Do you need a big 5 gallon pot when using extract?

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CanadaBrews

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I just called my local brew shop and i asked him if he has a kit with al the equipment for brewing, and i also asked him i it came wiht a big pot. He said no and i was querious because in the book i bought i see you need it. Do you have to boil extract wort. Iv just started this hobby and i want to use the easiest method for my first batch.
any tips greatly appreciated
thanks
 
yes you will need a big pot yes you have to boil for 1 hour and no a five gallon pot is not big enough unless your doing a partial boil. for a full boul a 8.5 gal pot would be somewhat ok but IMHO still not big enough.
JJ
 
Welcome from a relative new comer.

Yes you must boil the extract, for one thing to kill stray bacteria, among other reasons...

for this you will need a BIG pot, however you don;t need to boil the entire 5 gallon batch as a newcomer, in fact the size of the pot (for me) was more about preventing boil over than accomodating a 5 gallon wort boil.

when the wort first begins to boil a layer of fom will appear (it happens FAST), this seems to insulate the Wort like a lid and cuse a HUGE foam boil up, a small pot will not hold this foam.

SOOOO here's what you do, think in terms of Boiling 3 gallons and adding 2 gallons of water AFTER the Boil is finished, although this is not the best way to Boil, it does have advantatges,
First, the 3 gallons will boil faster, and is easier to control.
Second, adding Cold water to the boiled wort will help drop the Wort temperature rapidly (this is called a cold break, which heps seperate the unneeded proteins out of the wort, which then sink to the ottom as trub, reluting in a clearer beer.

SOOO, look for a pot that holds 3 gallons PLUS enough room to accomodate a LARGE foam head
 
You do not need a huge pot for extract kits/recipes.
You can get away with a 3-4 gallon standard "pickling" ceramic pot, or something a bit smaller.
You will be adding about 2 gallons of water and malt combnined, and the extra space is to prevent boilovers.

Check out this site as well: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/index.html

Cheers, good luck, and welcome aboard !
 
What these guys said...you only need to boil your extract and additions in about two gallons...top off with cold water in the primary.

I did it this way for years without any issues before I got a real SS 40.5qt pot...even with this pot, I hardly ever boil up the full 5 gallons...too much time to get to boiling...too much time to cool, even with a chiller, etc.

Nothing wrong with keeping it simple. Good luck.

Cheers.
 
Can you get a kit that says you doint have to boil it... yes. Do you want it... no. As a matter of fact.... whatever you get, ignore the directions on the can. They never amount to much of anything. Are you reading a book. Borders in your area would have several good ones.

You dont need a huge pot. 3.5 gal might be considered a bit on the small side. You can get a 5 gal stock pot at like Walmart or the like for about 20 or so bucks. Since your just starting out I'm not sure if you want to do full boils. Some people never do full boils. Reason I say 3.5 could be on the small side is that with a 5 gal pot you can easily get a boil over. 3.5 just might be asking for a sticky mess.
 
I do 2.5 to 3 gallon boils, and I use my canning pot. It holds quite a bit more than I've ever boiled, but I've never had a boil over. I'm guessing it's a 16 or 20 qt pot, used for doing boiling water baths when canning. You might have one laying around somewhere, or know an aunt or grandma who does.

Lorena
 
This is probably bad advice, but I have a wussy electric stove that can't handle full boils, and can't have a burner on my balcony at my apartment, but I wanted to do a full boil. So I just brewed a Belgian Blonde using this "two-step" method I saw in BYO. Basically, do two 3 gallon boils (give or take...you wind up with around 2.5 gallons). I did one on Sat evening and the second on Sunday morning.

It worked well, and was basically 2.5 hours of extra work (this stove is SLOW!). But I haven't tasted the beer yet, so I can't really attest to the method.
 
Beer Snob...dude, I can't believe I've been struggling with this for 10 years...a garden quick connect on the bottle washer, wort chiller, and faucet...f%$%# genius! I have every gadget under the sun and I've been using a splitter on my faucet...what the f#$@ have I been thinking all this time!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

To you... :mug: !!!
 
Thanks. But want to make sure you know this is not my site:) He is real cool to talk to if you have problems. I have been doing AG this way since walking up two flights of steps with 5 gallons sounds like it would suck.
 
Most kit recipes call for a partial boil with 2-1/2 +/- gallons (you will loose some to evaporation). Electric stove tops have a real hard time with a full 5 gallons (mine does!), you may have to wait a long time for a 2-1/2 gallon wort to boil. All in all, the process is very forgiving, just keep everything sanitized and do not worry too much.
 
When intoducing the 2 or 3 gallons of cold water to the diluted extract can i use just regular cold tap water?
 
Consensus says yes.

I went throught the trouble of Boiling then cooling the water in order to make sure it was clean, however city water seems to contain enough Chlorine to come out of the tap with NO bacteria.


and you can call it Wort at that point.
 
pbowler said:
I went throught the trouble of Boiling then cooling the water in order to make sure it was clean, however city water seems to contain enough Chlorine to come out of the tap with NO bacteria.

You are probably ok to use tap water, but I would at least filter it (Britta or Pur or something) if not boil it. You really don't want chlorine in your brew because it can combine with phenols that the yeast produce and leave you with a beer that tastes like bandaids or medicine.

