Brewing at high altitudes

[amcclai7]

I currently live in Knoxville, Tn (elevation approx. 1000ft) but may soon be moving to the Denver area of Colorado (approx elevation 5200ft) I have read that water boils at a lower temp there (205 as opposed to 212) and boiling food takes a bit longer. I wonder how this applies to beer?

I assume this is not a big deal, if any, as there are over 120 breweries in Colorado, but I just wanted some advice from a high alt brewer.

Thanks

 

[BigEd]

Like you said there are lots of breweries in Colorado and they seem to have no problem making beer. As a near sea level brewer I don't have any high altitude brewing experience but perhaps extending the boil time would help to compensate for the lower boiling temperature.

 

[BobBailey]

Not a problem at all. I'm in Fallon, Nevada (about 4,000 ft. elev.) and don't even consider elevation when brewing. A boil is a boil is a boil. The biggest concern in moving from one area to another would be the composition of the water.

Bob

 

[COLObrewer]

No big deal, not necessary to adjust your brew in any way related to the boil, I am also at 1 mile elevation although on the sane side of the rockies.

Welcome to CO!!!

 

[Chowe]

I'm at 8000 feet west of Denver, water boils at 197 here and no problems at all.

 

[mcaple1]

You wont have any problems....but remember that Hop utilization is a function of altitude (due to the boiling point of water). If you use Promash or similar to calculate the IBU's of a beer you are brewing, that number will not be accurate if you are brewing at high elevation. To correct for this:

TF = ((elevation in feet/550) * 0.02) + 1

this will give a factor to multiply your hop additions by to get to your desired IBU's.

 

[cfonnes]

If you are all grain brewing be sure to check the adjustment of the thermometers on your HLT and MLT.

Here is a handy website to see at what temperature water boils at altitude.

Water Altitude Boiling Point Calculator

 

[tgmartin000]

You wont have any problems....but remember that Hop utilization is a function of altitude (due to the boiling point of water). If you use Promash or similar to calculate the IBU's of a beer you are brewing, that number will not be accurate if you are brewing at high elevation. To correct for this:

TF = ((elevation in feet/550) * 0.02) + 1

this will give a factor to multiply your hop additions by to get to your desired IBU's.

Thank you! I've been wondering if there was an equation for that.

 

[chromados]

Welcome to Colorado! You will also notice that you will have a much higher evaporation rate when you start brewing in CO rather than on the east coast. I am from North Carolina and I usually boiled off around a gallon an hour there, but I am at 2 gallons an hour in Fort Collins.

Chromados

 

[bob1852]

Isn't there a group of people in Colorado that haul their equipment up to the top of the 14ers and brew? I think I saw something on YouTube about it...

 

[chromados]

Isn't there a group of people in Colorado that haul their equipment up to the top of the 14ers and brew? I think I saw something on YouTube about it...

Yup some members of a Fort Collins Homebrew club (Liquid Poets Society) have done it before. I am pretty sure that it was a couple years ago though, I have not heard of anyone doing it lately, but I could easily be wrong.

Chromados

 

[mcaple1]

Anyone got a youtube link to prove it?

 

[chromados]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mPXqtzpBDQ]Brewing on Mt. Bierstadt - YouTube[/ame]

Chromados

 

[bob1852]

Anyone got a youtube link to prove it?

Google "brewing on mt. bierstaldt"

(My phone link won't work)

Edit: Thx, chromados.

 

[amcclai7]

If you are all grain brewing be sure to check the adjustment of the thermometers on your HLT and MLT.

Here is a handy website to see at what temperature water boils at altitude.

Water Altitude Boiling Point Calculator

So is the temp conversion is something that must be done even at sub-boiling temps? So for example, when my therm (which as far as I know is calibrated to sea-level) reads 150, the actual temp maybe more like 145 at 5200ft. Is that what you mean? I'm just a little unsure.

Thanks

 

[amcclai7]

Welcome to Colorado! You will also notice that you will have a much higher evaporation rate when you start brewing in CO rather than on the east coast. I am from North Carolina and I usually boiled off around a gallon an hour there, but I am at 2 gallons an hour in Fort Collins.

Chromados

I wonder if that is due more to the elevation or the lack of relative humidity in Colorado?

Also thanks, mcaple1 for that formula!

 

[chromados]

I wonder if that is due more to the elevation or the lack of relative humidity in Colorado?

Also thanks, mcaple1 for that formula!

I would attribute it mostly to the colder temperatures and the very dry weather that we have in contrasts to the south.

Chromados

 

[Grizz]

I'm here in CO at just above 7000 ft, water boils at 199 for me and I ususally have a 2 gallon an hour boil off rate

 

[mcaple1]

1.25 gal/hour here for me in CO springs....but remember, boil off is not only affected by your environment, but also the vigor of the boil, and the dimensions of the boil kettle.

 

[dallasdb]

I just brewed on Saturday while it was snowing outside... nice rolling boil and no issues at all.

Turkey fryer worked well, boiled off 1.25 gallons for my 60 min boil.

The only issue I had was my CFC almost chilled the wort too cold even though I had the hose on at 1/4 power!

I caught it towards the middle and just turned off the hose, it brought the wort temp back up into pitching range.

 

[nebben]

So is the temp conversion is something that must be done even at sub-boiling temps? So for example, when my therm (which as far as I know is calibrated to sea-level) reads 150, the actual temp maybe more like 145 at 5200ft. Is that what you mean? I'm just a little unsure.

Thanks

Mashing works at exactly the same temperature it would anywhere else. Increased altitude means air density is less and as such water boils at a lower temperature.

Water will still boil, just slightly less hot than at sea level. Thermometers don't care what altitude they are measuring water temperatures at.

 

[huge1s]

I am at 7000 feet and experience a little over a gallon per hour, but my boils are not very violent at all (turkey fryer). It's funny that this came up because I am looking to do a step mash here in the next month and all the calculators for water volumes show you how much boiling water to add. Well, my water boils at 200 so I am looking at learning some calculations or just wagging it and hoping I hit my temps by making more boiling water than the calculator says. I am assuming the calculators are using 212 for boiling water temps.

 

[nebben]

I know that Beersmith allows you to customize what your boiling temp is for stuff like this. I would think you could do this sort of calculation with google docs or excel too.