the only things you could really do are flyguy's insulated boil pot, or a propane burner. I boil on my stovetop and get a decent boil. While not as clear as it could be, my beer tastes great.
 
Never lid your boiling wort.

Although extract has already had most of its DMS boiled off during the preparation of the product.

You can keep the lid on halfway and it will still allow plenty of vent for any residual DMS to escape.

But my advice is just to get a propane burner and huge pot because you're just going to anyway down the road.
 
While you should not cover your boiling wort so that vital compounds can be released, you would be safe to partially cover it. With partial covering there will still be enough room for compounds to escape and there is less risk using extract anyways because a lot of these compounds have already been driven off in the extract making process.

See if you can get your lid to balance on about halfway.
 
I put my wooden spoon on the edge of the pot and put the lid on top of that. It is kind of tricky to find that happy medium where the pot is filling up with froth but not excessively boiling over. There is plenty of room for gases to escape. It makes an amazing difference in boil quality when the pot is partially covered.
 
Honestly, if your stove on its highest setting can't get 10 quarts of water to a rolling boil, I'd want to make sure there's not something wrong with the stove. 10 quarts of water is not all that much.
 
Honestly, if your stove on its highest setting can't get 10 quarts of water to a rolling boil, I'd want to make sure there's not something wrong with the stove. 10 quarts of water is not all that much.

depends on the stove. I have a glasstop range, and can't get a decent boil if the diameter of the pot is more than 1/2" wider than the burner.

reason is the cook top has heat sensors in it that turn the element off if the area around it gets too hot. prevents damage to the cook top...supposedly.

I bought a 5 gallon pot for better extract boils, and never got it to even boil 3 gallons of water.

so now it sits...un-used. sigh.
 
I had the same problem... until I bought a turkey fryer! Seriously though, my first and second batches were done partial boil on the stove and I had the same problem of not getting a vigorous boil. I can barely taste the hops in my first batch, and I used 2 oz.
 
This is a newer gas stove. Maybe I need to have the gas man come out and check the burner to make sure it is setup properly. The delivery guy that connected it all up was kind of an idiot. I'll bet there is too much or too little air or something like that.
 
This is a newer gas stove. Maybe I need to have the gas man come out and check the burner to make sure it is setup properly. The delivery guy that connected it all up was kind of an idiot. I'll bet there is too much or too little air or something like that.
If you have the owner's manual, it might tell you how many BTUs it's designed for, then you can calculate how long it should take to boil water and see if something's off.
 
I brew on a standard gas stove and I can get wicked boils going. It just takes forever to get there. After mashing I put my pot on the stove, turn up the burners, and walk away and check it every 10-15 minutes until it's really boiling. Only then do I start my 60 minute timer.

If your pot will fit on two burners, you might want to try that. I use two burners to get to the boil and one to maintain it.
 

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