Controling hot break boil over

15 gallon kettle. I usually start at 12.5 gallons, but have pushed it up to 14 and been ok. I have been using it for years and have never had a problem with head retention of any flavor introduction at all. Someone mentioned chemicals. It is silicone. Very inert.

 

All Good suggestions.

 

Throw in a couple hops.

 

Fermcap +1000000 Changed my brewing from a chore to something I can enjoy and do other things during the boil than just kettle watching.

 

Chuck Norris taught me to stare down the foam.


OK I was gonna say add a few drops of Marvel Mystery Oil
but nobody would beleive THAT...

 

Hey, I am just glad to see there are so many of us brewing beer in our sunset years. I have been brewing since brewing laws changed in 1978, and dealing with hot break boilovers since then. Since I am getting pretty long in the tooth I am frankly glad I still can still brew, and hope to be able to make beer far into the future. I have found that, following the initial rush of excited malt, things calm down fairly quickly, especially if you keep stirring and control the heat to keep the pot boiling but perhaps less vigorously until the rush has passed. Turning the heat down too much will only prolong the boilover -- after all, what's happening in the kettle needs to happen, so making your heat too low only prolongs the agony. In my brewing, all grain beers seem to have a less frenetic rush during hot break than extract beers -- not sure why that is, but it's another advantage to all grain brewing. I don't like to use foam suppressors, 'cause the fewer things I put in my beer the happier I am. I also use a wire whisk.

 

+1 for using air.

I started with the temp turn down, but found it was difficult to find that sweet spot of boil verses no boil. I went to a spray bottle but found it wore my fingers out spraying frenetically as the hot break suddenly jumped up. I now use a vacuum motor in reverse. Hook the hose to the blow end. It blows hard and will take down a boil over in less than a second.

My next move is (following in the footsteps of wottaguy) to mount a fan at the boil kettle and just turn it on as the boil gets going. No muss, no fuss.

 

I use fermcap, but still boils up a little, and always anal it will boil over. Fermcap gives me much better control. I then just stand there with the boil pot cover and wave it over the foam a couple of times and it settles it down.

Doing 5gal batches in an 8gal pot where I am starting out with 7 or so gal of water before the boil...doesn't leave much for head space.

 

I just set the burner to minimum and blow on top of the foam until i feel dizzy It works like a charm.

 

If you drink 4 or 5 beers during the mash it won't take nearly as much blowing before you feel dizzy. You might not even care if the pot boils over.

 

Sunset years? I've been brewing since the fifties and there ain't no sign of sunset here.

 

+1 on fermcap. Every time I use it (which is every time I brew) I refer to it as the greatest invention ever.

 

I am impressed that FranklinNewhart has been brewing since the 50's, WOW. I have moved up the size of beer volume in recent years. The issue was / and is boil over at the start of the boil / hot break. This past weekend I had an almost 14 gallons in a keggle with first wort hopping. No boil over this time by removing the scum off the top of the hot wort and then sprinkling with cool water.

I will try this again the next brew and report back on the procedure success or failure. I don't want to spend more on each beer.

 

Another believer in Fermcap

 

It may be blasphemy, but i usually don't drink while i brew
That confession being said, i get a boil over once in a while

 

Sunset years ain't so bad. Especially if you relax and have a homebrew. I was a kid in the 50's but had a friend whose father brewed. Lots of fun. But the beer wasn't so hot. In fact it was awful, made with bread yeast and raisins.

 

If loving Fermcap is wrong, I don't want to be right.