stove top boil pots

[vlesperance]

New homebrewer here.

I'd like to brew a couple good batches and confirm that this is a good hobby for me before spending too much more money on start up.

So, I'm hoping I can do all grain 5-gallon batches on my stove top. I'm reading that others here seem to do that successfully. I have a gas stove. It has one "high output" burner that claims 12,000 BTUs.

My only big pot is an old fashioned style steel coated with enamel (it looks shiney black with white paint splatter). It has no lid.

So, I tried boiling water as a test. I can barely get 4 gallons to a feeble boil. This was the kind of boil that makes all the other locker room boils point at its junk and laugh. (The surface was dead calm, only a single column of tiny bubbles floated lazily to the surface)

So... if I swapped to aluminum... and had a lid... any guesses if that should make the difference? Thanks.

 

[brewingmeister]

First off -Lids are no good for the boil...
-You need a pot larger than 5gal to use for 5 gal batches.

If you want to use that enameled pot, and your stove you could probably get away with batches of 3.5 gal or so. Then you could use that enameled pot on your stove and use a 5gal carbon as a primary without worry of over flowing kraussen.

Or you could go with a partial boil situation where the boil is concentrated and top up with water.

There are a lot of possibilities but if you are just testing the water....use as much of what you have on hand as you can.

- cheers

 

[rhamilton]

It's incredibly hard to get 5 gallon full boils on a stove top. I would stick to partial mash extract kits until you decide you enjoy the hobby.

Two pot setup:

3 gallons in pot #1 for steeping while pot #2 is heating the sparge water 1-2 gallons. Sparge into pot #1, remove grain, start boil.

To get a strong boil, you might need to partially cover the pot -- play around with it so you get a strong boil but still leaving enough room for boil-off. Also make sure you have a good vent hood to move all of that water vapor out of the kitchen.

 

[SamHain]

If your new to brewing and limited to a stovetop...I suggest that you start off walking before you run. Try a few extract brews or a Partial before you do a All Grain brew. You need to make a few mistakes first and refine a few practices IMO.

Your pot is fine for a 3-3.5 gallon brew. I would go to your LHBS if you have one and ask for a started kit and pick out a partial mash recipe kit of a beer you like and go from there.

I was 7 batches deep before I did my 1st all grain BIAB. I did a few extract brews, a few SMaSH brews,a few Partials 1st.

 

[amandabab]

An enamaled pot hold holds more heat in the boil and will usually allow a struggling stove burner an extra 1/2 gallon of so. Its why they are still the preferred canning pot.

Going to SS and aluminum will actually hurt your boil capacity.
Just do 3 gallon partials.