Brewing at high altitude

[trekie86]

I live just outside Colorado Springs, Colorado and my house is at 7000 feet. Things behave differently at altitude, most notably is baking and boiling.

When you all are doing your boil, are you looking for activity or temperature? I start to "boil" around 200° F. Is that high enough or am I looking to boil at 212° F?

 

[grem135]

You are looking for boil. It doesn't matter what temp it happens at in your altitude. Just get a good rolling boil and your good to go.

 

[trekie86]

You are looking for boil. It doesn't matter what temp it happens at in your altitude. Just get a good rolling boil and your good to go.

Perfect, that was the info I was looking for. Thanks!

 

[trekie86]

You are looking for boil. It doesn't matter what temp it happens at in your altitude. Just get a good rolling boil and your good to go.

Perfect, that was the info I was looking for. Thanks!

 

[kozer99]

I am also a brewer in Colorado Springs and have just recently moved to all-grain brewing. What I have really noticed is that I am boiling off a lot more liquid than what is being calculated in BeerSmith. It's calculating an evaporation rate of 8.3% per hour or about half a gallon. I am measuring something more significant than that. Anywhere from 1 to 1.5 gallons of boil-off. Are any high altitude brewers seeing the same difference?

 

[jro238]

Boiling is boiling in terms of driving off the volitiles in the wort but I believe that your hop utilization will be different at 200 vs 212 (at least a little)

 

[LovesIPA]

I am also a brewer in Colorado Springs and have just recently moved to all-grain brewing. What I have really noticed is that I am boiling off a lot more liquid than what is being calculated in BeerSmith. It's calculating an evaporation rate of 8.3% per hour or about half a gallon. I am measuring something more significant than that. Anywhere from 1 to 1.5 gallons of boil-off. Are any high altitude brewers seeing the same difference?

I brew at sea level and I boil off almost 2 gallons in an hour. You just have to go into your equipment profile and tell BeerSmith what your rate is. The number that's in there by default is just a baseline. You have to adjust it for your equipment.

Boiling is boiling in terms of driving off the volitiles in the wort but I believe that your hop utilization will be different at 200 vs 212 (at least a little)

I was thinking that too, but I'm not sure if it's correct or even something to worry about.

BTW if you're at 7000 ft and your boil temp is at 200 - you won't be able to change it.

 

[trekie86]

BTW if you're at 7000 ft and your boil temp is at 200 - you won't be able to change it.

I know I can't change the temp in which boil starts but until the water evaporates, the temps can still go up. I was more concerned about waiting to reach the temp before starting my timer or the boiling action.

 

[chickypad]

I know I can't change the temp in which boil starts but until the water evaporates, the temps can still go up. I was more concerned about waiting to reach the temp before starting my timer or the boiling action.

The point is you won't be able to get the temp higher than 200, once boiling all the extra energy will go toward evaporation.

I am also a brewer in Colorado Springs and have just recently moved to all-grain brewing. What I have really noticed is that I am boiling off a lot more liquid than what is being calculated in BeerSmith. It's calculating an evaporation rate of 8.3% per hour or about half a gallon. I am measuring something more significant than that. Anywhere from 1 to 1.5 gallons of boil-off. Are any high altitude brewers seeing the same difference?

Percentage boil off is a bad way to set it up. You will boil off the same amount of water per hour whether you have 2 gallons in the pot or 5 - which would be a big difference percentage wise. As LovesIPA said, find the hourly boil off rate for your kettle and go with that.

 

[almygosh76]

I’m new to brewing at altitude and am in Fernley, NV. We are at 4200’. Any thoughts on adjusting mash temps for altitude?