What a NOOB!

[Xiren]

I brewed my second batch today. It is an American Amber kit. After adding the different malts and hops, I was not getting a boil that I should have had. So I turned up the heat a little. That did very little to help, so I turned up the flame higher. Somehow, the water gods stepped in and filled my pot, full to the brim with water. I had to turn the heat off so I would not get a boil over. Guess I put to much heat on and it caused a nice layer of foam and it kept getting bigger and bigger. So from now on when I need more heat, I will do it in small rations . One thing that I would like to ask is the instructions said to use only 2 gallons of water for the boil. I have read, somewhere, that it is better to us the full amount that will be used for the beer. Since I have never made this kind before I decided to follow the directions. Except for the near boil over, should I have used the full 5 gallons instead? I know it was hard to get an accurate temperature reading. In fact, the temp said 165 degrees and the wort was boiling. Is it because their was only 2 gallons of water or is there some other factor involved?
Thank you in advance.

 

[BierMuncher]

1) Get a new thermometer.
2) Until you scrape carmalized, burnt, charred sugar off of your stove top...you've not had a boilover.
3) If you can do full boils, definitely do it. But to do a full boil for a 5-gallon batch, you need to boil 6-6.5 gallons and to boil 6-6.5 gallons, you need a 7.5 gallon pot.

 

[Yooper]

I would recommend following the directions the first few times. You are supposed to bring the wort to a boil, but to steep the grains at 165 degrees. That means if you have some grains to use, you put those in the grain bag and put them in the water and bring up to 165 or so, and let them steep for 15-20 minutes. Remove them, and throw them away, and then bring your pot to a full rolling boil, and add your malt (taking it off the heat while adding and stir until dissolved) and bring it back to a boil. Then add your first hops, starting your timer for 60 minutes then. I know when the boil is going, it seems like it's going to boilover so watch it closely. After a while, that foam will die down (the hot break) and that's when I start adding my hops and the timer.

The only thing you might need to do is use a bigger pot! When you get more proficient, you might want to go to full boils. I know many experienced homebrewers who keep doing the smaller boil- and make great beer. When you feel more comfortable with the process, there are some other techniques (like adding the extract later in the boil) that might be of interest to you. But for now, it sounds like you're doing just fine!

 

[malkore]

its also handy to just turn off the burner or crank it way down when you add your extract (especially LME since it sinks fast and can burn on the bottom of the pot rather rapidly).

also watch the hop additions...they like to flare up foam for the first minute after adding em.

as to your boil size question...you can make really good beer with a smaller pot.
you can make excellent beer with a larger boil.
since my fancy stove won't boil a large pot of water due to temperature sensors on the cooktop, I do a double pot boil: two 12quart pots, with all my ingredients split evenly between the two (by weight, using a digital kitchen scale).
its tricky to balance two pots from different makers and get them to boil at the same time...so I don't exactly recommend it...but it does work if you don't mind multi-tasking

 

[BrewDey]

I'm a noob-but one key thing I learned re: boilovers is that they can be prevented if you make it a point to skim that foam ('break') off ASAP. It seems to be not so much a function of the heat as it is how easily the steam is able to escape. That foam is made up of tiny little particles that trap in the steam and increase the volume of the wort, resulting in a boilover. There's a limited amount of it though-so once you skim it off-it's gone.

As the wort heats up I hover over the pot with a small strainer and a bowl of water. As the foam forms, skim it off, then rinse the strainer in the bowl of water. Once the break is all gone, you'll be able to have a nice rolling boil without it boiling over.

 

[fluteguy53]

its also handy to just turn off the burner or crank it way down when you add your extract (especially LME since it sinks fast and can burn on the bottom of the pot rather rapidly).

also watch the hop additions...they like to flare up foam for the first minute after adding em.

as to your boil size question...you can make really good beer with a smaller pot.
you can make excellent beer with a larger boil.
since my fancy stove won't boil a large pot of water due to temperature sensors on the cooktop, I do a double pot boil: two 12quart pots, with all my ingredients split evenly between the two (by weight, using a digital kitchen scale).
its tricky to balance two pots from different makers and get them to boil at the same time...so I don't exactly recommend it...but it does work if you don't mind multi-tasking

I have one of those fancy stovetops too, and I may be doing something wrong, but I bring the wort to a good rolling boil and then turn it down to around 7 on my burner and it has maintained a sound rolling boil until I'm ready to chill it. I get a nice 1/2 inch foam, but that has been all so far! (Knocking on my head which is often compared to wood anyway)!

 

[Bernie Brewer]

When you brew with a kit, definitely follow the directions. The hops that came with the kit are measured for that 2-gallon boil. If you boil a full five gallons, the utilization will be different. Of course, if you're ina mood for experimentation, then maybe you should try it and see how different it tastes.

 

[marshman]

I keep a spritz bottle full of clean water by the range for my worts. When the wort gets up there ready to boil, I just spritz the head down until it passes and all is well.

I also find a slight inclination to flare up at each time I add hops, though usually nothing major.

I've been doing well so far, with 3 gallon boils, they reduce to @ 2&1/2 gal, then I top back off to 3 gallons (using ice I'd made from boiled water on a slow evening when the missus is outta town) as coolant for 3 gallon batches.

On the occasions where I've bought kits, I've made my boils as large as I could manage, directions be damned. So far, so good (as he raps on his forehead chanting "knock on wood").