Lid or Not...?

[FastEddie212]

I'm fairly new to home brewing and wondered what others think about whether or not to use a lid when brewing wort. Early on I was so phobic about boil overs that I left it off. I had to use a higher flame to keep the boil going and I lost wort to evaporation. My last couple batches I decided to try brewing with a lid on the pot. I was able to keep it over a lower flame and lost very little wort. I would tend to think the later is the better method. What do you do? And why?

 

[BrainBeerBrewer]

From what I understand, You have to leave a lid at least partially off during the boil, in order to avoid getting some off flavors, but pre-boil (i.e. steep and mash) and post-boil, you can and should have the lid on.

 

[Bensiff]

You don't want to contain your boil unless you like creamed corn as it drives off DMS and probably other volatile compounds.

 

[zeekage]

Definitely lid off during the boil. DMS needs to boil off, and it cant with the lid on

 

[subliminalurge]

Lid off.

Or, if you're like me and stuck using a wimpy stove for the time being, lid partially off.

Ideally, you want to boil the full volume of your batch with no lid. Since that's not really within the capability of most household stoves, you have to pick which compromises to make.

Personally, I've found that maintaing a vigorous, rolling boil is very important, so I compromise by only boiling 3 gallons and partially covering the pot. This holds in enough heat to maintain a good boil, and still allows plenty of an escape route for all of the stuff you're trying to boil away.

It's not the "best" way to do your boil, but the best way requires gear that a lot of folks don't get until later on, and it's the best compromise out of the available options.

 

[DoubleAught]

Off

 

[FastEddie212]

Thanks for the feedback! I wouldn't have known about needing to boil off DMS. I guess what would be most helpful now is to know what DMS is? I work for one of the largest state universities in the US and we don't use as many acronyms as this forum does. Is there a key to all of these somewhere...?

 

[arturo7]

Lidless

 

[zeekage]

Thanks for the feedback! I wouldn't have known about needing to boil off DMS. I guess what would be most helpful now is to know what DMS is? I work for one of the largest state universities in the US and we don't use as many acronyms as this forum does. Is there a key to all of these somewhere...?

Indeed there is. There's a sticky FAQ in this sub forum: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/faq-please-read-before-asking-question-7909/

with a link to an Acronym thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/handy-acronyms-5349/

which points to the Wiki: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Abbreviations

DMS is in the wiki, enjoy.

 

[lumpher]

dimethyl sulfides. it tastes like burned cream corn in the brew if you don't let it escape. i usually bring mine up to a boil mostly covered to cut down on time, but then uncover it and let the flame rip on the 60 minute boil

 

[Bob]

DMS is only really a concern with all-grain brewing. Most all commonly-available extracts are already boiled long enough to drive off DMS.

Still, it's a good idea to leave the lid off.

Bob

 

[pm5k00]

You also want the lid off because you want some of the wort to evaporate, as water evaporates the gravity increases, without evaporation you would need more grains or extract to reach that same level.