Starter flask

[Goodbeer]

Hi guys

Up until now I have boiled my starter wort in a pot, and transferred to whichever vessel I am using for starter.

Got a Borosilicate Erlenmeyer flask today...guy at the LHBS said he was quite sure I could use it to boil on the gas cooktop, then go straight to ice water to cool, without cracking the flask.

Didn't seem too confident though, and they've proved to be a bit useful thus far.

Am I right to do this?

Thanks

 

[Goodbeer]

Hang on, they've proved to be useless...not useful...certainly not useful

 

[mofox1]

Seems to be a theme with some lhbs at the moment.

I find them very handy. Yes, provided it is a borosilicate flask with no air bubble flaws in the glass (at least on and near the heat source), then it will happily go from gas top to ice bath.

It makes it easy to cool, they have volume measurements on the side, they have a flat bottom so you can use a stir plate, and you are effectively sanitising (mostly) the vessel you are fermenting the starter in at the same time you are boiling it... win, win, er and more wins.

Also brew porn.

Edit - assuming the usefulness statement was regarding the lhbs...?

 

[Vini2ton]

What happened?

 

[JDW81]

Hi guys

Up until now I have boiled my starter wort in a pot, and transferred to whichever vessel I am using for starter.

Got a Borosilicate Erlenmeyer flask today...guy at the LHBS said he was quite sure I could use it to boil on the gas cooktop, then go straight to ice water to cool, without cracking the flask.

Didn't seem too confident though, and they've proved to be a bit useful thus far.

Am I right to do this?

Thanks

Yes you are OK if it is a decent quality one, however they are a bugger to boil a starter in as you get massive boil-overs really easy.

I boil a small amount of H2O in my flask, with a foil cap on to sterilise it and make my starter in a saucepan, chill in the sink and then transfer to my flask. I tried once to make a stater in my flask, and spent about an hour trying to scrub the burnt malt extract from my stove.

JD

 

[Fraser's BRB]

I was hesitant on this but did it last night, straight from hot plate to ice bath without incident.

This is not to say I wasn't nervous, even had the safety glasses on.

I use a 3L flask and did a 2L starter, no issues with boil over as heaps of headspace.

 

[blotto]

I do it all the time, straight from flame into an ice bath. As long as your not getting those ones from kmart you should be fine.

 

[nosco]

I did it once and scored some nasty burns from it. They can boil over very quickly even after you take them off the heat. Your taking a risk every time you do it. I now use a small stainless funnel I got from the cheap shop to transfer from a saucepan to the sanitised flask.

 

[Kingy]

I get massive boilovers that boil over and over again if I use muntons DME. All other brands are ok. Had a few close calls,but like boiling up a batch of beer , After the first near miss it's usually pretty good. Dunno why muntons likes to boil over continuously for.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

I love them. Excellent piece of brew equipment. Unfortunately dropped a 3lt flask when it was slippery. It hit mid section on a sink tap and broke. I eagerly replaced it.
Boil starter wort heat sanitizing, foil cap, straight into ice water then ferment all in one.

 

[nosco]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/11-13-15cm-Stainless-Steel-Pouring-Decanting-Funnel-Filter-Jam-Oil-Strainer-Tool-/121854659541?var=&hash=item1c5f1a8bd5:m:mQro-E_kE1cYftSBAJs9wUQ

 

[nosco]

Just bought another 3lt flask today. I can do 2 starters in my old ferm fridge

 

[SBOB]

I get massive boilovers that boil over and over again if I use muntons DME. All other brands are ok. Had a few close calls,but like boiling up a batch of beer , After the first near miss it's usually pretty good. Dunno why muntons likes to boil over continuously for.

not sure on the brand, but i see similar results with DME from country brewer v brewman..
Country brewer is a massive pain in the butt, and i have to continually monitor it and on/off the heat
Brewman's on the other hand doesnt produce the same foam up issue (e.g last night doing a 1.5L starter i missed the start of the boiling point and it didnt boil over)

 

[Black n Tan]

With the cheaper flasks I give them 10 minute rest after flameout before plunging into water. A couple of drops of 'no foam' will give you enough response time to stop a boil over.

 

[Goodbeer]

Thanks a lot guys.

Just boiled it up, straight in the ice water, no probs...except not enough ice on hand!

Could be worse

 

[Goodbeer]

 

[megabyte]

I transfer directly from heat to water all the time. Never had a flask crack.
I also drop my stir bar into the wort. Again, never damaged my flask.
I also boil my stir bar with the wort. Never had it melt or demagnetise.
I do use Schott Duran glassware though.

Regarding boil overs, I try to use a flask that's 50% larger than my starter so there's a decent amount of head space, but sometimes you just gotta build the biggest starter you can.

 

[Alex.Tas]

my last 3 starters have boiled over, making a nice mess on my gas cooktop.
Look away for 5 seconds, boom.
It literally goes from

1. close to boil
2. close to boil
3. close to boil
4. close to boil
5. close to boil
6. close to boil
7. sticky mess on stove
8. bad language.

 

[husky]

Never had an issue boiling then straight in a sink of cold water until last night. All my glassware I picked up from a science supply store however my 5L flask is a KK. Third time using it last night and I put together the final step, a 4.5L lager starter. I boiled it on the stove and then left it to cool at ambient as I had to go out. Come home put it on the stirplate and notice its damp around the base. Shine a light in to see what's going on and two dirty great big cracks in the base! Could have only happened on the stove. Likely a floor in the glass or just poor quality as I have no issues with any of the others. Lost about 200ml overnight so off to buy another 5L and transfer hopefully with no infection!

 

[GalBrew]

Hi guys

Up until now I have boiled my starter wort in a pot, and transferred to whichever vessel I am using for starter.

Got a Borosilicate Erlenmeyer flask today...guy at the LHBS said he was quite sure I could use it to boil on the gas cooktop, then go straight to ice water to cool, without cracking the flask.

Didn't seem too confident though, and they've proved to be a bit useful thus far.

Am I right to do this?

Thanks

Yes, if it is good quality borosilicate then no worries. I have been doing exactly that with my Keg King flasks for 5 years now, no problems.