I am about to brew a full boil extract. This is my first time brewing an extract and would like to make sure I get the steps correct. Here are the steps I'm doing to approach this (simplified). I have a 9 gal pot and using a 41,000 BTU turkey fryer to heat contents. I would like to end up with a 4.75 - 5 gal batch.
1. Heat 1.3 gal of water and steep 1.25 lb speciality grains (brewing a dry stout) - or do I add the full 6 gal here?
2. Add 1 lb of liquid LME and top off the pot to 6 gal of water (or do I all the full LME?).
3. Bring the wort to a boil, add hops (total hops approx. 2.25lb)
4. At the end of the boil, turn off heat, add other 1b of liquid LME (?), let it sit for 10 min
5. Cool the wort with wort chiller, add yeast
6. Transfer to fermenter (should this end up being approximately 4.75-5 gal with boil off?)
OR should I stick to a partial boil (3 gal)? Would I need to add less hops? I apologize in advance in the amount of questions above (I'm thinking in terms of full and partial boil).
And some additional questions
a. In BeerSmith, what does estimated pre-boil volume refer to? There is no option for a 9 gal extract pot, so I am using a 5 gal pot and using 5 gal for my batch size but the estimated pre-boil volume is 4 gal. Does this mean I still have to add water to my fermenter.
b. When do I take my original gravity reading - just before the boil?
I appreciate the help - any additional information is welcome. If I forgot something, please let me know.
Thanks for all the help!
1. Heat 1.3 gal of water and steep 1.25 lb speciality grains (brewing a dry stout) - or do I add the full 6 gal here?
2. Add 1 lb of liquid LME and top off the pot to 6 gal of water (or do I all the full LME?).
3. Bring the wort to a boil, add hops (total hops approx. 2.25lb)
4. At the end of the boil, turn off heat, add other 1b of liquid LME (?), let it sit for 10 min
5. Cool the wort with wort chiller, add yeast
6. Transfer to fermenter (should this end up being approximately 4.75-5 gal with boil off?)
OR should I stick to a partial boil (3 gal)? Would I need to add less hops? I apologize in advance in the amount of questions above (I'm thinking in terms of full and partial boil).
And some additional questions
a. In BeerSmith, what does estimated pre-boil volume refer to? There is no option for a 9 gal extract pot, so I am using a 5 gal pot and using 5 gal for my batch size but the estimated pre-boil volume is 4 gal. Does this mean I still have to add water to my fermenter.
b. When do I take my original gravity reading - just before the boil?
I appreciate the help - any additional information is welcome. If I forgot something, please let me know.
Thanks for all the help!