5 gal. boils

Tophe · 03-07-2007, 08:11 PM

I currently use a 4 gal pot for my boils, and Im thinking about upgrading. (Boilovers suck!). I know lots of kits and other recipes don't call for 5 gal. boils. I was thinking about buying a 7.5 gal kettle.

Anyways, my main question, is this....Will the recipes need to be adjusted when boiling a full boil for extact brews, compared to a partial boil. Mostly thinking of the hops and such.

Jim Karr · 03-07-2007, 10:52 PM

The answer is "YES", but you'll need to get more accurate feedback from the experts.

If you need a deal on a bigger kettle, check out http://pivo.northernbrewer.com/nbstore/action/search-do?searchTerm=40080

These look like a great deal!

freyguy · 03-08-2007, 03:48 PM

Yes, you will just use less hops. Thats the only difference. You can get a program like BeerSmith to adjust the levels. Just change the boil volume, then adjust the hop quanity to get the same IBU's.

And for pots, bigger is always better. I'm doing full boils in a 9gal pot. A 10gal wouldn't be overkill either. I end up going with about 6.25gallons to start, and after steeping grains and the boil, I'm pretty much ending up with 5gal in the carboy.

Tophe · 03-08-2007, 04:03 PM

Do you use the beersmith program....and if you do how do you like it. I was just looking at their website and it looks like it could be pretty handy.

tdavisii · 03-08-2007, 04:32 PM

Wally world has stainless steel 30qt pots for 37$. I just bought one last week. That is by far the best price i have seen and its a great quality also. Just go back to where they keep all the grills and turkey fryers. Its actually a turkey fryer accesories kit. Comes with a basket pot and i think a thermometer.

**Brewing Clamper** · 03-08-2007, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tophe96

Do you use the beersmith program....and if you do how do you like it. I was just looking at their website and it looks like it could be pretty handy.

Yeap, Promash adjusts for different size boils too. It's pretty easy. I do 3gl boils for 5gl batches.

freyguy · 03-08-2007, 05:33 PM

Easily one of my favorite tools. I did the free trial, then had to buy it. Now I always have all my old recipes, and I can make notes on them.

Plus, making recipes from scratch is super easy with it.

Ol' Grog · 03-09-2007, 03:09 PM

I need help on the full extract boils....when you do this, how much start off volume do you need to account for evaporation. I just read that freyguy starts off with 6.25 gallons and ends up with 5 for the primary. Is that about a good rule of thumb? Or just start off with 5 gallons and make up the rest when racking into the primary????

Ol' Grog · 03-09-2007, 09:13 PM

anyone????

Georgian Novice · 03-10-2007, 12:43 PM

Grog, I think your question got lost in this thread. You have probably done some Google searching on this topic already. I didn't know the answer but was curious myself so I did.

It depends on your equipment, what you are boiling, your environment, etc. to really answer that question. You have to do the math yourself the next time you brew. The general rule is around 9-10% evaporation rate per hour it appears.

How you determine your own is the next time you brew is to take the Starting volume measurement and divide it by the ending volume measurement and that is your evaporation rate.

So, if you are doing a full 5 gallon boil (which I don't do, just do the whole 2-3 gallon and top off method) boil that 6.3 or whatever and see what you have at the end. Your volume will be affected by what you add to the recipe etc.