Yeast starter boil over

ihideinyoursocks

New Member
Trial Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2020
Messages
11
Reaction score
15
Points
3
Hey folks,

Does anyone have any tips on preventing boil overs when making a yeast starter? I'm using a 2000mL erlenmeyer flask to boil and ferment the starter. The flask came with a receipe for a starter that calls for:

1.75 cups DME
1 pinch Fermaid K
1800mL of water

But when I follow the receipe it seems like nothing I do stops the boil over except taking the flask off the burner. I've tried stirring, reducing the heat, and water spray bottle, all with no effect. Has anyone else had similar issues, and been able to fix them?
 
Ask Google it's the same product as boil over on a kettle, i think I got mine from morebeer
 
Why do you have to boil it in the flask? Just make the starter wort in a pot, cool it and pour into a sanitized flask.
 
Why do you have to boil it in the flask? Just make the starter wort in a pot, cool it and pour into a sanitized flask.
I got the flask with the understanding that it would be able to boil, cool, and ferment the starter all in one vessel. That seemed very convenient due to both the smaller clean up, and reduced risk of contamination. Plus, aside from my brew kettle, I don't have great pots. What I have all came as a set of cheap nonstick cook wear, that is now very old and worn. Don't really want to brew anything in a pot with scratched nonstick coating. Once I finish replacing the pots, that would be a viable option though.
 
You can try a heat diffuser. They are cheap. I have one for my camp stove due to its limited ability to simmer.
2C70A2EF-CC66-4972-927B-6E63D6CF2E87.jpeg
 
To do a 2 liter starter you really should use a 5 liter flask.
The hot break will be there no matter what you boil in.
Maybe do a 1 liter starter, and as it approaches boil turn the heat down until you get past the hot break.
A very low boil for 5 minutes should really be sufficient to kill any bad guys.
 
I got the flask with the understanding that it would be able to boil, cool, and ferment the starter all in one vessel. That seemed very convenient due to both the smaller clean up, and reduced risk of contamination. Plus, aside from my brew kettle, I don't have great pots. What I have all came as a set of cheap nonstick cook wear, that is now very old and worn. Don't really want to brew anything in a pot with scratched nonstick coating. Once I finish replacing the pots, that would be a viable option though.
I found for me it was faster to deal with the cleaning of a pot than to deal with cleaning up a boil over. Another plus was that if I was not boiling in my flask I didn't need to buy the more expensive borosilicate glass flasks. My last 2l glass erlenmeyer cost less than $10.
 
https://www.morebeer.com/products/foam-control-fermcap.html

I think @BOB357 uses this stuff frequently. He may be able to offer more assistance.

Ideally, you need a container that's at least 1.5 times the volume of your starter. If you don't want to spring for that, Fermcap-S works great The same applies to kettles and fermenters. 1 drop in a 2 liter starters all but eliminates foaming in starters. For fermenters and boil kettles, 2 drops/gallon. Fermcap-S is cheap. Be sure to refrigerate it.

You have 2 choices. Get a bigger flask or use Fermcap-S.
 
I boil in the flask one thing you can try is add your 200 ish gram DME to 1lt of water heat this untill you hit the break boil this for a minute or two until it's dissipated. boil the jug kettle whatever you call it then add 1lt boiling water to bring up to the 2lt volume maybe a tad over to allow for shrinkage.
 
Yes, that....I didn't even notice your numbers. Trying to boil in any vessel that's too full will result in a boil-over.
Stainless pots are pretty cheap, @ihideinyoursocks .
Here ya go: https://www.northernbrewer.com/prod...MI1OXK7O_H6gIVj4bACh1r2wvBEAQYASABEgIXHPD_BwE
Dang! That's cheaper than a flask!
I get it though wanting to do everything in the same container. Might just need to change your strategy up some. I purchased a 1l flask to do 1l starters. It's basically worthless to me for that. Live and learn I guess!
 
Looks just like one of the smaller ones that I got in a set of 4 from Cabelas for about $35 when I started brewing. Think the sizes were 1, 2,3 and 5 gallons. I really need to repurpose them since they're just collecting dust.
 
  • Like
Reactions: J A
Looks just like one of the smaller ones that I got in a set of 4 from Cabelas for about $35 when I started brewing. Think the sizes were 1, 2,3 and 5 gallons. I really need to repurpose them since they're just collecting dust.
I got a set that's a little smaller from Harbor Freight for $20. I think the biggest is 3.5 gallons. I made a lot of beer in those pots including my first all-grain/biab batches. They find a use every now and then but mine get a little dusty, too. ;)
 
I got a set that's a little smaller from Harbor Freight for $20. I think the biggest is 3.5 gallons. I made a lot of beer in those pots including my first all-grain/biab batches. They find a use every now and then but mine get a little dusty, too. ;)

I used the biggest one for extract brewing for a couple of years and then a couple of them for heating sparge water. Since moving to the Digiboil they've all just been sitting around. Should probably be using one for sparge water instead of the wife's Tfal tamale pot. Sparge water now is 2 to 2 1/2 gallons. Maybe use the biggest one for bringing in veggies from the garden.
 
I used the biggest one for extract brewing for a couple of years and then a couple of them for heating sparge water.
Yeah, I did the same. All the while that I had my 5-gallon recirc system set up, I'd use the biggest one to heat sparge water and then just set it on my brew cart to pump out. I use one now to cook rice for my adjunct brews.
 

Back
Top