Finally got the first brew under the belt

[twistr25]

Finally had my first brew night yesterday and everything went about as well as I could have hoped. Shot for 1.043 gravity and got 1.041, which I believe/blame on not getting as much water to boil off as I thought I would. I was just a touch over 5 gallons, 5 and a 1/4 maybe.

I split the LME addition and was fortunate enough to miss out on the messy hot break.

I do have two questions. First, I removed the pot from the burner when I did my first LME addition, boiled 45 minutes and removed again for the second, is that ok/good idea to do to make sure you don't burn the second addition. Part two to that is it ok that it had to "boil" a little longer since it had to get back up to the boil temp after I took it off?

Second, I'm in a decent apartment with a crappy electric stove. I never felt I got a real good rolling boil but it was technically boiling. Anyone have any tips for remedying that kind of a situation.

Thanks!

 

[TopherM]

1) Yes, you always want to take the pot off direct heat when you make the LME or DME addtions. You don't have to physically move the pot if you don't want to, you can just turn off the burner. It is then perfectly fine and normal to take a few extra minutes to get back up to boil.

2) As long as you can get it up to 212F, then don't worry too much about it being a vigorous boil or a slow boil. Just note that you do lose just a bit of hop utilization (something on the order of 5%)when you have a slow boil, but it's not enough that it changes the characteristics of the final beer to a noticible extent. If you can brew outside, though, think about investing in a burner!

 

[SledgeH]

I brewed my first 12 5 gallon batches on my electric stove. I just did my first with a relatively cheap turkey frier burner. It has turned brewing into an even greater joy. Easily the best purchase involving the brewing process that I've made thus far.

 

[twistr25]

My only problem is I'm in a second floor apartment. I could do it outside and have to lug the pot back upstairs, just not ideal. I'd also do it on the porch, but I was recently given a warning concerning my gas grill on the porch, so I'm trying to lay low for a while.

Thanks for the responses though. I would never have been able to get this first time to go so smoothly without help from this site.

 

[kwingert]

If you can see hop matter and the like moving up from the bottom of the pot, your doing good. When you boil you want movement in the pot so stuff like DMS can volatilize. You don't need a boil that leaps out of the pot. Sounds like you did fine. Congrats on your first brew.

 

[SledgeH]

My roommate and I, back in college, used to fry on our 2nd floor porch. I would NOT recommend it. That being said, electric worked fine for all my brews, gas is just a lot faster. enjoy and let us know how the brew turns out.