First brew - left the lid on!

[throwbookatface]

Hey all,

Longtime lurker/researcher, and finally went in on an all-grain 2-gal recipe as my first batch. That's the biggest I'll be brewing for a while - my sink, flat top stove, and studio apartment can't handle much else, plus I still like buying beer and sampling new kinds.

Anyway, I was brewing my Belgian tripel. It's in the carboy bubbling away happily.Today I ran into a post in another forum warning against leaving the lid on during the wort boil. I left mine mostly covered (about 70%-80%) to retain some heat since I couldn't find a consistent boil without the lid, then I read today about sulfates not being able to evaporate out!

Since it is all-grain and a high abv beer, am I in for off-flavors for certain, or is there a chance most the sulfates escaped through the 30% gap? I'm sure I'll still enjoy my first beer, but I just want to know what to expect.

I'll leave the lid off on my next batch this weekend. I wish the recipe instructions or brew guides emphasized this more. While every video I've seen had no lid, I assumed this was for video purposes, and despite all my research I'd never heard of this. Well, lucky me!

 

[Pilgarlic]

I'm guessing your beer will be fine. Palmer in "How to Brew" suggests that you not cover completely (though he advises that you not allow the condensate on the lid to drip back in if possible). I'd think the bulk of the DMS escaped in steam from the boil, since you left it 20-30% off.

 

[BendBrewer]

I bet you won't be able to tell in the beer. I did what you did for my first 5 or 6 batches. One of those batches won a blue ribbon.

If the judges couldn't tell, I doubt you will either. Enjoy your beer!

 

[throwbookatface]

Awesome, great to know! Thanks, guys. Privileged to join your ranks... I'll call myself a "brewer" the instant I have a beer in a bottle.

 

[Olddog]

I'm guessing your beer will be fine. Palmer in "How to Brew" suggests that you not cover completely (though he advises that you not allow the condensate on the lid to drip back in if possible). I'd think the bulk of the DMS escaped in steam from the boil, since you left it 20-30% off.

For my most recent batch, I left the lid on since it was raining. Here's hoping I didn't effect the flavor much!

Thanks for this information.