How long to get 6.5 gallons to boil?

[earwig]

I know this has been talked about but I'm on my phone and desperate in my garage. I have a bayou classic burner and trying to get 6.5 gallons to boil in this freezing cold weather. So far its been 20 min and no boil. How long does it usually take you guys/ladies? Thanks.

 

[mkirkland]

It took me 50 minutes to boil 6 gallons in my 15.5gallon keggle with a crappy burner..

 

[earwig]

Dang that's a long time I feel like I'm going to lose major water

 

[ChshreCat]

It's just water. If you're boiling off too much, you can replace it without any problems as long as the water is good for brewing.

 

[mkirkland]

Im in south Texas and i loose almost 2 gallons of water on a 60 minute boil..

 

[earwig]

Ok thanks. I'll boil a couple gallons of water and have it ready to add before pitching. I was hoping to get it perfect this time. I usually use 2 pots inside. This is my first real full boil. Thanks for the replies I really appreciate it.

 

[AnOldUR]

I was hoping to get it perfect this time.

Boil-off is system dependent, so getting it right the first time is really tough unless you’re a science wizard. Keep good record and you’ll dial it in. And if you’re using BeerSmith you’ll have to adjust. Depending on volume and boil time, you’ll have to adjust that percent number to equal the quarts/hour that matches your system. (For a reference, I use 4.8qts/hr.)

Hope your brewday went well and you have a fermener happily bubbling. Looks like we’ll have better weather here in Jersey this weekend. Planning another batch?

 

[joeldp144]

It used to take me roughly one minute per degree that I had to raise the temperature of my pot. If I had to take it from 150 to 212, then it would take about an hour to get it hot enough. In fact, I used to think boiling over was just a myth.

Then, I switched to the "jet" burner from Bayou Classic, and it gets 10 gallons boiling in about 10 minutes starting at 130 F. I think the burner only costs about $40, but it is a huge time saver on brew day. Just be sure to operate it WITHOUT the flame disperser blocking the flame. I did my first few batches with the disperser thinking that it would even out the flame, and it was not efficient at all. Once, I slid it to the side and let the jet hit the bottom of my kettle directly, then it was rolling away.

Boil-overs-a-plenty!

 

[earwig]

Hope your brewday went well and you have a fermener happily bubbling. Looks like we’ll have better weather here in Jersey this weekend. Planning another batch?

Hey AnOldUR... the brewday was a bit hectic. MY lady and I were up until 3am since we started late. This was my first full boil and used my new equipment which was a bit leaky because I didn't have everything set up at the right angles at first. I brewed in the garage with the door open; it was freezing and windy out so that sucked a bit too!

Glad to see another brewer from NJ. I don't have any other brewing plans this week since I am out of ingredients and the closest home brew store is an hour away from me. I usually order everything online.

 

[HoppedIPA]

I have brewed in the garage a few times now once with 14 degree weather but i only had the door cracked open about 8 inches with the breeze we had i was not worried. I can boil off 3 gallons of water easy in a single extract 60min boil with steeping grains too.. i now start with 8 gallons..