Brewing Outside and kamikaze flies

[MikeB.]

Hi,

I’ve moved my brewing outside to prevent the steam build up within the kitchen, however this seems to be at the expense of curious bugs making their way into the boiling wort.

Could I use something like the below to prevent anything getting into the pot, and would this have enough open area to quit the steam or would I end up with a boil over due to this being the same as boiling with a lid?

Thanks

Mike

 

[MmmBeer]

Yes.

We are told never to cover the boiling wort, as this can lead to DMS remaining in the finished beer, but modern malt is produced in such a way that very little should form anyway.

 

[MikeB.]

Yes.

We are told never to cover the boiling wort, as this can lead to DMS remaining in the finished beer, but modern malt is produced in such a way that very little should form anyway.

Brill, thank you

 

[Dutto]

Why bother worrying about a fly or two?

The wort is boiling like mad, everything will be sterile and it’s filtered before moving on to the fermentation process.

Remember the riposte to the diner who said “Waiter, what’s this fly doing in my soup.” and got the reply “I think it’s attempting a breaststroke sir.”
:hat:

 

[moto748]

Yes.

We are told never to cover the boiling wort, as this can lead to DMS remaining in the finished beer, but modern malt is produced in such a way that very little should form anyway.

That's a new one on me! My boiler has a lid, I assumed they all do. But if people aren't using a lid, I guess that explains all these "my kitchen gets steamed up" posts I see, which I never quite understood.

 

[starseeker]

That's a new one on me! My boiler has a lid, I assumed they all do. But if people aren't using a lid, I guess that explains all these "my kitchen gets steamed up" posts I see, which I never quite understood.

Most of us leave the lid off for the boil

 

[MikeB.]

I’ve gone for these, I’ll let you know how I get on

 

[Buffers brewery]

I got one of these.
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7981799?clickSR=slp:term:gazebo:2:29:1Flies are the least of my worries. Living on the coast inquisitive seagulls are my problem and their aerial bombardments

 

[jof]

If I boil with the lid on it just makes a mess.
But I can boil with lid covering about 80-90% of the top using the 900W element rather than using the 1800W element & no lid

 

[An Ankoù]

My boiler has a lid. The wort comes to the boil more quickly with the lid open just a crack and then, when it's boiling, I open it a bit more so that I can have a good, rolling boil and a decent escape of steam to carry off the volatile stuff. I control the opening a length of 2cm square wood ceremoniously inscribed in black permanent marker "kettle bar". It's a waste of energy to keep an open kettle boiling and, looking at pictures of old breweries, the copper always seems to be covered with a conical chimney.
https://www.qwant.com/?client=brz-brave&t=images&q=old+brewery+copper

 

[Worf]

The bugs add a bit of protein, but don't affect the hydrometer any.

 

[Baldylocks Brewery]

My boiler has a lid. The wort comes to the boil more quickly with the lid open just a crack and then, when it's boiling, I open it a bit more so that I can have a good, rolling boil and a decent escape of steam to carry off the volatile stuff. I control the opening a length of 2cm square wood ceremoniously inscribed in black permanent marker "kettle bar". It's a waste of energy to keep an open kettle boiling and, looking at pictures of old breweries, the copper always seems to be covered with a conical chimney.
https://www.qwant.com/?client=brz-brave&t=images&q=old+brewery+copper

Hi AA does the partial covering with the lid make any notable difference in boil off volume reduction if it still does the job of getting the unwanted stuff away? I have always taken the lid off and have an extractor above the kettle but it can’t handle the volume of stream. But I’m only 10 all grain brews in so still eagerly reading all the threads to learn more

 

[StJayJay]

I did my brew outside yesterday. The flies weren’t so much attracted to my wort as they were to the big bucket of sanitised water, there were a few in there at the end of the session. Not sure how great an endorsement it was for my wort that the flies preferred starsan!

 

[Baldylocks Brewery]

What was the brew SJJ?

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Hi AA does the partial covering with the lid make any notable difference in boil off volume reduction if it still does the job of getting the unwanted stuff away? I have always taken the lid off and have an extractor above the kettle but it can’t handle the volume of stream. But I’m only 10 all grain brews in so still eagerly reading all the threads to learn more

Boiling with the lid partly on does not itself reduce the amount of steam; but it means you need slightly less power to maintain the boil, and that does.
If your extractor can’t keep up then you might like to look at the steam condenser setup that @chopps has done on his larger scale setup… essentially a cover that routes the steam into a downwards pipe with a bit of cold water spraying into it. The spray condenses the steam and it just drips into a bucket. Very neat.

It’s mentioned in this episode of his brewery build video (which is very much worth watching in its own right):

 

[An Ankoù]

Hi AA does the partial covering with the lid make any notable difference in boil off volume reduction if it still does the job of getting the unwanted stuff away? I have always taken the lid off and have an extractor above the kettle but it can’t handle the volume of stream. But I’m only 10 all grain brews in so still eagerly reading all the threads to learn more

Yo tell the truth, BB, I don't know as I've always done that way. Moreover, I like to brew litre or two short and add water later to ensure my OGs always spot on. Some better answers above, though.

 

[The Furnace Green Brewer]

Hi All,

I brew outside all the time using a large grain bag over the top of my open Brewlution boiler, never found any bugs. I do use the patio umbrella if its raining, I have read and been told that one should boil with the lid off due to the stuff that during the boil and condenses into the wort and spoiling it.

If you can lay on the floor with out holding on you are sober!

 

[moto748]

Well I shall be adding 'using a lid on my boiler' to the long list of practices that I'm going to continue to do, despite seeing dire warnings to the contrary!

'The stuff that condenses' is just your wort, after all (mostly water), and it's condensing all the time when you're boiling any liquid.

 

[Buffers brewery]

I like to use a “goodly” quantity of sparge/lauter water (that rhymes!) to extract as much sweet stuff from the grain after the mash. I therefore end up with around six and a half gallons of wort for a 5 gallon batch. Leaving the lid off is a necessity in order to boil off the excess water and after a vigorous boil I’ll end up with a little over 5 gallons in the fermenter resulting in 5 gallons in my pb. Never heard of DMS :tinhat:

 

[Agentgonzo]

Hi AA does the partial covering with the lid make any notable difference in boil off volume reduction if it still does the job of getting the unwanted stuff away? I have always taken the lid off and have an extractor above the kettle but it can’t handle the volume of stream. But I’m only 10 all grain brews in so still eagerly reading all the threads to learn more

If your extractor can't handle the steam, you may be boiling unnecessarily strongly. Advice is for a "rolling boil", not a volcano! Recommendations for breweries are to boil off 4-10% of the wort volume. Depending on your kettle, this may be more of a gentle boil than whacking your stove/element onto full, whilst still strong though to drive off the necessary amount of DMS (unpleasant volatile flavours), extract the goodness from the hops and coagulate the proteins so that your beer becomes clean.

Having seen some of the HUGE boilers and boiloff rates some people on the internet use, I think they have been told a "vigorous/rolling" boil and went overboard.

Of course, if one of your objectives is to drive off extra water to concentrate the wort for a stronger beer, then you'll need a monstrous boil (or just a longer one)!