Burnt bottom!

[Sadfield]

Also watched the "chalk" build up on the hot surface. I do have very hard water

Reducing the wattage may help, but this is possibly the root of the problem as you'll still be boiling. Excess bicarbonate in the water for the beer being brewed. Boiling removes co2, causing the chalk to be left on the heating interface, which combines with other elements in wort.

Ca(HCO3)2-(boiling)-> CaCO3+CO2+H2O

As other have reported, acid is required to remove it. If it was purely caramelised sugar it would be removed easily by hot water.

 

[peebee]

Eh? ... S'cuse me, thought I heard some sacrilegious water hardness babbling going on around here.

(Garick? Garick ... ah there you are: You can put the rope away. There'll be no lynching around here today. But I'm sure I heard my name called out ... ).

 

[Buffers brewery]

Hmmmm. Starting to think I ain’t gonna fix this with my existing boiler. It’s ok for heating water (and coffee and tea…nah forget the tea) but like you guys are saying the heating area is too small to boil wort without burning. Starting to look around for another boiler. (This one was cheap ).

 

[Sadfield]

Not at all. It may require a combination of water treatment and power control.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Just done a quick google search for power regulators and looks like £50ish for an off the shelf unit. Might work? Might not? It’s a gamble me thinks.
As for water treatment, numbers from my water company report (Portsmouth water co.)….
Ca 123
Mg 2
Na 12.5
SO4 15.9
Cl 28.4
Alkalinity as CaCO3 311

For a pale ale the water calculator I use says 56 mls CRS for 36 litres of water.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Decided to go for a Digiboil 35L and mothball the water boiler. Let's hope that sorts my burnt bottom

 

[Brew_DD2]

Decided to go for a Digiboil 35L and mothball the water boiler. Let's hope that sorts my burnt bottom

That's what I did. Then I added the malt pipe and turned it into a Brewzilla (minus the recirc. pump). It's never missed a beat and I don't have to faff around stirring incessantly whilst ramping up to the boil. You'll be happy with your purchase.

 

[Buffers brewery]

That's what I did. Then I added the malt pipe and turned it into a Brewzilla (minus the recirc. pump). It's never missed a beat and I don't have to faff around stirring incessantly whilst ramping up to the boil. You'll be happy with your purchase.

Thanks for that @Brew_DD2 . Very reassuring to hear someone else's experience

 

[MashBag]

Mashbag, with my TRIAC I get a gentle rolling boil and almost nothing on the heating area, what there is is easily wiped off with a sponge. So any device to lower the voltage is the answer here.

Yup, that would do it. I do similar for heating trays and other boilers.

But it would be a serious mod to an AIO but easier on a dedicated boiler.

What triac are you using? @3000w they get expensive (if they are safe)

 

[Twostage]

Cleaned out my cygnet this morning after Friday's brew. It had the horseshoe shape but it was creamy rather than brown. It just rubbed off with my fingers.

 

[bobukbrewer]

purchased two 20 years ago, fitted to a large aluminium sheet for heat dissipation, powered from a 13 amp fused plug to make it legal, safe as have normal RCD thingies

 

[MashBag]

Hmmmm. Starting to think I ain’t gonna fix this with my existing boiler. It’s ok for heating water (and coffee and tea…nah forget the tea) but like you guys are saying the heating area is too small to boil wort without burning. Starting to look around for another boiler. (This one was cheap ).

Are you just boiling too hard? There is a big difference between gentle simmer and boiling the beejeebers out of it

 

[Brew_DD2]

Are you just boiling too hard? There is a big difference between gentle simmer and boiling the beejeebers out of it

These simple boilers/elements are either on or off. High watt density + sugary liquid (and flour from fine crush) = easily-burnt wort.

 

[MashBag]

Decided to go for a Digiboil 35L and mothball the water boiler. Let's hope that sorts my burnt bottom

Are you still going to treat your water?

 

[Buffers brewery]

Are you just boiling too hard? There is a big difference between gentle simmer and boiling the beejeebers out of it

Could be. When I bought the boiler it had a thermostat fitted so to achieve a boil it had to be turned to MAX. Having got it boiling just a small adjustment stopped the boil and not even a simmer so I removed the thermostat and replaced it with a "power regulator" which it wasn't. Turned out to just switch the power ON or OFF for differing amounts of time, so when the heater was ON it was on full. As I said above looked into a proper power regulator and an off the shelf box was around £60. While I do like a challenge and often spend a lot of time and money making silk purses out of sows ears after much thought I decided a "proper" wort boiler was required.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Are you still going to treat your water?

Yes. I have to do something as the amount of "chalk" that comes out of it when we (used to) boil a kettle is incredible. The element on our kettle used to look like a coral reef after a week! I have considered using either filtered or bottled water but haven't got around to it....yet.

 

[MashBag]

As for water treatment, numbers from my water company report (Portsmouth water co.)….
Ca 123
Mg 2
Na 12.5
SO4 15.9
Cl 28.4
Alkalinity as CaCO3 311

For a pale ale the water calculator I use says 56 mls CRS for 36 litres of water.

For pale ale (target 60) AMS by my reckoning is 41.15 ml.

And with Ca @ 123 I would use a teaspoon of DWB too.

That's it. Nothing more. That will make big difference to your brews..

 

[MashBag]

Yes. I have to do something as the amount of "chalk" that comes out of it when we (used to) boil a kettle is incredible. The element on our kettle used to look like a coral reef after a week! I have considered using either filtered or bottled water but haven't got around to it....yet.

Me too. Anglian water? Seems a very familiar report!

 

[Buffers brewery]

For pale ale (target 60) AMS Bby my reckoning is 41.15 ml.

And with Ca @ 123 I would use a teaspoon of DWB too.

That's it. Nothing more. That will make big difference to your brews..

How much water is that for? I have a habit of treating 8 gallons of water prior to a brew day, you never know when you might need a drop more

 

[Buffers brewery]

Me too. Anglian water? Seems a very familiar report!

Portsmouth