However, when I started brewing, I used straight Cincinnati tap water and didn't have any issues. I use bottled water now, but that's probably not necessary. I think I'll switch back to boiled tap water and save the couple of dollars.


-walker
 
ok good.

That's the first reinforcement that boiling tap water wasn't a waste of time.

but again, tons of people use straight tap water
 
pbowler said:
Consensus says yes.

I went throught the trouble of Boiling then cooling the water in order to make sure it was clean, however city water seems to contain enough Chlorine to come out of the tap with NO bacteria.


and you can call it Wort at that point.

Consensus does say it's ok... well... if it taste good then go ahead and use it. Some use bottled water. Though not for the reasons you think. Bacteria is generally what is not worried about..... it's actually the Chlorine people are worried about. For similar reasons why people dont like to use bleach.
 
Beer Snob said:
I do full boils on my apartment stove. Kinda similar to what you are doing. Check this link out.

http://www3.telus.net/sockmonkeysandbeer/beer/HowIBrew/howIbrew.html

Soo....wait a second...

I only need one cooler to do an all-grain? And I already have a cooler just about that size (mine is 34 qts) sitting in my garage? Dang...I'm going All-Grain this weekend!


Huzzah for posting this link. Huzzah.
 
Cheesefood said:
Soo....wait a second...

I only need one cooler to do an all-grain? And I already have a cooler just about that size (mine is 34 qts) sitting in my garage? Dang...I'm going All-Grain this weekend!


Huzzah for posting this link. Huzzah.

The second cooler people use is for hot water. You can use pots to heat the water. When I had a second cooler it seemed to go a bit more smootly. Just bought a cube today so now I have the 5 gal water cooler to use as a hot water tank. The last AG I did was a pretty close picture to Palmers setup in his new edition (which he does not use a second cooler).
 
Cheesefood said:
Soo....wait a second...

I only need one cooler to do an all-grain? And I already have a cooler just about that size (mine is 34 qts) sitting in my garage? Dang...I'm going All-Grain this weekend!


Huzzah for posting this link. Huzzah.

Yup... one cooler, but two pots.

-walker
 
Beer Snob said:
The second cooler people use is for hot water. You can use pots to heat the water. When I had a second cooler it seemed to go a bit more smootly. Just bought a cube today so now I have the 5 gal water cooler to use as a hot water tank. The last AG I did was a pretty close picture to Palmers setup in his new edition (which he does not use a second cooler).

I bought six of those Ice Cube coolers since they were only $11 each on clearance at Wal-Mart. One is now converted to a mash tun.
 
In response to the original line of this thread. Wal-Mart sells a reasonably cheap 22 qt stainless steel pot with the fancy sandwiched metals bottom for around $45-50. That is what I have, and it should last me for a long time. It is enough to do a 3.5-4 gallon boil in my experience if you watch it well. I personally think this is just fine, as any more and you're really just moving to trying to get a lighter finished product and maybe avoid some carmelization. But I don't suppose that there is a huge difference in the amount of carmelization in a 4 gallon boil vs a full 5 gallon boil.
 
Howdy Canadabrew,
Now this is for boiling water.
Just fill your stove top with whatever.
You will realize the bigger ones get to boiling slower and cool slower as well.
But they boil more water.
Hmmmm...
I been brewing 15 years and I still can't figure it out.
Depends on how many burners you have, just fill em.

Now for your wort,
my old canning pot is about 2.5 gallons too.
I bought my old girlfriend a canner for her birthday 30 years ago,
and she laughed her ass off, a canner! a canner! and left it with me when she moved, so now its my brewing pot.

Now, for the wort, yes, you need a big pot.
2.5-3 gallons is good.
Imagine, some folks like a full boil.
Boiling the entire 5 gallons of wort at once,
+ rinse water in different pot.
=6.5 {minimum} gallons of water.
Or more.
But I ain't never done it that way.
On the other hand,
Boiling your wort in one gallon of water is too concentrated of a wort.
Ain't no way.
Bigger the better, but...
I am limited by a plain ole stove top...
just match your pots to whatever your heat source.
After brewing for a long time I know which '5-6' pots to use for brewing,
bottling, reracking. In fact I have back in my brewery,
{which used to be a pantry}
a equipment list nailed to the wall which specifies which equipment I need to Idophor for, 1. brewing, 2. reracking, 3. botting.
So I don't forget.

Clorine kills microbes in water, well,
think about being yeast trying to live in water with a bunch of clorine in it !
Trying to make good ale in clorinated water, no way!
I have boiled my tap water for years and just last spring,
the owner of Homebrew headquarters up in N. Dallas, old Kelly,
found out it was taking me 8 hours to brew a batch.
"8 hours and you have been doing this for 15 years!"
"Yeah well I live out in the woods but for my hounds alone,
and I have always boiled my water, the clorine you know."
Kelly says buy cheap 1 gallon, bottled water to use for your brew and rinse water too.
Use cheap bottled water.
No clorine and it costs fifty cents, a gallon.
And you'll save propane too,
living way out in the sticks as you do.
\Some folks use tap water!
And it was so, now its late and I must adjurne ya'll,
"time for a homebrew."



J. Winters Knife
 
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