Boil problem - adverse effects?

[bcray]

During my brew day yesterday I ran into a problem once I started boiling. I didn't have any issues getting the water up to temp for mashing or sparging, but my burner was unable to get hot enough to get a true rolling boil. The stand I am using has nothing to shield the burners from the wind and I was only able to get a slight, very weak boil going. After about 25 or so minutes of this I realized I was getting nowhere and broke out another burner I had sitting in the garage that I used a while back. I was able to get a strong boil out of that one for the remaining time. I ended up with 5 gallons into the fermenter and a OG of 1.058 on my AHS scottish 70 shilling ale. Is this initial weak boil going to cause a problem with the finished product?

 

[dancness]

What was the temperature of the "weak" part of the boil?

If you were above 212F you're fine. Wort needs a higher temp than water to accomplish a vigorous rolling boil. However, if you were above 212F I wouldn't worry. I've made several batches just like that where the temperature of the wort read over 212F but it was not vigorously boiling. The beer turned out good.

In all honesty I wouldn't worry too much about this. You might get a tiny bit less Alpha Acids from your bittering hops. And by tiny I mean not even noticable.

Your beer will be fine.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

It's fine... you boiled enough off to get your final volume and the temperature was high enough to destroy DMS precursors...

--probably--

 

[bcray]

What was the temperature of the "weak" part of the boil?

If you were above 212F you're fine. Wort needs a higher temp than water to accomplish a vigorous rolling boil.

The thermometer showed 206, but there was definitely movement in the pot. It usually shows around 210 when the rolling boil starts.

 

[JuanMoore]

According to the intarwebs water boils at ~206.2F at your elevation. I doubt there will be any ill effects from a weak boil early on. The last 35 min at a rolling boil should be plenty to drive off the DMS. RDWHAHB.