First Brew Day Done - Now My Newbie Questions

[jmichalicek]

So, knowing that I'm super hands on (moreso than average) I decided to take the somewhat risky approach of actually completing a brew day and then asking questions after I see what went wrong, what I want clarified, etc. I apologize for each question basically being a short novel to read.

I picked up the Brewer's Best 1 Gallon kit at my local homebrew store and the Brewer's Best Smokey Stout recipe kit (I know their recipe kits are not the most recommended, but I was going for quick, easy, buying local, and buying from the people I was hassling with questions). I completed my first brew day yesterday (with a few hiccups, I might have gross beer in a few weeks, but I'll have beer) and the airlock is bubbling away.

So on to the questions:

1. The kit came with a 2 gallon pail primary fermentor and a 1 gallon carboy secondary. All of their 1 gallon recipe kits have you use the primary for 4-6 days then transfer to the secondary. I have of course seen tons of recommendations online to just use a primary and the Brewer's Best 5 gallon recipe kits only use a primary.

Is there some reason specifically with these 1 gallon kits that I would want to use the secondary? The best I could come up with is that people doing a primary only have 5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon or so fermentor, so that's a much lower percentage of air/headspace vs 1 gallon of liquid in a 2 gallon fermentor.

Could I just leave that batch in the primary for 3 or 4 weeks and then bottle?

2. On a related note, many of the 1 gallon kits online come with a 1 gallon carboy for a primary fermentor and no secondary. Is there some reason I wouldn't want to use my carboy only for a 4 week fermentation and then bottle?

3. Due to my current housing, I do not want to get a kerosene burner. Unfortunately, my glass top stove sucks, which seems to be pretty common. At least for now I will probably stick with extract and specialty grains in a bag + extract brewing. From what I have read, the DMS issue is almost non-existent and I should be safe to leave the lid mostly on my pot to keep the boil slightly better (but still pretty terrible), right?

I may get a standalone induction burner. Am I correct in assuming a 1500-1800 watt induction burner will get the 1.5 to 2 gallons of wort boiling properly?

I am also looking into heat sticks/bucket heaters - but those mostly seem aimed at 5 gallon boils and may not even fit properly in my 12 quart stockpot.

4. After seeing the process I am now preparing to put together my own Stout or Robust Porter recipe to get brewing in the near future. I've been reading many recipes, checking grains and hops, ratios, etc. One thing I find really strange is that the 1 gallon stout and porter Brewer's Best recipes are using 10+ oz of high AA hop pellets - Brewer's Gold at 8.5 to 9.5%. Every other porter and stout recipe I have looked at so far used 1-3oz of much lower AA hops for a 5 gallon batch. I assume these other recipes may be using leaf hops, but from what I have read, that should make minimal difference. Am I preparing an insanely hoppy stout here?

 

[AZBeer]

1 & 2) Old school was to move beers from primary to secondary. Current conventional wisdom is to leave it in primary the whole time. Transferring to secondary is just a chance to introduce oxygen and/ or infection. I have never moved a beer to secondary and never had an issue.

3) Not sure, I have a gas range.

4) That seems off. That is 2x or 3x the hops I use in IPAs and APAs. Have you run it through brewersfriend or beersmith?

 

[Redlantern]

I may get a standalone induction burner. Am I correct in assuming a 1500-1800 watt induction burner will get the 1.5 to 2 gallons of wort boiling properly?

That will be fine for that volume. I would not want to tackle much larger than 2 gallons with that. You will likely get to a boil at three gallons, but it will probably take a good 30 min or so to get there.

 

[jmichalicek]

1 & 2) Old school was to move beers from primary to secondary. Current conventional wisdom is to leave it in primary the whole time. Transferring to secondary is just a chance to introduce oxygen and/ or infection. I have never moved a beer to secondary and never had an issue.

3) Not sure, I have a gas range.

4) That seems off. That is 2x or 3x the hops I use in IPAs and APAs. Have you run it through brewersfriend or beersmith?

