Stirring water while adding hops

[lordrath1069]

My first brewing day I would stir the boiling water every 5 minutes for about 20-30 seconds during the 60 minute hopping boil. This was completely a guess by me. Any thoughts on how often (or if it is even necessary) to stir while boiling the hops?

 

[eadavis80]

It really makes no difference in my experience. A rolling boil will keep things moving and distributed evenly. The only time I think stirring is NECESSARY is when there is a threat of a boil over. Stirring will help settle down the kettle's contents. Stirring, a spray of cool water or fermcap are all easy ways to help avoid boil overs, which are most likely during fermentable and hop additions.

 

[IslandLizard]

You actually want to stir and scrape the bottom thoroughly every now and then. Particularly extract has a nasty habit to stick to the bottom and become a gluey sticky paste there that could scorch and ruin your batch. I use one of those long nylon kettle spoons, or a wooden paddle. One side of that spoon is almost flat now.

 

[unionrdr]

I get an even, rolling boil going, but stir in hop additions. Then stir it every so often to keep anything from settling to the bottom for too long. Then use my plastic paddle to scrape the hop gunk off the sides from the foamy bits sticking.

 

[lordrath1069]

Ok, sounds good. Thanks guys! You're awesome!

 

[dcross41796]

As unionrdr said it is a good idea to scrape the hops off the side of the pot during boil. You want that in the boil the whole time. I just slightly splash some boiling wort into the hops stuck to the sides and they roll right off! Good luck and cheers