First time.... Boil issues

[eck74]

I I'm finding out that my early 90's gas stove is not able to hear my wart to a rolling boil. I have had the burner on really high now for almost 45 minutes and am starting to worry about scorching it. It is a brew craft pale ale that was bought for me as a present and this is my first time. My temp is at 206 but can't get that extra 6 or 8 degree to get it rolling. Should I wait this out and see if it can get to the boil or am I ok to proceed with bitter hopping? Any help would be appreciated!

 

[SEABrewer]

You really want a nice rolling boil if at all possible. Can you split your batch into two equal sized "subbatches" and get those to a rolling boil on different burners? If so, you could just divide your hop additions proportionally and once you've do your 60 minute boil then recombine the wort (either both or after cooling depending on your cooling setup). Not ideal, but probably better than not getting to a rolling boil.

In the future, you'll probably want to either do partial boils so you don't overtax your stove or get a jet burner and brew outside.

 

[SEABrewer]

Oh, another option is to see if you can get your pot to straddle two burners and see if that pushes you over the edge.

 

[feinbera]

If it's at least bubbling some, it's probably "good enough."

Is this a partial or full boil? If you're trying to boil 6+ gallons, it's gonna take some jiggerpokery to get it up to a full, rolling boil on any home kitchen stove if you're lucky; the un-lucky never get there.

That being said, you can try boiling with the lid to your pot mostly on -- you don't want it all the way closed, because one of the things the boil does is drive off compounds that would otherwise produce off flavors (and will indeed do so if you boil with the lid entirely on, allowing everything you boil off to just condense on the lid and drip back down into the wort). But leaving it an inch or two cracked will allow most of the steam to escape while still keeping cool room-temperature air from circulating and leeching heat away from the surface of the wort.

Another thing you can try to do is position the pot over two burners, but depending on the size of your pot and the layout of your stove, you may or may not be able to actually get more burning gas under the pot this way.

I tried a couple of batches on my overpriced mid-2000's stove, then gave up and upgraded to a Blichmann burner hooked up to the natural gas line the previous occupant ran out to the deck for his gas "grill," and, as Robert Frost once said, that has made all the difference.

Edit: yeah, also, what they said about partial boils or splitting into a couple "sub-batches." If you can't get two or three gallons (per burner) to a rolling boil on a gas stove of any vintage, your beer is the least of your worries.

 

[eck74]

Thanks for the quick responses guys! I did straddle the pot over two burners and the pot it's superrrr close! It's 209 and the butter bag is flipping around it the pot and have some boils around the pot on top so real close to a full boil.

Just got my new job so as my skills increase and the weather allowed me to brew outside I will be building a real rig... Til then having fun trying to make what I have work! Worst case scenario I make some descent brews, have some fun and lean so I'm ready to build a full grain set up this may! Thanks again guys. More opines are or course welcome and il keep you updated!

First brew and hooked already!

 

[flars]

Thanks for the quick responses guys! I did straddle the pot over two burners and the pot it's superrrr close! It's 209 and the butter bag is flipping around it the pot and have some boils around the pot on top so real close to a full boil.

Just got my new job so as my skills increase and the weather allowed me to brew outside I will be building a real rig... Til then having fun trying to make what I have work! Worst case scenario I make some descent brews, have some fun and lean so I'm ready to build a full grain set up this may! Thanks again guys. More opines are or course welcome and il keep you updated!

First brew and hooked already!

Boiling at sea level is 212°. If you live at a high altitude 209° is probably as hot as your water will get.
Check the calibration of your thermometer in a small pot of boiling water. The thermometer may be off by a few degrees.

 

[barleypopmaker]

This topic has been answered in spades already, but I wanted to toss in my pennies worth. It's hard to say without knowing the volume you are trying to boil. I agree with the poster who said to split your batch, The smaller volumes may be easier for your stove to handle. You would just cool them then combine them at the end in the fermentor. The reason many extract brewers start out, do partial boils is because it's difficult for the average stove to bring 6 gallons of liquid to a solid boil. However, if you are brewing an extract batch and you cannot get the beer up to a full on rolling boil but just get a bubbling boil, you will be OK. Extract is pre-boiled and not prone to as much poor boil off-flavors and aromas as all-grain or partial mash beersn are. Your hop utilization may suffer slightly, but regardless, you will get some bitterness. Albight just a bit less than you are anticipating.

If your pot is big enough to do full boils, moving outdoors to a turkey fryer type set up will do wonders for you at this stage. Which it sounds like you are preparing to do anyway.

Good luck!