Ha, I just re-read the recipe for the 100th time today. The hop weights are grams, not ounces. Now they seem considerably more sane. They came pre-packaged at the right amount for each addition, so I didn't have to pay attention to get it right... just open a packet and drop them in.

When not using a secondary, what size batch and fermentor are you using? My curiousity on skipping the secondary is with doing just a 1 gallon brew. Most of you guys are doing 5+ gallons. So you've got 5 gallons producing CO2 to fill the 1.5 to 2.5 gallons of head space in your fermentor (from what I've seen of commonly used fermentor sizes for 5 gallons). I've only got 1 gallon of beer producing CO2 to fill 1 gallon of head space in mine. Will 1 gallon of beer produce enough CO2 to protect it with another full gallon of head space?

 

[jmichalicek]

That will be fine for that volume. I would not want to tackle much larger than 2 gallons with that. You will likely get to a boil at three gallons, but it will probably take a good 30 min or so to get there.

Which is still faster than my current junk stove can get 1.5 gallons to boil and 1.5 gallons is all I intend to be doing for now. Bigger batches need to wait for a different house. I'm currently using the cheapest glass top range Home Depot sold in 2006. I'd seriously consider just replacing it if I didn't have some considerably more important expenses than brewing beer to sort out first.

Stand alone induction burner plus a new induction kettle is still a pretty hefty investment, but definitely something I'll have to keep in mind if I churn out a couple terrible batches in a row.

 

[McKnuckle]

If you use just a primary, then you only need enough headspace to physically contain the expanding yeast krausen as it develops. That means 5 gallons of beer can be fermented in a 6-6.5 gallon vessel, and 1 gallon of beer can be fermented in a 1.5 gallon vessel. But you can just as soon ferment 1 gallon of beer in a 5 gallon vessel. The CO2 will fill the empty space regardless.

If you keep the primary sealed until fermentation is truly complete (tough for newbies), and only open it after 2-3 weeks to take a gravity reading and package it, then the extra headspace is really inconsequential. The headspace only matters if you keep the beer in the vessel for a significant time after active fermentation has completed, and (most importantly) if you open it to play with it in some way. Having the patience to leave it alone comes with time and experience.

 

[samall415]

#1 and #2: When I first started brewing, I used to ferment in a bucket for ~1 week for primary fermentation then transfer to a glass carboy for secondary fermentation. Nowadays, I just use the glass carboy for my fermentation. If you're going to use one fermenter, use something made of glass with a narrow opening. Secondary/Primary fermentation helps you get a clearer beer. I didn't think it was worth the extra step - the cleaning/sanitization of more equipment and higher risk of contamination. You should be fine just using the 1-gallon carboy for your fermentation.

#3: You should have a slight opening in your pot so any DMS and other unwated vapors can escape. If anything, drill a tiny hole in the top of your pot to serve as a vent.

I don't have experience with induction burners, but I know that some people use 1800W elements for small batches. However, the element is submerged in the water. For the induction burner, I don't know how much energy is lost to the air. There are some other threads that discuss the induction burners. Most of them seem to recommend a 3500W element, but that might not work for you, depending on what your power situation is.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=492231

#4: 10 oz of hops in a 1-gallon recipe is definitely a typo. This is an insane amount of hops. Most posted recipes assume pellet hops. But you can add the same weight in leaf or pellet form - it's the same thing. I've read that some people add about 10% more hops (by weight) if using leaf hops instead of pellet hops. Not sure why exactly this is, but I'm guessing that since the pellet hops have been dehydrated, they have less water weight. Also, pellet hops have less surface area and oxidize slower, which may help them retain their potency.

 

[jmichalicek]

Excellent. I'll probably go ahead and just leave the current batch in the primary and go pick up another 2 gallon fermentor for batch #2. Waiting won't be an issue - the kit instructions said to wait 4-6 days in the primary and then another 2 weeks in the secondary. No difference there compared to just leaving it in the primary for 3 weeks except I free up a Saturday morning to play with the kid or brew another batch.

