Does the degree of a boil make a difference

[grumpyn55]

Is it better to have a gentle boil or a hard boil
Other than boiling off more fluid with a hard boil and less with a gentle boil is there a differance?

 

[Revvy]

A wise brewer once told me "a beer boils at 212 degrees (or whatever your elevation is) regardless of whether it's vigorous of not."

 

[YeastHerder]

The more heat you pump in there the more boil off you'll get. In my setup the difference is noticeable, but not huge -- at minimum heat to keep a boil I get about 0.5gal/hr boil-off, at maximum heat its closer to 0.75gal/hr.

 

[grumpyn55]

So what you are saying is the rate of the boil does mot make a differance ?

 

[YeastHerder]

I haven't noticed much of an effect on beer taste if that is what you mean, but for process, if you need to boil off more water to get to the final volume you want there are a few ways to get there - longer boil, more vigorous boil, or both..

 

[kh54s10]

So what you are saying is the rate of the boil does mot make a differance ?

There will only be a difference in regards to the amount of liquid boiled off. If you have a very vigorous boil and boil off 50% more than intended the outcome will be a wort of much higher OG than intended. This will also affect the flavor.

If you fine tune to your boil and end up with the proper volume there will be little/no difference.

 

[KBentley57]

Water is either boiling, or not boiling. Once *any* liquid reaches its boiling point, the temperature doesn't change until it's in the gaseous state - steam.

quick link found on google:
http://www.chemteam.info/Thermochem/Time-Temperature-Graph.html

 

[grumpyn55]

Does a more vigorous boil utilize or make better use of hops or does it just boil off more water

 

[grumpyn55]

Thank you for all the input

 

[unionrdr]

Well,in regard to hop utilization,I need at least a nice,evenly rolling boil I get on my electric stove at "8.5" on the dial. "HI" boils off way too much liquid & the hop utilization doesn't seem to be any better.

 

[HopSong]

No one has mentioned carrying off DMS which happens in a rolling boil.. as I understand it.. not so much in a simmer. I may be wrong.. but, I saw a good vid recently on this subject.. by brain is rebelling, so I can't remember the source.

 

[kh54s10]

No one has mentioned carrying off DMS which happens in a rolling boil.. as I understand it.. not so much in a simmer. I may be wrong.. but, I saw a good vid recently on this subject.. by brain is rebelling, so I can't remember the source.

There is a difference between a simmer which technically is below a boil and a vigorous boil.

IMO as long as you have a decent boil going, good liquid movement, and do not have a lid on the pot DMS will not be a problem. You do not need it to have it roiling like gangbusters!

 

[amandabab]

No one has mentioned carrying off DMS which happens in a rolling boil.. as I understand it.. not so much in a simmer. I may be wrong.. but, I saw a good vid recently on this subject.. by brain is rebelling, so I can't remember the source.

You're right.
You need a good boil but it doesn't need to be jumping out of the pot.

 

[HopSong]

This is important, IMHO.. especially with some grains. With due respect, I think some of the earlier comments downplayed this too much. If you don't mind cooked corn.. no worry. I like cooked corn.. but, not in my beer.. so, a decent rolling boil is what I look for.

 

[BridgeBrew]

A good way to gauge if you are boiling too hard is if your rolling boil is splattering up and out of the kettle. From there tone it back until its not shooting out everywhere. That usually give me a boil off rate of about a gallon or so in a 7gallon boil volume.

 

[bighorn_brew]

I was just listening to an old jamil show yesterday and he addresses this toward the end of show. In summery he mentions that too hard a boil, and or too much % of boil off can be an indicator that you may have a wort with too much kettle carmelization or mailllard reaction, which may "affect the wort negatively". Not his exact words but close, check it out:
http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/...nd-Dusseldorf-Altbier-The-Jamil-Show-06-19-06

 

[user 108580]

No one has mentioned carrying off DMS which happens in a rolling boil.. as I understand it.. not so much in a simmer. I may be wrong.. but, I saw a good vid recently on this subject.. by brain is rebelling, so I can't remember the source.

I'm actually having a teeny tiny problem with this right now. My flame isn't burning efficiently and giving me a small boil. Still trying to work out the kinks on my burner.

Most of the literature I've read suggests that if you can't get a vigorous boil then you need to boil longer. This is why most commercial breweries boil for 100 minutes or so (IPA's especially).

 

[HopSong]

This is something I've been chewing on since my last brew. If I'm trying to fill in the blanks in BeerSmith.. I want to know a boil-off rate. I have a decent rolling boil down.. but, there are a ton of factors that can affect that boil off rate. Outside temp, atmospheric pressure, wind, etc. I find that the least change in the adjusting valve on my burner will really affect my boil-off. I'm doing some surmising today, especially in another thread But, somewhere along the line in vid or podcast recently heard.. Some of the reasons for the longer boils might be.. drive off more DMS, especially with some grains used.. hop utilization, etc. I've started making my boils 75 minutes instead of the 60 minute boils from the past.

BTW, if you are still around to see this.. the Sonoma Beerocrats are having a gathering today at Carol Sheldon Winery on Coffey Ln in SRosa. We held a BigBrew competition in late January and today is the judging by popularity along with food and lots of beer tasting and neighboring with other local brewers. The winery has been gracious to allow us to brew there a few times. Starts at noon today. Be my guest.. I'm Bill.. so, if you come.. ask.. I'd like to meet you.