Full Boils

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awiens

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I've gotten a 9 gallon brew kettle, so now I can do full boils instead of partial boils. I'm looking for any tips or suggestions you might have. Thanks!
 
+1 one on the wort cooling. I'm really new to home brewing, but a wort chiller was one of my first purchases, after a full boil-sized kettle (worried about my success with DIY so I bought one). I can't imagine waiting around the garage for my kettle to cool after the boil, even with the winter cold to assist.
 
From my reading full boils will have better hop utilization, so you may want to adjust your recipes accordingly if they are formulated for partial boil. A 10 gal kettle is my next equipment purchase, looking forward to making better, more IBU heavy IPAs.

Stevo
 
Thanks! Fortunately, I have a wort chiller. Did any of you make significant changes to partial boil recipes?
 
Afaik, if you're doing 5 gal extract kits the instructions are intended for full boil unless they say otherwise.
 
whoaru99 said:
Afaik, if you're doing 5 gal extract kits the instructions are intended for full boil unless they say otherwise.

What's the difference between a full and partial boil? I'm new to home brew, got one batch under my belt and my second is in the bottle.

Brent
 
What's the difference between a full and partial boil? I'm new to home brew, got one batch under my belt and my second is in the bottle.

Brent

I believe (unless I'm mistaken) they're talking about starting with 6 gallons or so of water to boil and not diluting it (unless you over boil) vs starting with 3 or 2.

I brew in my apartment so I have one option, and it isn't 5 gallons. I've never had any issues with how I've brewed and if you're going 5 gallon non-diluted, you better have a kickass propane burner because otherwise you're gonna spend a long time waiting.
 
In a partial boil you boil a concentrated 2 to 3 gallon wort and make up the difference with cold water to get to 5 gallons before adding yeast (pitching). This works well for kitchen brewers with limited equipment and smaller kettles. In a full boil you boil the entire batch volume plus extra water for loss to steam. You need bigger kettles (8 gallon minimum) that don't really work on the stove top. Cooling all that hot wort generally requires a chiller since it's impractical to move and takes too long using an ice water bath. The advantage is better combination of flavors, better hop utilization, and practice for all-grain brewing which requires a full boil. If you plan on remaining an extract brewer the advantage isn't really worth it as there are simple ways to counter the disadvantages....
 
Also looking to jump into full boils and I don't have a chiller.

Would a 25' immersion be sufficient, or do you really need a 50' immersion wort cooler to get the results.
 
Also looking to jump into full boils and I don't have a chiller.

Would a 25' immersion be sufficient, or do you really need a 50' immersion wort cooler to get the results.

The longer the better (easy there guys!) for the fastest chilling possible. The other key factor is water temperature. 100' won't chill very fast if your water is 75 degrees! The woe's of Florida brewing have lead me to a plate chiller/march pump combination...
 
Immersion is usually not fast enough. Invest in a counter flow, it's a next level brewing maneuver. I made my own. The faster the better for the cold break. Your beer and your friends will thank you.
 
From my reading full boils will have better hop utilization, so you may want to adjust your recipes accordingly if they are formulated for partial boil. A 10 gal kettle is my next equipment purchase, looking forward to making better, more IBU heavy IPAs.

Stevo

I would only worry about adjusting the 60m additions. The 20m and later additions will not impact the IBU's enough to be noticeable unless you really go crazy with the hop additions.

An immersion chiller is plenty fast as long as the water running through it is cool enough.
 
I would only worry about adjusting the 60m additions. The 20m and later additions will not impact the IBU's enough to be noticeable unless you really go crazy with the hop additions.

An immersion chiller is plenty fast as long as the water running through it is cool enough.

I am starting to do full boils on my next batch. since i get my extract kits right now from NB the instructions say to use 3.5 gallons or something like that to start. What would i do with the 60m hop addition? I am assuming lower it, but then add it in later on? also how big of a difference will it make in the IBUs? i always thought that the hops would give off the same IBUs if they were boiled the same amount of time. but it would be concentrated since it was in less volume. when topped off it would even out. I guess i am not seeing how it would raise the IBUs if there was more volume water to spread them in and they are being in the wort for the same amount of time. Can anyone explain why it does this?
 
I am starting to do full boils on my next batch. since i get my extract kits right now from NB the instructions say to use 3.5 gallons or something like that to start. What would i do with the 60m hop addition? I am assuming lower it, but then add it in later on? also how big of a difference will it make in the IBUs? i always thought that the hops would give off the same IBUs if they were boiled the same amount of time. but it would be concentrated since it was in less volume. when topped off it would even out. I guess i am not seeing how it would raise the IBUs if there was more volume water to spread them in and they are being in the wort for the same amount of time. Can anyone explain why it does this?

It changes because the thicker the wort, the lower the hop utilization. In other words, the bittering oils get into solution (isomerize) easier in thinner wort. There so many variables in an IBU calculation it's almost rediculous. Even if you send it off to a lab for exact testing the perception of bitterness varies widely person to person, beer style, water profile, yeast strain, on and on. My point? Don't put too much faith in IBU calculations. Use them to get you in the ballpark, only experience and personal taste will get you more specific. Switching to full boils will increase your hop utilization some because of the thinnner wort, but I personally wouldn't adjust more than 5 or 10% if at all...
 
Use some brewing software to make adjustments. You can use Beer Calculus. It's online and free. I use Beer Smith most of the time but since it isn't' portable and I don't want to install a copy at work I use Beer Calculus at work.

A bigger boil will result in better hop utilization. For instance if you use this recipe it is 34 IBU with a 3.5g boil and 42 IBU in a full boil.

6lb Amber LME
1oz Northern Brewer 10%AA 60m

Not a huge difference but the more hops you add the more it will make a difference. If you go to something like this

6lb wheat DME
1oz Magnum 14%AA 60m
1oz Amarillo 7%AA 15m
1oz Amarillo 7%AA 10m
1oz Amarillo 7%AA 5m
1oz Amarillo 7%AA 1m

you are looking at 72.9 IBU vs 91.7 IBU. Switch the Magnum to 0.75oz and your IBU goes to 76.9. Pretty close to your original IBU you get with a partial boil. Within 5 which in a beer this hoppy is probably within the perception threshold.(most people can't tell a difference of 5 IBU, more than 5 IBU in a hoppier beer.)
 
oh ok then. Well i think im just going to keep my recipes the same and see how it comes out. unless it makes a beer lose its intended taste i will be ok with some added IBUs since i enjoy the more bitter beers anyway. Thanks for explaining why it does change though. :D
 
Check out BIAB (brew in a bag) if you haven't already. If you have the ability to do full boils and chill all you need to go all grain is the bag. It's an easy way to go AG and many, including myself, have had great results.
 
Haha oops...I just brewed NBs Dead Ringer IPA and it calls for a 2.5 gallon boil. I assumed (yeah, I know) that if possible a full boil would be better, so I split it into 2 kettles with 3 gal. in one and 2 in the other as I could never get a full boil in one on my kitchen stove. I just estimated splitting up the additions between the two, so I guess we will see how this works out! You know, I think women are probably better brewers than men 'cause we just don't know how to ask for directions....
 
Well im curious as to how it turns out. I am doing a brown tomorrow and i have decided that i am going to be doing it full boil and not changing the hop schedule. Going to see how it comes out. Of course this will be my last extract batch as i am going all grain after this batch.
 
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