Boiling with the lid on?

[iamthefly]

Hi,

Boiling wort - I hear it is too remove off-flavours, particularly a cooked veg flavour, but it's it necessary to do it with the lid off?

I am doing BIAB with an ACE tun/boiler so I can control the vigour of the boil very precisely as lid on could = boil over. Doing very small experimental batches means I boil away half my brew. It also strikes me as a waste of electricity. I am Scottish.

Would boiling with the lid on our half on do the job right?

Cheers

 

[Robin54]

Hi,

Boiling wort - I hear it is too remove off-flavours, particularly a cooked veg flavour, but it's it necessary to do it with the lid off?

I am doing BIAB with an ACE tun/boiler so I can control the vigour of the boil very precisely as lid on could = boil over. Doing very small experimental batches means I boil away half my brew. It also strikes me as a waste of electricity. I am Scottish.

Would boiling with the lid on our half on do the job right?

Cheers

I boil with the lid on a slight tilt so some steam escapes and then I take it off completely for the last 10 minutes. Is it right? who knows but it works for me.
Incidentally, when doing small batches you really will notice the lost volume. So for instance when I want 10 litres I start off with about 14 litres - hope that helps

 

[chub1]

i have left lid on by mistake before and not had any problem. i now put lid half on(the tilt) to try and preserve the liquid amount.

 

[chewie]

Make your own mind up https://beerandbrewing.com/off-flavor-of-the-week-dms/

 

[Pheqit]

This may interest you, some surprising results:
http://brulosophy.com/2016/10/31/the-boil-lid-on-vs-lid-off-exbeeriment-results/

 

[Robin54]

This may interest you, some surprising results:
http://brulosophy.com/2016/10/31/the-boil-lid-on-vs-lid-off-exbeeriment-results/

Sort of surprised me a little. Having worked in medicine for years it just shows that Horlicks is spoken in all works of life...Im used to people spouting all sorts of **** and then showing 'a paper' to justify' their statement. But these guys love it....it makes them feel important

 

[chthon]

When using pale malt and more processed malts this should be no problem, but with pilsner and lager malts you better boil without the lid.

 

[Robin54]

When using pale malt and more processed malts this should be no problem, but with pilsner and lager malts you better boil without the lid.

What would you class as pale malt, Im interested

 

[Robin54]

Oh yeah...the moon is made of cheese

 

[dps51]

I always leave the lid on that way I get a rolling boil at 1700w power in a ace system

 

[Robin54]

..and the Earth is flat...Theres a Society to prove it...all the scientific evidence you need

 

[Robin54]

Kale is a super food...have you seen the size of cows

 

[strange-steve]

Sort of surprised me a little. Having worked in medicine for years it just shows that Horlicks is spoken in all works of life...Im used to people spouting all sorts of **** and then showing 'a paper' to justify' their statement. But these guys love it....it makes them feel important

Some baffling comments here. Are you saying that because of your past experience of people using bogus sources to back up their arguments, in your view the Brulosophy experiments are worthless?

Or maybe you're simply saying that we shouldn't simply believe everything we read. In which case I hope you see the irony, because that's the exact purpose of the Brulosophy site, they empirically test all those things we're told you should or shouldn't do.

For example in your response to the op you say that you allow the steam to escape during the boil. Presumably you do that for the same reason as the rest of us, you were told or read that that's what you should do to avoid DMS. But did you question the source of that information the way you're​ doing now?

While being an empiricist is great in theory, we don't all have the time, ability or desire to test everything for ourselves and so we listen to others who do.

 

[Robin54]

There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.”

 

[strange-steve]

There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.”

As insightful a comment as ever, and another demonstration to me that you have nothing worthwhile to add to this discussion.

 

[chthon]

What would you class as pale malt, Im interested

Anything that classifies as English pale malt? Color around 6-7 EBC.

 

[Robin54]

As insightful a comment as ever, and another demonstration to me that you have nothing worthwhile to add to this discussion.

Empirically correct
don't use words you don't know the meaning of....please

 

[strange-steve]

Empirically correct
don't use words you don't know the meaning of....please

So which word did I use incorrectly, enlighten me please?

 

[Slid]

It is an interesting question as to why the boiling process is often so hard as to drive off a good 2-3L.

I did stove top boils with a simmer and a lid on and off as I felt the necessity to meddle - never had any problems.

I suspect that the hard boil would have historically upped the strength of the beer by reducing volume and this would have been useful in reducing the chance of later bacterial infection. Maybe this just carried on as a "learned tradition" over and above what may now be really necessary.

I really like the Brulosophy experiments. There is actually a lot of insubstantial superstition still lingering around the brewing process and these guys call it out. Simple, repeatable, witnessed outcomes.

 

[Gunge]

I've got a 50ltr boiler fitted with 2 X 2200watt elements. The lid has a hole of about 10" cut out of it. Over that I place a food plate to accelerate bringing up to the boil. Once reached the plate comes off so my boiler is partially covered to prevent excess evaporation; lots condense on the lid and falls back in. What's DMS taste like, cos I'm certain I've never encountered it in my ales.