Lid on or off

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jokingeye13

Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2015
Messages
6
Reaction score
1
Location
Pittsburgh
So Ive only made a few batches since I started brewing again. The I started again I chose to do BIAB. Anyway, I'm now doing full boils (6.75 gallons to start). I'm doing this stovetop, natural gas, 40k burner, using a Blichmann analog thermometer in a 10G pot. When I brewed extract. I would get a real rolling boil with 3 gallons in a smaller pot with the cover off. Now With a full 5.75 gallon boil I get a rolling boil with the cover partially covering the pot. The thermometer is showing 210*F both ways but i get a much better (looking boil with the cover on for the most part. Does this really matter, or am I just thinking too much?
 
Coventional wisdom suggests to boil with the lid off. DMS escapes during the boil and if you have the lid on, it will just drip right back into the wort. So unless you like cabbage flavors a whole heck of a lot I would keep the lid off until flameout
 
Coventional wisdom suggests to boil with the lid off. DMS escapes during the boil and if you have the lid on, it will just drip right back into the wort. So unless you like cabbage flavors a whole heck of a lot I would keep the lid off until flameout

Yummy! Cabbage beer..LOL

Yes ALWAYS lid off during the boil. To add to this you want a good hard boil as well. Not just a simmer...

Cheers
Jay
 
Steam will escape with the lid on as well, and with it DMS.

Sometimes you will get condensed drops of the water on the bottom of the lid and if that drips back into the pot you can get DMS. Put a small towel on the top of the lid to insulate it and it will not be cold enough to condense the steam.
 
If leaving the lid on but vented / cocked a bit is the difference between a strong rolling boil and a barely boiling simmer, I would go with the strong boil.
 
Back
Top