Double boiler question

hugenjapan · Mar 16, 2013

Hey I'm new to home brewing. So new that I don't have a system and haven't made beer yet. I do, although, know a bit about brewing since I weld and fabricate 5 to 300 bbl brewing systems every work day. Since most of our systems are pretty big they're mostly heated with steam jackets. Working there has some perks like being able to build my own things and have access to a huge amount of different brewing equipment. My question is if I made a double boiler (a pot inside a pot with water in between) would I be able to get it hot enough on an electric stovetop to use as a kettle? Or would I have to use an open flame to heat it. Thanks in advance!

Ryush806 · Mar 16, 2013

Depends on the stove. And depends on how much liquid you are boiling. If you're doing partial boils it will probably work. If you're wanting to do full boils them I doubt it.

Why are you going with the double boiler? Why not just use a regular pot?

IslandLizard · Mar 16, 2013

You want a strong rolling boil in your wort. A double boiler won't give you that, it prevents it. You're not making custard.

hugenjapan · Mar 16, 2013

I was wanting to go with a double boiler because I've heard that just using a regular pot will often give you some scorching on the bottom of the pot

ChuckO · Mar 16, 2013

In order for a double boiler setup to get the inside pot up to boiling the jacket must contain something that is above the boiling point. To do this you would need either a fluid with a boiling point above that of water or some mechanism to increase the pressure so that the water in the jacket has an elevated boiling point.

Personally I wouldn't be comfortable with either approach. Scorching may be avoided by using a tri-clad pot to distribute the heat more uniformly.

sweetcell · Mar 16, 2013

ah, others beat me to it: you won't be able to achieve a proper boil in a doubled pot.

scorching is not that big a problem. it is a concern if you use liquid extract, but there are many ways to control it - for example, add slowly and mix thoroughly (including all the way down to the bottom of the pot).