How long to get to a boil?

[GammaRay4130]

Hey everyone,

I am wanting to brew my first beer this weekend. My dad had an equipment kit he bought years ago but never used and I have been wanting to try to learn to brew beer for a while. So I bought the mush mouth oatmeal stout kit from jaspers brewing and am looking forward to getting sucked into another hobby.

Anyway my question is when brewing on a stove top how long does it take you to get to a boil? The instructions with the kit say to start with 2 gallons for steeping the grains and the boil so I did a "dry" run with just water and my kettle and 1:45 into it the water is still not boiling.

I am also wondering if it will negatively effect the beer if the steeped grains just kind of sit there waiting to boil for extended periods of time.(assuming I can actually get 2 gallons to boil on the glasstop stove)

Lots of good information here, glad I found this place, thanks

 

[davekippen]

Glad you found us too!

I hope you mean "the wort from the steeped grains sit there..." - if you boil the actual grains you will not be happy with the results! Keep them under 170 to avoid extracting some nasty tannins.

As far as the boil goes, other than making brew day a lot longer than it should be, the extended heating up time shouldnt really be a problem. I bet you will upgrade to a propane burner after the first brew session I can get 5 gallons up to a boil in about 30 minutes or so depending on the starting water temp.

 

[jro238]

I do my all grain full boils on my lovely electric stove (split into two pots). Definitely cover you pot while heating up. Amount of time will all depend on your particular stove and pot though...do you mean an hour and 45 minutes and still no boil?? If so then you might have to get a little creative because your stove must not be putting out too much heat. If it's really bad then you could split your boil into two 1 gal pots I suppose but I would definitely look into a burner.

 

[MindenMan]

Glass is a great insulator, I still don't know why they even make those stoves anymore, other than they are "pretty".
I agree with jro238, split the batch up into multiple pots.
Right now, Walmart is closing out their 30qt turkey friers for $20.00. I doubt calling and asking would help, but if they are not in the meat section, they are likely in the outdoor dept. I bought 2. SWMBO isn't terribly happy about it either.

 

[GammaRay4130]

Thanks for the help everyone. I was looking at the pot and a majority of the middle of it is raised up a bit so it probably won't work on the flat top. Glad I did a test run before wasting ingredients. Guess I will be looking into burner.

 

[kh54s10]

Thanks for the help everyone. I was looking at the pot and a majority of the middle of it is raised up a bit so it probably won't work on the flat top. Glad I did a test run before wasting ingredients. Guess I will be looking into burner.

I have a glass top stove, a flat bottomed 30 quart pot and can boil 3 gallons in less than 15 minutes from cold tap water.

As previously stated, do not boil any of the grains, steep them first at about 150 - 170 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes then boil the wort.

 

[bigken462]

I use a Ball stainless steel water bath canner that has the solid bottom. Does ok up to 2 1/2-3 gallons. Mine starts struggling after that.

I made the mistake several years ago trying to can with those aluminum pans that have the ridges on the bottoms. Those are made for coiled stoves and you'll quickly be waisting your time on glass tops with those.

Kenny

 

[MikePote]

Thanks for the help everyone. I was looking at the pot and a majority of the middle of it is raised up a bit so it probably won't work on the flat top. Glad I did a test run before wasting ingredients. Guess I will be looking into burner.

I use a super cheapo 8 gallon aluminum tamale steamer that cost $20 at target. The bottom is perfectly flat and would probably work on your stove and it didn't cost anything.