noob question - wait to boil before adding hops?

[nootay]

OK so im in the middle of brewing my first beer, an extract kit. The water came to a boil, i stirred in the extract. Now do i put it on and wait for it to start boiling again before i add the hops? or do i add them immediately?

 

[Yooper]

Bring it to a boil, and then add the hops and set the timer. Most boils are for 60 minutes, so set the timer for 60 minutes when you add the hops.

 

[nootay]

ok good deal. Thats how i interpreted the instructions but i just wanted to make sure. Should i be stirring occasionally? Or just set the timer and walk away?

Also, do you guys run your burners wide open? When i first brought the water to a boil, i ran it about 2/3 of the way. It seems to really be throwing a lot of propane out when its opened up all the way

 

[nootay]

annd last question. I assume leave the lid on right?

 

[coy]

I did my first one and the instructions I had were great. But suggested I stir and not leave while boiling. or stay close by.
I had mine on full blast hard boil, then set it to a rolling boil. mine was a gopher pale ale thought. Your brew might require something different. what are you making?

I left my lid off.
we'll have to wait about a month before we know if I did everything correctly... LOL

 

[nootay]

this is a raspberry wheat ale

 

[jonnyg860]

Lid off to let the bad stuff get out.

 

[nootay]

woops, ok guess ill go take the lid off. Its pretty windy bad here today and im afraid stuff will blow in. Should i take it all the way off or just partially?

 

[jonnyg860]

Most people leave the lid all the way off, but I read or heard somewhere that it being off halfway is enough if you have a strong boil. I am only on my second batch so I'm speaking mostly from forum and podcast experience.

 

[coy]

Sounds like your brewing outside. do you have anything to make a wind break with? board or anything. might want to just leave the lid half off I'd guess.

I'm just a noob so thinking back to stuff I may have read. lol

 

[nootay]

i have it right in front of the grill, which is helping some.

I took the lid off and it quit boiling. Got it cranked up now to get it back to a boil.

 

[springer]

Just use one of those mesh splatter screens for frying or just some window screening if you are afraid of something getting into the wort . I have had stuff go in during the boil I think someone posted a bird dive bombed his once I am more concerned during the cooling that something will fall in.

 

[MikeP]

You want the lid off at least partway - you don't want the water that forms on the underside of the lid to drip back into the pot - you'll get nasty tastes from that. Letting the steam escape will keep that from happening.

 

[nootay]

Well its in the fermenter! First brew underway. One thing i didnt ask about is my kit came with a muslin bag. i assumed it was for the hops. so i put the hops in and tied it up and tossed it in at the right time. Are you supposed to use a bag with the hops? Seems like it would help with sediment. Also, is the bag of hops supposed to go in the primary fermenter? Or discard after its cooled.

 

[Yooper]

Well its in the fermenter! First brew underway. One thing i didnt ask about is my kit came with a muslin bag. i assumed it was for the hops. so i put the hops in and tied it up and tossed it in at the right time. Are you supposed to use a bag with the hops? Seems like it would help with sediment. Also, is the bag of hops supposed to go in the primary fermenter? Or discard after its cooled.

If the kit came with grains, the bag was for the grains. You can use a hops bag if you'd like, Just make sure that the hops are really loose in the bag, not packed in, so it doesn't interfere with hops utilization. You want the wort to be free-flowing through the hops. No need to put it in the primary. You can take it out after the boil.

 

[nootay]

This kit didnt come with grains. I tied the bag at the very top, but it was pretty elastic so not sure if they had a lot of room or not. It definitely smelled pretty hoppy when i pulled it off the burner.

Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[nootay]

Crap, last question i swear. The gravity before pitching yeast was 1.045. That sound about right for this brew? the instructions didnt specify an OG

 

[nootay]

Nevermind, found that the OG on the northern brewer site says 1.045. Not sure why its not on the sheet they send with it. Maybe i missed it

 

[Yooper]

Crap, last question i swear. The gravity before pitching yeast was 1.045. That sound about right for this brew? the instructions didnt specify an OG

I don't know. What did you brew?

 

[nootay]

it was a northern brewer raspberry wheat ale kit. I found the OG on their website

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

I am still a relative noob myself, 35 gal so far this year, and I'm sure I will get an arguement or two, but I usually leave the lid on for the same reason, scared stuff is going to get in. I keep seeing threads that say leave it off though and probaby will on my batch this weekend. As far as the hops go, I have thrown them in before the boil before and had no issues. Maybe a little more bitter than the recipe might have called for, but I'm a hop head so I didn't care. Either way you can't mess it up! Cheers

 

[NuclearRich]

Everything I've ever read say leaving the lid on during the boil is very detrimental to your beer. There are volitile compounds that will precipitate out with a boil. If you put the lid on, it catches the steam that is carrying the compounds out, condenses onto the lid, and drips back in.

Dont worry about leaves/dirt/birds falling in, it just adds to the flavor! After all, its all getting boiled, and should fall out during fermentation. I would take a whole bird out, however.
Seriously, a little ambient air in the batch wont hurt it. If lots of crud is flying around, put something up to block the brew, or use the lid and prop it above the top of the kettle at an angle and a tad offset. This way there is less chance of condensation, and whatever does will drip down to the low angle and off onto the ground (which is why you offset the lid).

 

[artyusmc]

when taking your og acccount for temp of the wort and adjust accordingly for true og reading