Boil over

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jalc6927

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I read somewhere that if I put a coin in my kettle it will prevent boil overs, is that true? If so, what coin

Thanks
 
Just keep an eye on it and drop the power/flame a little until the hot break subsides. It only takes a few minutes. Then let-r-rip.
 
Just keep an eye on it and drop the power/flame a little until the hot break subsides. It only takes a few minutes. Then let-r-rip.

This.

If you are getting boil overs after that your burner temp is too high.
 
I’ll second the spray bottle and turning down the heat.

Seems like every time I walk away from the boil it’ll boil over...

Like Murphy’s law.
 
Just place your strainer or spoon across the top of the pot or use one of these:
 
Just keep an eye on it and drop the power/flame a little until the hot break subsides. It only takes a few minutes. Then let-r-rip.

Right, but this does not address the question posited:

Will a coin prevent a boil over?

A BA thread on the topic:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/boil-over-prevention.145723/

Here is the reference from Palmer:

8. Watch for boilovers. As the wort boils, foam will form on the surface. This foam will persist until the wort goes through the "hot break" stage . The wort will easily boil over during this foaming stage, so stay close by and stir frequently . Blow on it and turn the heat down if it begins to boil over. Put a few copper pennies into the pot to help prevent boilovers.(See Chapter 7 - Boiling and Cooling for more info.)

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/a-crash-course-in-brewing/brew-day

So maybe a coin in a boiling fluid is a nucleation point and can be one factor in preventing a boil over.

@singybrue lol
 
Copper pennies, that’s it thanks trieythylborane, that’s a heck of a screen name BTW
 
Copper pennies, that’s it thanks trieythylborane, that’s a heck of a screen name BTW
If the pennies work to help with boil over and you are looking for something more resilient than the copper pennies, you could try using a stainless steel scrubber. It should provide nucleation sites like a coin, but without the chance of adding too much zinc when the copper wears off.

As per the BYO article from John Palmer, excess zinc can cause off flavors such as increased acetaldehyde and fusel alcohol production, or soapy or goaty flavors.
https://byo.com/malt/item/1144-metallurgy-for-homebrewers
 
As an alternative to pennies, which are copper-washed zinc these days, pick up a few copper pipe fittings at the diy store.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe this will help with electric brewing. There's already at least a heating element, and I have a copper and braid drain manifold, providing lots of nucleation sites.
 
I used to keep a long wooden stick over my kettle for boilovers when I was using the smaller brew pots. Now I've got a keggle, if I'm not doing a ten gallon batch I just let it go. Although last time I DID do a ten gallon batch I got distracted and the boilover killed the flame under the kettle and made a big mess down the side of the keggle...forgot to dig out the fermcap from the brew toolbox that time.
 
Don't mention adding copper to the LODO guys.... :)

Simet(h)icone works fine in my experience - either in "brewing" forms like FermCap or anti-gas medicines. My LHBS doesn't have FermCap but my supermarket pharmacy had anti-gas, so that's what I bought.
 
Tiny amounts - 10mg or so of simeticone/simethicone, which is about a third of the dose recommended for adults of the stuff I've got.

Only thing you've got to watch for is that pills are often formulated with chalk, so will have a marginal effect on your water chemistry, I believe you can get liquid drops for babies which would be better.
 
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