Full Boil Stovetop Times

[sar881]

Hi all,

I am planning on doing my first brew this coming weekend. I have a gas stovetop and wanted to do a 5 gal. full boil in a 9.5 gal. pot. I tested out the time to boil tonight. To get up to an initial boil, it took me about 2 hours and 10 minutes. I then shut the heat off to simulate the actual brew. To get it back to a boil it took another 15 minutes. Boil would only occur with a cover on the pot. Are these times too long as to effect the beer? Would this set up work? Should I do a partial boil instead?

Thanks.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

You should definitely do a partial boil. It will save you a lot (and I mean a lot) of time and boiling with a lid on is a no-no...it traps some compounds that you are trying to boil off. There are advantages to a full boil, but I don't think they outweigh the cons in the case of a stove top. A cheap turkey fryer is really the best way to go in terms of trying out a full boil and one of your neighbors probably has one.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

If you can only maintain a boil with the pot covered, don't bother brewing. You can cover the pot to achieve the boil, but once it starts, you want to take the cover off and let it steam. A lot of undesirable chemicals evaporate out during the boil, so keeping it covered will definitely affect your beer's flavor. 2 hrs+ is pretty unacceptable in my book. My gas stovetop did the job in less than half of that. My turker fryer cut that in half again, and my new burner (see signature) will vigorously boil 16+ gallons in 15-20 minutes.

The bottom line: I suggest a partial boil for this one.

 

[the_bird]

You shouldn't cover the boil if at all possible. DMS is being created and needs to be allowed to evaporate. I've created and left the boil like half-covered, but that's suboptimal (although honestly, I can't detect any DMS in the brew).

Is this an extract brew? If so, I'd do a 2.5 - 3.0gallon partial boil. This also helps you cool off the wort, as you can add cool water to top off the fermenter before pitching (you'll still want to cool the wort down, you just don't need to stress about getting down to 70). You really want to get a fairly hard boil going (much easier to do with a smaller boil volume) so the hops get beaten up and their oils isomerized (sp?).