I might play with doing the secondary transfer at some point just to have done it, but I'm all for keeping things simple for now.

 

[violinguy]

I have not yet used a secondary, but I recently bought a second 1 gallon carboy (up til now I only brew 1 gallon batches) so I might give it a try if the recipe demands it. There is quite a debate here (and just about everywhere else) as to whether you need to do secondary at all. The main "pro" for it is clearer beer which conditions away from the yeast cake. The "con" is, greater chance for infection and oxidation when transferring to secondary. For my small batches, the risk is too great, therefore I don't bother with it. When I increase the batch size, I might consider it.

 

[AZBeer]

Ha, I just re-read the recipe for the 100th time today. The hop weights are grams, not ounces. Now they seem considerably more sane. They came pre-packaged at the right amount for each addition, so I didn't have to pay attention to get it right... just open a packet and drop them in.

When not using a secondary, what size batch and fermentor are you using? My curiousity on skipping the secondary is with doing just a 1 gallon brew. Most of you guys are doing 5+ gallons. So you've got 5 gallons producing CO2 to fill the 1.5 to 2.5 gallons of head space in your fermentor (from what I've seen of commonly used fermentor sizes for 5 gallons). I've only got 1 gallon of beer producing CO2 to fill 1 gallon of head space in mine. Will 1 gallon of beer produce enough CO2 to protect it with another full gallon of head space?

I was wondering if it was 10g, that make a whole lot more sense.

For my batches, I use a 1.4 g fermentor for 1.25 g batches. Haven't had any issues with head space.

 

[RM-MN]

Leave your beer in the primary for 10 days to 10 weeks, then bottle. Use the 1 gallon carboy for fermenting.....wine or cider, not beer. Beer causes a krausen that needs space to expand into while wine or cider does not.


There is evidence to suggest that beers left in primary only clear as fast or faster than beers transferred to secondary and they will be just as clear. The only 2 reasons to use a secondary are adding fruit or some addition that includes a fermentable sugar or for long term aging where the oxygen permeability of the plastic may be detrimental.

I'd probably wait on the induction heater until you are so addicted to brewing that you "need" to do bigger batches of beer. Then you will either find a way to use an outdoors burner or be willing to spend for an induction heater that is sized for the bigger batches.

 

[rcreamer0713]

I never use a secondary and i get clear beer. I did use secondary for a mead one time because it wouldnt clear. Had to add finings.

I wouldnt begin designing recipe till u get more kits under ur belt. The kits make learning the whole process easier. If ur worrying about your recipe your could emd up skipping a step in process. Stick to the kits till you know brewing process inside and out and have your own rituals down.

Biggest mistake new brewers make is rushing. Rush the beer rush the process. And then they gt discouraged.

 

[Morrey]

You have lots of feedback giving you the answers you needed. Secondary's for typical run of the mill beers are passé these days. 14 days in primary, rack and bottle or keg. Less risk of infection, lower risk of O2 exposure (oxidation) than trying to utilize a secondary. Of course you need to utilize hydrometer readings to ensure your beer is finished fermenting.

I found your way of approaching brewing quite interesting and I darn well like what you did. Instead of wondering what may or may not happen, you took a chance, brewed your first beer, then you ACTUALLY knew what questions to ask once you had this experience. This was a darn good approach to learning, and I'll bet all the bobbles you had along the way will mean much more to you now that you have had to search out the answers the hard way. Granted this first run may be a "sacrificial brew", but you know, most first runs are pretty terrible anyway. You did a good job!!!

 

[jmichalicek]

You have lots of feedback giving you the answers you needed. Secondary's for typical run of the mill beers are passé these days. 14 days in primary, rack and bottle or keg. Less risk of infection, lower risk of O2 exposure (oxidation) than trying to utilize a secondary. Of course you need to utilize hydrometer readings to ensure your beer is finished fermenting.

