Full boil, the wrong way!

[Todd]

Well I tried my first AG batch last night, things were going fairly well till it was time to boil. I have a Keg brew pot and I was planning to use 2 burners on my gas stove, I figured it would be plenty of heat.

It took roughly 30 minutes just to get from 150* to boil temp and I ended up using a lid to get there. Even then it was barely a boil, more like a hot simmer. After another hour I was down to my batch size so I shut off the heat and cooled,

My chiller worked great!

There was short periods of actual boil, is this going to ruin my beer?

My next question is what size burner should I be looking for? Ideally I want something adjustable and as fuel efficient as possible.

I'll have pictures soon.

Todd

 

[debtman7]

I've been using my turkey fryer from walmart (never could get a fried turkey to come out any good...). I think I paid around $50 for it on sale a few years back. Comes with an adjustable 55,000 BTU burner and a 7.5 gallon aluminum stock pot. With the burner turned cranked up it can bring 7 gallons of water to a rolling boil in 10-15 minutes.

 

[Todd]

I've been using my turkey fryer from walmart (never could get a fried turkey to come out any good...). I think I paid around $50 for it on sale a few years back. Comes with an adjustable 55,000 BTU burner and a 7.5 gallon aluminum stock pot. With the burner turned cranked up it can bring 7 gallons of water to a rolling boil in 10-15 minutes.

Thanks, sounds like that would work.

Some other info, I started with 8 gallons, had 6.8 (calculated) of runoff. gives me about .5qt/pound absorbtion. I think my efficiency was 61%, not quite as good as I hoped, my heat was around 150-152 which was also a bit lower. I had a brain fart when reading the thermometer.

7/8" stainless braid worked great, although it was tough to tell when the runnings were clear, they were Black!

This was Dude's Old Leghumper clone.

 

[Bobby_M]

Walmart turkey fryer mentioned above is now on sale for $37 at my local store. Isn't that almost free? The stand is extremely sturdy, made of angle-iron and not some bent rod like I've seen before. You could probably turn around and sell the 7.5 gallon pot on ebay for at least $30.

Bobby

 

[Turricaine]

A boil really does mean a boil. Heating 5 gallons of water to 100C does take at least an hour with an electric filament. Obviously I would like a great big 8 gallon SS vessel and a propane torch with which to heat it. However, theres alot of stuff that I would like but im just making do with what I have available to me.

 

[Todd]

A boil really does mean a boil. Heating 5 gallons of water to 100C does take at least an hour with an electric filament. Obviously I would like a great big 8 gallon SS vessel and a propane torch with which to heat it. However, theres alot of stuff that I would like but im just making do with what I have available to me.

I don't know the exact temp, if I put a lid on it had a rolling boil, take the lid off and after a bit it was more mellow. Like I said it didn't work as I expected and I wanted to let others know to not try what I did.

Now the question is, will not having a rolling boil for the entire 60 minutes cause my beer to completly suck? Does 212 vs 209 really make that much of a difference?

 

[Hermish]

I have done a few batches that never quite made it to a full rolling boil, when i had an old burner. the beer ended up tasting great, so it wasnt a problem for me.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Todd, did you boil the full time with the lid on?

 

[Todd]

Todd, did you boil the full time with the lid on?

No, I used the lid to get the boil going after about half and hour, then left it off and put it on again for a couple minutes, even when on it was not a tight fit. It had at least 30 minutes with it off, maybe longer. I was getting really worried about the boil and wasn't sure which is worse, low boil temp or the lid.

I'm still new to this and don't have anyone I can call for advice, just did the best I could.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

I think keeping the lid on is worse that the low boil temperature. Boiling with the lid on prevents many compounds from evaporating - Like di-methyl Sulphide, which leads to off-flavors.

So, good work!

 

[Todd]

I think keeping the lid on is worse that the low boil temperature. Boiling with the lid on prevents many compounds from evaporating - Like di-methyl Sulphide, which leads to off-flavors.

So, good work!

I've read about that which is why I tried to keep it off towards the end.

