First brew!

[MrHoek]

Hi,

I have been lurking here for some time now absorbing much while I geared up. I am a middle school science teacher and the meshing of many disciplines appeals to me and I have a lot of summer to explore hobbies.

I brewed my first beer tonight, an American brown ale from an extract kit I got at the local brew shop, and I wanted to thank all you experienced brewers on this forum as I was quickly able to answer the few questions I had with no interruption from my brewing. Not exactly sure how it will turn out but I have high hopes.

At this point I only have one question- it took nearly 60 mins to get my pot to a nice boil. I have a 32 qt pot and had 6+ gal in it for a full boil. I started out with the pot over a single burner but moved it over a second a while in. This sped things up a bit. As per Palmer's book, I added the extract to my water before the boil. What I am wondering is if it is problematic to have the boil take that long to get going? Does it cause changes to have the extract in during that time pre boil? I still boiled for the full hour once it got rolling.

I am planning my next batch already and I hope to get a couple more in before the school year starts. Thanks again for all the help!

Mr. Hoek

 

[lewishowardm3]

Congrats on your 1st brew! I'm relatively new to this hobby (4 batches in) and this forum is a great resource.

Happy brewing

 

[sidepart]

Science teacher eh?

I wouldn't worry about the long time it took to bring to a boil. I ran into the same issue on my first batch, didn't seem to do anything negative. On the contrary, the beer tasted pretty good.

 

[JLem]

You should be fine, especially since you are doing a full boil. You may get some darkening and flavor shift from the long heating, but I doubt I will be noticeable in a brown ale. If you are concerned about his potential issue on future batches, especially lighter-colored ones, you can add half the extract upfront and half near the end of the boil.

Congrats on your first batch and welcome to the obsession!

 

[logan3825]

I am sure your beer will be fine. The only thing that may have happened is some caramelization of the extract which would cause a slightly darker beer. I typically bring the water to a boil then add the extract while the pot is off the heat. Then bring it back to a boil. Mostly a matter of personal preference. Your beer will be fine.

 

[new2brew1221]

Congrats, I just did my second batch yesterday, and it's a brown ale. I added the DME and LME after the water came to a boil, and then put it back on the heat at a full boil. 3 weeks to go before I can keg this one

 

[BronxBrew]

Welcome ! High school teacher here as well. I think as long as you kept stirring and didn't cover during the boil. You should be good.

 

[twistr25]

I am brewing in an apartment with a pretty crappy electric stove. I get a slow rolling boil in an hour with the same size pot. Just bottled my first batch yesterday, so we'll see how it turns out, but I added half the LME pre-boil and the rest with about 15-20 minutes left. Right before I sanitized the wort chiller. Congrats and I hope you accomplish your multi batch goal!

 

[RuffRider]

One of the best things I've done to date is invest in a propane burner and move my operation outside. It might not be practical for some (i.e. you live in an apartment), but if you can, those boils will go much faster.

Cheers!

 

[ASassyBeerChick83]

Cool! Congrats!!
& I am a high school teacher, too!
My obsession & hobby for Beer has increased this summer!!
No other better time than now!!

Look forward to seeing your beer!

 

[sweed]

Maybe you can boil 2.5-3 gallons instead of the full 6. I usually do 2-2.5 to boil then to off with cold water. It still takes a good 25-30 mins to get to boil. I start my time afterI take out my specialty grains even though its at 160° when I turn it back on.
Good luck and enjoy the brewski.

 

[kwingert]

Welcome to the club. Instead of buying a propane burner, encourage you school buy a big bunson burner to demonstrate thermo dynamics in a sugary solution,.

 

[KISS Brew]

As others have rightly pointed out, you absolutely want to boil uncovered.

However, you can definitely get to a boil faster by putting a lid on the pot just to get to a boil.

 

[rcbishop]

I would personally stick to a full boil, but maybe wait until the water is pretty hot (maybe 170F or so) before adding the extract. If you're steeping grains in the batch, then you can just add the extract right after. That would get you pretty close to what you get with an all-grain batch, as the wort can go into the boil kettle anywhere from 130-170 depending on the process.

However, I doubt that you're going to hurt the brew this way. There might be a little darkening / difference in flavor, but it would be more like a slight drift -- not a major change.