I found your way of approaching brewing quite interesting and I darn well like what you did. Instead of wondering what may or may not happen, you took a chance, brewed your first beer, then you ACTUALLY knew what questions to ask once you had this experience. This was a darn good approach to learning, and I'll bet all the bobbles you had along the way will mean much more to you now that you have had to search out the answers the hard way. Granted this first run may be a "sacrificial brew", but you know, most first runs are pretty terrible anyway. You did a good job!!!

Thanks! I'm a software developer/engineer and we've got a saying "Build one to throw away". You can read all of the documentation and manuals and examples you want. There are always things which sound difficult but are simple to deal with once you do it, others which sound simple and turn out to be a nightmare, things the people who gathered requirements (or the people who wrote the instructions to tools you are using) thought were obvious and left out but weren't so obvious to you, and things specific to your situation which change things. You won't find those things until you just do it and see what happens.

The only thing you really know is that excluding luck or doing something which is very simple compared to your experience level, the first one is going to be passable at best, but when you're done you'll know what you really need to do so that you can do it correctly.

I do my best to apply that thinking to everything. As long as I'm pretty sure I'm not going to kill myself or burn down my house, just get to work and see what I screw up.

I'm applying that to recipe creation right now. I know rcreamer0713 above said to do a few kits first to just get the process down, but eh, where's the fun in that? No offense meant to rcreamer0713, I'm not ignoring your advice to be a jackass, I'm just running with what I've learned works best for my personal learning style. At worst I'll take a big gulp, spit it out, then go pass the rest of the bottles off to a friend and laugh at them as they do the same thing. Maybe I'll get lucky and get it right-ish. Either result sounds worth the small investment for 1 gallon batch ingredients to me.

 

[skraeling]

Which is still faster than my current junk stove can get 1.5 gallons to boil and 1.5 gallons is all I intend to be doing for now. Bigger batches need to wait for a different house. I'm currently using the cheapest glass top range Home Depot sold in 2006. I'd seriously consider just replacing it if I didn't have some considerably more important expenses than brewing beer to sort out first.
.

would a new stove be cheaper or at least most of the cost of the induction + kettle?

even my bargain bin stove has no troubles bringing 3.5g to a boil and its nothing special either. Though its not a glass top and has the heating coils.

fwiw the grainfathers heating element is what... 1600w? that can bring over 5g to a boil. That glass top must be reallllly inefficient at transferring heat.

 

[Morrey]

Thanks! I'm a software developer/engineer and we've got a saying "Build one to throw away". You can read all of the documentation and manuals and examples you want. There are always things which sound difficult but are simple to deal with once you do it, others which sound simple and turn out to be a nightmare, things the people who gathered requirements (or the people who wrote the instructions to tools you are using) thought were obvious and left out but weren't so obvious to you, and things specific to your situation which change things. You won't find those things until you just do it and see what happens.

The only thing you really know is that excluding luck or doing something which is very simple compared to your experience level, the first one is going to be passable at best, but when you're done you'll know what you really need to do so that you can do it correctly.

I do my best to apply that thinking to everything. As long as I'm pretty sure I'm not going to kill myself or burn down my house, just get to work and see what I screw up.

I'm applying that to recipe creation right now. I know rcreamer0713 above said to do a few kits first to just get the process down, but eh, where's the fun in that? No offense meant to rcreamer0713, I'm not ignoring your advice to be a jackass, I'm just running with what I've learned works best for my personal learning style. At worst I'll take a big gulp, spit it out, then go pass the rest of the bottles off to a friend and laugh at them as they do the same thing. Maybe I'll get lucky and get it right-ish. Either result sounds worth the small investment for 1 gallon batch ingredients to me.

Your approach is methodical and admirable. Your business acumen has found its way into your beer crafting and hobby life for sure.

I'd expect you have heard of John Palmer's book, "How to Brew". I considered this required reading and read it prior to making my first beer. In all honesty, around half of this material went totally over my head. THEN, I brewed a beer or two, made a few mistakes and discovered the pitfalls along the way. I pulled Palmer's book off the shelf and started reading it again. The light bulb came on...."wow, that's what he is talking about". Now this all makes sense and I can begin my learning curve. Welcome to the rewarding hobby of home brewing.