Thanks.

 

[MorBro]

It's unlikely your beer would suck from this problem.

the full boil extracts the bitterness from the hops more fully than a milder boil.

i'll bet your beer will be just fine, thank you.


MorBro

 

[the_bird]

This is probably the biggest area of controversy around here not involving "bleach." I've *had* to leave the lid on a little bit, just because my stove simply does not have the ooomph to keep 2.5 gallons at a full boil. I have not been able to detect any of the off-flavors associated with DMS. I also make sure to allow some room for steam to exit and make sure that condensationd oes not build excessively.

Now, I'm actively seeking to move to propane so this is no longer a problem, but really I'm more concerned about making sure I'm able to beat the crap out of the hops enough to get their bitter lovliness into my beer. For now, though, it's damned if I do, damned if I don't; I choose to do a partial covering of the boil, take the lid off completely as often as I can, rather than not have a real boil at all (or only be able to boil 1 - 1.5 gallons, which I know would kill my hops utilization).

 

[Brewpilot]

I use a 65k BTU and it boils fast, and once boiling, I can put it at idle and save gas!

 

[feedthebear]

I’ll have to check out the turkey fryer idea. It looks a lot cheaper and easier than what I was thinking of.

 

[Brewpilot]

Mine was a turkey fryer kit from Lowes for 29.95, it works very well, and is really efficient. I have done 5 batches and still have plenty of fuel. I mean, it was built to keep oil at 350F for an hour to cook a turkey, all I need is 205F...

Brewpilot

 

[the_bird]

AVOID THE TEMPTATION OF THE ELECTRIC FRYER. While it would be nice to be able to do full-boils inside during rainstorms and the dead of winter - THEY DON'T WORK WORTH A SH*T!

 

[feedthebear]

LOL!

When I looked at them online, I started looking at the electric ones mostly because it has the built-in thermostat. But then I thought:

1. The termostat probably isn't good enough for what I'd be using it for.
2. I’d be strictly limiting the size of my brews to the size of the pot. With propane, I can always buy a bigger pot.
3. I’d probably have the same problem that I have with my electric stove – it takes too freaking long to get up to temperature.
4. If it does heat faster than my stove, it must pull a lot of current, so its not going to be any cheaper than buying propane.
5. Scorching will be more of a problem than with propane.

So I started looking at propane.

 

[Ol' Grog]

I thought using aluminum was a no-no????

 

[Brewpilot]

Aluminum is fine...

 

[feedthebear]

They also make stainless steel fryers. More expensive, harder to find.

Personally, I have mixed feelings on the whole aluminum thing. When it comes to cooking in general, I prefer anodized aluminum or stainless steel to plain aluminum.

The only time I’ve ever really seen aluminum come off a pot is when I scrubbed it with steel wool while washing. I don’t use steel wool when I cook.

I think you have to be using something really acidic or be scraping really hard with something really hard to free up a significant amount Aluminum into what you are cooking. Coke has a pH of 4 and no one worries about the health risks associated with drinking it from an aluminum can. And yet, people talk about the health risks of cooking tomato sauce in aluminum, but it has a pH between 4.3 – 4.5.

I’m not saying you can’t get aluminum into it. I’m not saying aluminum in your food can’t harm you. I just think the risk is small.

 

[Waldo]

You should season aluminum pots by boiling plain old tap water in them for 30 minutes, you'll know you did it right if you have a nice gray/black color to the inside of the pot. Then don't scrub it with anything abrasive.

 

[Bobby_M]

Without getting into an aluminum debate, I was actually suggesting Todd buy the fryer, keep the burner, sell the aluminum pot, and use his existing modified keg for the pot.

Bobby

 

[Todd]

Without getting into an aluminum debate, I was actually suggesting Todd buy the fryer, keep the burner, sell the aluminum pot, and use his existing modified keg for the pot.

Bobby

yeah guys, I'll have to check into this. Thanks

 

[Spyk'd]

Not sure if you have Academy near you, but check this out:

Fryer