Boil Strength

[truvr]

I have a hard time getting a strong (full) boil on my gas stove top unless I cover the kettle. Would it be better to have a weak boil with the kettle uncovered or a pretty good boil with the kettle partially covered?

 

[bleme]

I'd rather have a weak boil. My pot almost covers 2 gas burners and has a pretty weak boil, especially in the Winter. It turns out great beer.

Sometimes I tent heavy duty aluminum around it to capture some of the heat escaping up the side. I've been thinking about making something more permanent with aluminum flashing. I've also considered making a heat stick to help things along.

 

[flars]

I partially cover the kettle on the stove to use reduced heat to maintain a boil. I wipe the condensation from the underside of the lid every few minutes to eliminate the risk of DMS recondensing and dripping back into the kettle.

 

[truvr]

Sometimes I tent heavy duty aluminum around it to capture some of the heat escaping up the side. I've been thinking about making something more permanent with aluminum flashing. I've also considered making a heat stick to help things along.

Yeah, I wrap my kettle with aluminum foil too. It does seem to help. Good point about the heat stick. Hmmm...

I've got NG out the back of the house for a grill. Ultimately I need to get a burner going out there.

 

[truvr]

I partially cover the kettle on the stove to use reduced heat to maintain a boil. I wipe the condensation from the underside of the lid every few minutes to eliminate the risk of DMS recondensing and dripping back into the kettle.

I've been doing the same. Today was my first brew with pilsner malt. I did a 90 minute boil. I'm not sure what DMS tastes like and hopefully I don't find out...

 

[fosta]

I use 2 pots and wrap the larger pot in aluminum foil.

 

[poptarts]

instead of batch of beer buy a turkey fryer, it doesn't have to be anything fancy.

 

[bleme]

I've got NG out the back of the house for a grill. Ultimately I need to get a burner going out there.

http://www.peachsuite.com/763538/th...38-adType%5EPLA-device%5Em-adid%5E43109826419

Ultimately I'd like to have this burner. One of the guys in my brew club installed 3, running off his water heater in the garage. One of these days I'll get him to tell me what kind of fittings I need to go with it.

 

[truvr]

instead of batch of beer buy a turkey fryer, it doesn't have to be anything fancy.

Good point. Problem is you can't find a NG turkey fryer to save your life, at least not without breaking the bank.

 

[truvr]

Ultimately I'd like to have this burner. One of the guys in my brew club installed 3, running off his water heater in the garage. One of these days I'll get him to tell me what kind of fittings I need to go with it.

Yeah, I've been eyeing the 10 tip version. But then you have to build a stand and plumb it, get a new hose or add another quick disconnect to the other side of the one on the grill, etc. I think that is probably what I will eventually end up doing. But so far all of that has kept me brewing inside on the cooktop for now.

 

[hannibalmdq]

What's your boil off rate with a cracked lid?

If you're within the average I wouldn't worry about DMS too much. You might not get as much kettle carmelization with a low boil, but if you're boiling off a decent percent (I think somewhere between 10 and 30 is pretty common) I wouldn't worry about DMS too much.

The big guys boil in kettles with long, tall, skinny, vent stacks (i.e. much smaller than the diameter of their boil kettle) and they don't worry about DMS precursors venting.

 

[flars]

What's your boil off rate with a cracked lid?

If you're within the average I wouldn't worry about DMS too much. You might not get as much kettle carmelization with a low boil, but if you're boiling off a decent percent (I think somewhere between 10 and 30 is pretty common) I wouldn't worry about DMS too much.

The big guys boil in kettles with long, tall, skinny, vent stacks (i.e. much smaller than the diameter of their boil kettle) and they don't worry about DMS precursors venting.

With a 60 minute boil I will add one-half to three-quarters gallon to the fermentor for a total volume of 5 gallons. This will also be making up for volume left in the kettle and loss to straining the hop debris.

 

[hannibalmdq]

With a 60 minute boil I will add one-half to three-quarters gallon to the fermentor for a total volume of 5 gallons. This will also be making up for volume left in the kettle and loss to straining the hop debris.

Are you starting with a 5 gallon boil? Next time just measure it all.

Take your pre-boil volume, then measure your top off volume and your kettle dregs. Figure out how much disappeared and then you should have your boil off volume, which you can turn into your boil off rate.

Also, be wary of the phantom DMS fears. Apparently there is a large range in taste tolerances for DMS. Some people taste it everywhere, and some people claim they've never tasted it in any beer. If you like your beer, then you like your beer.

 

[flars]

Are you starting with a 5 gallon boil? Next time just measure it all.

Take your pre-boil volume, then measure your top off volume and your kettle dregs. Figure out how much disappeared and then you should have your boil off volume, which you can turn into your boil off rate.

Also, be wary of the phantom DMS fears. Apparently there is a large range in taste tolerances for DMS. Some people taste it everywhere, and some people claim they've never tasted it in any beer. If you like your beer, then you like your beer.

No, I am doing partial boils of 2.5 to 3.5 gallons. Higher OG beers larger volume.

 

[hannibalmdq]

No, I am doing partial boils of 2.5 to 3.5 gallons. Higher OG beers larger volume.

Ahhh, got it. Are you doing extract, then? I'm pretty sure you don't need to worrying about DMS in extract brewing since it'll be driven off as part of the process of creating the LME/DME. The boil for extract is mostly for hop utilization, sanitizing, and color.

I've never done extract though, so someone else will need to weigh in on that.

If you are doing all-grain, then you're probably fine with a half gallon to one gallon boil off. That would be well in the range of generally acceptable boil offs for that size.

 

[FuriousE]

Good point. Problem is you can't find a NG turkey fryer to save your life, at least not without breaking the bank.

No, but you can convert it to natural for $8!!

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/HURRICANE-NATURAL-GAS-CONVERSION-VALVE-P2214.aspx

Or free if you're willing to drill out the orifice.

 

[truvr]

No, but you can convert it to natural for $8!!

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/HURRICANE-NATURAL-GAS-CONVERSION-VALVE-P2214.aspx

Or free if you're willing to drill out the orifice.

Plus $110 for the hurricane stove. Or $49 for just the burner and build your own stand. That might be an option. Any idea how that burner compares to the cheap 10 tip jet burners?

 

[FuriousE]

You can use that adapter to convert any propane burner to NG. That said, I have the low pressure hurricane burner and love it.

I don't have direct experience, but have heard that the multi tip burners are too hot, and if you turn them down you get soot. So the only way to adjust the temperature is to remove tips.

 

[truvr]

You can use that adapter to convert any propane burner to NG.

Can you? That is something I have been confused about. Williams, for example, has a note on most of their burners saying whether they can or can't be converted. Doesn't that imply that something about the design of the burner itself determines if you can switch?

 

[FuriousE]

I'm no expert - but I believe any can be converted. I think you'll have better luck with a low pressure burner, though, since NG is very low pressure. Plus they are quieter.

 

[DurtyChemist]

Ever considered an electric heating element?

 

[truvr]

Ever considered an electric heating element?

Not really...but maybe I should. NG was always a natural choice because it is already plumbed out to the patio for a grill. How DIY is electric? Don't you mount it directly inside your kettle? 120 or 220? How do you clean it?

 

[DurtyChemist]

Not really...but maybe I should. NG was always a natural choice because it is already plumbed out to the patio for a grill. How DIY is electric? Don't you mount it directly inside your kettle? 120 or 220? How do you clean it?

Honestly I don't know since I don't have one. I have the Blichmann floor burner and it worked for 10 gallon batches just used more propane than 5 gallon batches. I think they stay in the keggle and you clean it just like you do the brew pot.