 

[jmichalicek]

would a new stove be cheaper or at least most of the cost of the induction + kettle?

even my bargain bin stove has no troubles bringing 3.5g to a boil and its nothing special either. Though its not a glass top and has the heating coils.

fwiw the grainfathers heating element is what... 1600w? that can bring over 5g to a boil. That glass top must be reallllly inefficient at transferring heat.

Probably not cheaper, at least not for a decent stove (and my wife is a hardcore baker and cook, so I wouldn't go cheap), but ones that would at least do that trick for me can be had for cheap enough that it is something I am keeping in mind.

As to the efficiency, right now we have the cheapest glasstop stove Home Depot was selling 10 years ago because that's what the builders/renovators put in the house before we bought it. To be fair to them and it, the thing is still working just fine for "normal" cooking 10 years later.

One thing I will definitely experiment with first is a different pot. My current one is raised like 2-3mm up off of the burner... perhaps that couple millimeters is making significantly more difference than I would expect. I can pick up a cheap stockpot at the size I need with a truly flat bottom at Walmart for something like $20, so I'll definitely investigate that before investing hundreds of dollars in a countertop burner or entire stove.

 

[jmichalicek]

Your approach is methodical and admirable. Your business acumen has found its way into your beer crafting and hobby life for sure.

I'd expect you have heard of John Palmer's book, "How to Brew". I considered this required reading and read it prior to making my first beer. In all honesty, around half of this material went totally over my head. THEN, I brewed a beer or two, made a few mistakes and discovered the pitfalls along the way. I pulled Palmer's book off the shelf and started reading it again. The light bulb came on...."wow, that's what he is talking about". Now this all makes sense and I can begin my learning curve. Welcome to the rewarding hobby of home brewing.

Yep, I'm getting very famliar with that book. I should buy a physical copy just to support him. I end up reading a section or two of it every time I google some question or concern I have and probably have had 5 tabs open to different pages of the online version of the book at all times for the last week.

 

[RM-MN]

3. Due to my current housing, I do not want to get a kerosene burner. Unfortunately, my glass top stove sucks, which seems to be pretty common. At least for now I will probably stick with extract and specialty grains in a bag + extract brewing. From what I have read, the DMS issue is almost non-existent and I should be safe to leave the lid mostly on my pot to keep the boil slightly better (but still pretty terrible), right?

I may get a standalone induction burner. Am I correct in assuming a 1500-1800 watt induction burner will get the 1.5 to 2 gallons of wort boiling properly?

I am also looking into heat sticks/bucket heaters - but those mostly seem aimed at 5 gallon boils and may not even fit properly in my 12 quart stockpot.

4. After seeing the process I am now preparing to put together my own Stout or Robust Porter recipe to get brewing in the near future. I've been reading many recipes, checking grains and hops, ratios, etc. One thing I find really strange is that the 1 gallon stout and porter Brewer's Best recipes are using 10+ oz of high AA hop pellets - Brewer's Gold at 8.5 to 9.5%. Every other porter and stout recipe I have looked at so far used 1-3oz of much lower AA hops for a 5 gallon batch. I assume these other recipes may be using leaf hops, but from what I have read, that should make minimal difference. Am I preparing an insanely hoppy stout here?

What about trying a single burner electric like this one?

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/st...MbcN1nSKJxVvmbOYyNznsNLf6W0wfsicCZhoCcabw_wcB

Your pot would be directly in contact with the burner for better heat transfer than your glass top stove and you won't be out much money if it doesn't work for you.

I often advocate for people to take a recipe from the HomeBrewTalk database and then make small changes to get to where they want to be. It's even a good idea to brew one as it is written first to see how it should taste before you start modifying.:rockin:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=54

 

[rcreamer0713]

Thanks! I'm a software developer/engineer and we've got a saying "Build one to throw away". You can read all of the documentation and manuals and examples you want. There are always things which sound difficult but are simple to deal with once you do it, others which sound simple and turn out to be a nightmare, things the people who gathered requirements (or the people who wrote the instructions to tools you are using) thought were obvious and left out but weren't so obvious to you, and things specific to your situation which change things. You won't find those things until you just do it and see what happens.

