Illustrated Beer Brewing Primer
Paul's Brewing Home Page
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Bring the Wort to BoilFire up the burner again and bring the brew pot up to boiling temps. Stir every few minutes. As the temperature comes close to boiling, you will start to see foam and bubbles come up from the bottom. DANGER!
Beware of Boilover!
One of the worst things that can happen in the brewing process is a boilover. This is a foaming over of the wort that gets sticky malt everywhere, including the burner, which then gives you a horrible burnt sugar smell and is impossible to clean up. Boilover happens when your pot first reaches boiling, and then again when you add hops for the first time. You can prevent boilover by carefully watching the pot during these two times, and if the foam starts rising, quickly spring into action: 1. Turn down the heat!2. Start stirring!They say a watched pot never boils, but I can assure you it does. An unwatched pot _will_ boil over. It helps to check the temperature to see when you are approaching the boiling point. As you get close, turn the heat down a bit. Usually you will see bubbles coming up and foam forming before the big boilover event happens. If you see a boilover starting, immediately turn off the heat and start stirring. Boilovers happen quickly, so you have to be vigilant and move quickly. If you happen to have an electric stove, you need to add a few boilover prevention strategies. Electric stoves don't cool down very quickly, the burner keeps heating for a while even after it is off. Keep a spray bottle of cold water and some ice near the stove. When you see the wort foaming up, spray it, stir it and throw some ice in it. When the foam falls, you can turn the heat back on, just be ready to stir if needed. My brews typically threaten boil over when they first start boiling, and when I add hops the first time. After that I can let it boil without watching. If you do have a boil over, it doesn't hurt the beer, it just makes cleanup work for you.
STIR NOW OR FACE THE WRATH OF THE BOILOVER! Next |
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Illustrated Beer Brewing PrimerIngredients :: Equipment :: Preparation :: Steeping :: Sanitation :: Mash Out :: Add Extract :: Boil :: Bittering Hops :: Wort Chiller :: Flavor Hops :: Aroma Hops :: Chill Wort :: Remove Chiller :: Aerate :: Carboy :: Pitch Yeast :: Cap :: Cool the Carboy :: Fermenting :: Corny Keg Rebuild :: Racking :: Reusing Yeast :: Transferring Beer :: Carbonation :: Prost! |
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