So I had a boil over tonight...

[YamahaXS]

I was set up witht he turkey fryer in the garage, and had a little boil over. I waited too long before I went to clean it up and it froze!

therm was reading -10F ! BRRRRRRR

[fretlessman71]

YIKES! That doesn't sound like any fun at all! Does that ruin a batch when it freezes like that, or can you melt it and begin again?

Just where are you right now that it's getting below -10 degrees?

I thought having a big brewpot made boilovers a thing of the past... what'd I miss?

[OldHooky]

The worst thing about a boil over is seeing all those hops stuck to the side of the brewpot.

[mmmBeer...]

That really sucks! I am curious as to how you are going to get it off the garage floor.

One thing that made me very happy was getting a gas stove. Being able to quickly adjust the heat during the first part of the boil and keep it just from boiling over is very nice. I can't stand thinking about wasting any of the good stuff from a boil over.

Although last night just when I thought the boil over danger was over the pot "burped" and this blob of wort shot out of the pot onto the cupboard and floor...wasn't that much but the dog liked cleaning it up (no hops in the wort yet).

[Tweek]

I thought having a big brewpot made boilovers a thing of the past... what'd I miss?

Perhaps the intention is to do away with boil overs but then you will start to look at that larger pot and it will dawn on you that a larger pot can hold more wort, so out comes the bigger batches. Its a vicious cycle.

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by Tweek
Perhaps the intention is to do away with boil overs but then you will start to look at that larger pot and it will dawn on you that a larger pot can hold more wort, so out comes the bigger batches. Its a vicious cycle.

you are right tweek,

I have a 7.5 pot, but like to boil 6 gal, so that 1/2 gal boils away, and another 1/2 gal is lost to trub. so my pot is pretty full.

i probably lost about a quart during the boil over. I don't intend to clean it up any time soon. at least not til it warms up a bit.


on the positivie side, i was able to hold 155 with my turkey fryer perfectly since so much heat was evaporating out with th esteam. =)

[MoreBeerEh]

OK. Now I'm questioning. When I bought my supplies at my local home brewery shop, they gave me the hops and the grains in little sock-like bags. Is taht what you are supposed to boil them in or do you just toss the hops in there and leave 'em?

[barley ben]

That is one of those things that is each persons preference. Personally, I use the bags. Just make sure there is enough space so that the hops in the middle get boiled also. I usually mess with the bags the whole boil through, flipping and pushing them on the side of the pot. Just a mental thing for me, I want to know I'm getting everything i can out of the hops. Also when I'm done, I squeeze the hop bags to extract as much wort as possible. Seems to me there is alot less wasted wort this way. Others will probably tell ya different. Like I said, it's everyones personal perference!

[MoreBeerEh]

Yeah. I am the same way. I use the bags and toss them nad turn them through out the boil. Same with the grains.

[Tweek]

I just toss em in the boil. They pretty much hit the bottom of the pot during the cold break, so I am able to leave the majority of them there when I fill my carboys.

[tj beerman]

I didn't have a boil over but I did burn my fingers when I was stiring my wort, it was so cold out in my shop 20f that the amount of steam rising blocked my view of the boiling wort. Short spoon = burned fingertips *&^#^#%$#$ I just about launched that spoon into orbit

[mmmBeer...]

Ouch! That has got to hurt...plus that stuff is sticky!

[unkle bik]

I follow one rule when boiling wort (the same as watching a toddler in a bathtub):
NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE BREWPOT!!
Not even for a second.

The two times I did, it boiled over onto the stove, down the burners,into the oven,down to the broiler, & stuck to the floor.
The missus wasn't too happy.

[toneyc]

Yep, I just throw the hop pellets into the boiling wort and when the boil is done, I pour it all into the fermenter. I'm a lazy bastard. And if I have a boilover, I hose off the front porch and everyone's happy.

:)
Toney.

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by toneyc
Yep, I just throw the hop pellets into the boiling wort and when the boil is done, I pour it all into the fermenter. I'm a lazy bastard. And if I have a boilover, I hose off the front porch and everyone's happy.


Toney.

ditto that. however, this boil over occured PRIOR to adding any hops. Hence, I was caught unawares! :eek:

[brewmonkey]

Boilovers can occur even after the hop additions. You should try to use a kettle with 20% headspace and be properly vented, but they can still occur.

My big thing is figuring out how to calculate the IBU's it barfs out on you. :D

Want a good boilover, try to boil honey.NOT!

[MoreBeerEh]

Actually, with my first batch, it included 2 pounds of honey and I had no problem with a boil over. Not even close. I wonder why?

[mmmBeer...]

I find that after the first 20 minutes of stirring like crazy and constantly adjusting the heat to keep the foam just under the rim…that the foam disappears and the wort settles into a nice rolling boil. At this point I can leave the kettle and do other things (sanitize carboys etc.) with no risk of a boil over. Even the addition of hops in the last 10 min doesn’t seem to cause a problem.

[brewmonkey]

Burner control is certainly one of the best ways to control the possible boil over.

Sometimes honey is fine when added to other ingredients, but I have found when it makes up all or a large portion of the boil, we always have a boilover.

We made a Braggot a few times where we had to drop the amount from 7 to 5 bbl's to give more headspace, even with the coils off and only running steam (dual fired kettle) we had a HUGE mess to clean up. Honey is not fun to clean either. :(

[mmmBeer...]

That is one reason I love my gas stove…instant heat or lack there of…it is nice to know that when I lower the heat I don’t have to wait for the burner to cool down on an electric stove.

[tj beerman]

My burner is not connected to the base so that I can pull it away from the kettle in order to reduce boilovers

[BeerBelly]

Batch # 9
It finally got me. Not a real bad boil over, and I was in the garage so it wasnt a big mess. I just hosed it out. I lost about 1/2 gallon of a 5 gallon boil.

BB

[toneyc]

Originally posted by tj beerman
My burner is not connected to the base so that I can pull it away from the kettle in order to reduce boilovers

As graceful as I am, that burner would leave me homeless in no time!

Oh, man, there's a box of Busch Light in that picture. <friendly poke>

:eek:
Toney.

[Jughead]

Being from Canada, I couldn't figure out what the beer in the back ground was, but I had a feeling it was something like that :eek:

[tj beerman]

oh that ahh it wasn't mine it was my ah brothers no my brother in laws, oh shit it was all I had for my brewing my first batch :(

[unkle bik]

Originally posted by mmmBeer...
That is one reason I love my gas stove…instant heat or lack there of…it is nice to know that when I lower the heat I don’t have to wait for the burner to cool down on an electric stove.

If I could only convince the wife to get a gas stove...

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by unkle bik
If I could only convince the wife to get a gas stove...

turkey fryer all the way man.

a gas stove will give you 35,000 BTU on the big burner, but a turkey fryer will get you at least 160,000 BTU goodness. Plus brewing outside is great, even when is friggen colder than a well diggers ass.

[mmmBeer...]

Not sure where the rest of you are from but there is no way I could have brewed the 2 batches I have made in the last week outside. We have been in the middle of an unusual cold snap here and the daytime temps have been around –27*C (-22*F) with a wind-chill at around -45*C (-49*F). I don’t mind the cold…but standing outside waiting for the wort to boil and preventing a boil over when exposed skin freezes in 30 seconds is not my idea of fun :)

[OldHooky]

As a compromise, I'm thinking about adding one of these burners to my brewroom and add proper ventilation.

http://www.vmisales.com/superb/pc-100.html

[BeerBelly]

As a compromise, I'm thinking about adding one of these burners to my brewroom and add proper ventilation.

That is a nice looking burner, I really like the idea of an ignitor built in to it.