The only thing you really know is that excluding luck or doing something which is very simple compared to your experience level, the first one is going to be passable at best, but when you're done you'll know what you really need to do so that you can do it correctly.

I do my best to apply that thinking to everything. As long as I'm pretty sure I'm not going to kill myself or burn down my house, just get to work and see what I screw up.

I'm applying that to recipe creation right now. I know rcreamer0713 above said to do a few kits first to just get the process down, but eh, where's the fun in that? No offense meant to rcreamer0713, I'm not ignoring your advice to be a jackass, I'm just running with what I've learned works best for my personal learning style. At worst I'll take a big gulp, spit it out, then go pass the rest of the bottles off to a friend and laugh at them as they do the same thing. Maybe I'll get lucky and get it right-ish. Either result sounds worth the small investment for 1 gallon batch ingredients to me.

I understand. But you cant learn the basics if u have no clue what they are. A basic pale ale kit. A basic ipa. A basic stout. This shows u what it SHOULD taste like and then u can tweak it to taste. I love experimenting but I like knowing what the im changing and why before i throw bunch of hops grains extracts into a kettle.

 

[Kampenken]

..I picked up the Brewer's Best 1 Gallon kit at my local homebrew store and the Brewer's Best Smokey Stout recipe kit ...

So on to the questions:... I do not want to get a kerosene burner. Unfortunately, my glass top stove sucks, which seems to be pretty common. At least for now I will probably stick with extract and specialty grains in a bag + extract brewing. From what I have read, the DMS issue is almost non-existent and I should be safe to leave the lid mostly on my pot to keep the boil slightly better (but still pretty terrible), right?

I may get a standalone induction burner. Am I correct in assuming a 1500-1800 watt induction burner will get the 1.5 to 2 gallons of wort boiling properly?

I am also looking into heat sticks/bucket heaters - but those mostly seem aimed at 5 gallon boils and may not even fit properly in my 12 quart stockpot.

4. After seeing the process I am now preparing to put together my own Stout or Robust Porter recipe to get brewing in the near future. I've been reading many recipes, checking grains and hops, ratios, etc. One thing I find really strange is that the 1 gallon stout and porter Brewer's Best recipes are using 10+ oz of high AA hop pellets - Brewer's Gold at 8.5 to 9.5%. Every other porter and stout recipe I have looked at so far used 1-3oz of much lower AA hops for a 5 gallon batch. I assume these other recipes may be using leaf hops, but from what I have read, that should make minimal difference. Am I preparing an insanely hoppy stout here?

You got some good advice above, I wanted to add to pts 3 & 4. But first, your kit, I presume it was extract, but was it with steeping grains? Or was it all grain, maybe I missed that. If so, don't forget to watch your temp during the steep and squeeze out (or even rinse the grains) into your pot.

I'm surprised you can't boil on your stove top, especially for such a small amount of liquid until you noted something about the pot not coming in (full?) contact with the stovetop due to a lip?? How's that?? Get a flat bottom pot, issue solved!

If you're putting your own recipe together without DME or LME, you sound like you're going all grain, great. That sounds different than your kit, but maybe your kit was AG? Bit of confusion there, but know the difference to go AG, and as your stove top and small batches, no problem just go BIAB. Best of luck.

 

[jmichalicek]

What about trying a single burner electric like this one?

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/st...MbcN1nSKJxVvmbOYyNznsNLf6W0wfsicCZhoCcabw_wcB

Your pot would be directly in contact with the burner for better heat transfer than your glass top stove and you won't be out much money if it doesn't work for you.

I often advocate for people to take a recipe from the HomeBrewTalk database and then make small changes to get to where they want to be. It's even a good idea to brew one as it is written first to see how it should taste before you start modifying.:rockin:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=54

Yeah, for $12 a burner like that is worth a try as well.

I just found specs for my stove and supposedly I've got it on a 2K watt element, but it is possible that between the glass and the couple millimeters the pot is raised, more heat is lost than I would expect.

Your suggestion to modify an existing recipe is "almost" what I've done. I'm definitely not just randomly throwing some stuff in a pot and hoping for a drinkable beer. I looked over 20-30 different porter and stout recipes, saw some pretty obvious patterns as to grains, extracts, and ratios to use and combined those with my own tastes and well, we'll see what happens soon enough (actually not soon enough). I have also run it by a friend who's been homebrewing for many years just to be sure there's nothing too stupidly wrong.

The main risk, of course, is that if it's not very good it's harder to tell if it was my brewing technique/process or the recipe if I haven't nailed down the process yet. I assume this is rcreamer's point and concern with jumping to my own recipe so early.

 

[jmichalicek]

You got some good advice above, I wanted to add to pts 3 & 4. But first, your kit, I presume it was extract, but was it with steeping grains? Or was it all grain, maybe I missed that. If so, don't forget to watch your temp during the steep and squeeze out (or even rinse the grains) into your pot.

I'm surprised you can't boil on your stove top, especially for such a small amount of liquid until you noted something about the pot not coming in (full?) contact with the stovetop due to a lip?? How's that?? Get a flat bottom pot, issue solved!

If you're putting your own recipe together without DME or LME, you sound like you're going all grain, great. That sounds different than your kit, but maybe your kit was AG? Bit of confusion there, but know the difference to go AG, and as your stove top and small batches, no problem just go BIAB. Best of luck.

Yep. extract with steeped grains for the kit and for any future recipes unless I get a more vigorous boil going.

If you feel the couple mm of raise in the pot does make that huge of a difference, I'm all for swapping it. As I mentioned, I was going to try that anyway since I can pick one up with a truly flat bottom pretty cheap at walmart. Worst thing that can happen is I'll have another stockpot for soup or to very slowly boil two batches of beer at once (not that I want to just yet). But yeah, the current pot has maybe 1/2 inch wide ring around the outside and then the rest is raise up like 2-3mm for some reason I can't understand. I don't see how that would ever be useful, but that's how it is.

 

[Kampenken]

...If you feel the couple mm of raise in the pot does make that huge of a difference, I'm all for swapping it. As I mentioned, I was going to try that anyway since I can pick one up with a truly flat bottom pretty cheap at walmart. Worst thing that can happen is I'll have another stockpot for soup or to very slowly boil two batches of beer at once (not that I want to just yet). But yeah, the current pot has maybe 1/2 inch wide ring around the outside and then the rest is raise up like 2-3mm for some reason I can't understand. I don't see how that would ever be useful, but that's how it is.

My best assumption based on my own experience with a glass top stove and many successful boils of +3g, all with flat bottom pots.

 

[jmichalicek]

My best assumption based on my own experience with a glass top stove and many successful boils of +3g, all with flat bottom pots.

Picked up a flat bottom 12 qt today. Next brew day is next weekend since tomorrow is my wife's bday, so I'll know by then. I might get impatient and just boil a couple gallons of water this weekend just to see what happens.

I did some digging and most other glass tops I looked at did have a higher wattage on the burners, maybe enough higher that you would be able to get a good boil on 2x the water I can barely boil. My biggest burners are 8 inches and 2000 watts. Other similarly priced glass tops I looked at had at least one 2500 to 3000 watt burner and frequently also 9 inches... that could be a good bit more heat. Maybe I'll see if I can do the math on it one of these days.

 

[jmichalicek]

In case anyone cares, the truly flat pot got boiling quicker and a much harder boil this morning. With the lid off it was able to maintain a harder boil than the old pot with the lid 3/4 on. Still not amazing with the weak burner, but definitely stronger and at a level I'm ok with based on videos of other people's boils.

 

[Kampenken]

Glad to hear that did the trick. Cheaper than a new stove!!