Full Boil (extract)

Doing a full boil right now, trying a Kolsch kit (little did I realize until after I bought it that Kolsch seems to be a difficult style to re-create; it's cool, though...as long as it tastes good). Taking forever to get 6 gallons to a full boil on the stove, but I'm just about there.

My question is this: since the Brewer's Best recipe is designed for a 2.5 gallon boil, should I adjust my hop additions somehow? It calls for:

LME at the start of the boil, followed by 2 oz. bittering hops
Then 2 lbs DME after 40 minutes
1 oz. aroma hops 5 min after DME addition
Finish with 10 minutes boil time

I was thinking of throwing in about 3/4 of the package, but I just pulled that number out of the air.

Why are you boiling the full quantity on an Extract?

KillJoy

PS - 6 Gallons will take FOREVER (IF ever) to boil......

I was under the impression it was better to do full rather than partial boils (even for extract). Not true?

Should I adjust hop additions?

I wouldn't make any changes to the addition timings at all. When I was working with extracts I always boiled as much as possible so i didn't have to top off with so much plain water. I am of the opinion that my beer improved with the fuller boils.

Assuming your stove will boil 6 gallons of course. It is important to maintain a good strong boil. If you find that you cannot maintain a strong boil, reduce your boil volume to as much volume as you can boil vigorously.

If your about to boil 6 gallons on your stove I would proceed per Brewers Best instructions. Their Kolsch kit was my first brew a year ago. Made great beer.
Carry on.

If you can get it to boil, I would just do the hop addition as described in the directions. With it being a kolsch, the "bittering" and "aroma" hops are probably a low AA%, so I don't think it shouldn't matter a whole lot on bitterness.

If you seem to have trouble with getting all of it to boil, maybe try to split it into 2 smaller boils (or one big boil, like 4 gallons, and one small, non-hopped boil), just to help with getting it all to boil. I have been doing my all-grain batches that way, by splitting the boil volume in half, and half-hopping each boil.

beninan said:

If you seem to have trouble with getting all of it to boil, maybe try to split it into 2 smaller boils (or one big boil, like 4 gallons, and one small, non-hopped boil), just to help with getting it all to boil.

Click to expand...

If you end up having to go this route (described above), be aware that you should expect an increase in boil-off volume.

I might cut down on the late addition hops not because the size of your boil, but because the style should really have only hop bitterness and very little to no hoppy aroma.

Thanks all. About to terminate the boil in a few minutes. We'll see how things turn out in 6-8 weeks!

After I cooled my wort and added it to my primary bucket, I discovered that I had 4 gallons (I lost way more to evaporation than I expected). I didn't have any clean water on hand, so I just pitched the yeast and sealed it up. The OG was 1.052, which is higher than the BB kit indicated it would be, which makes sense given the higher concentration of sugars.

So, I don't think this is a big deal, but wanted to know that when it comes time to bottle, should I just use 80% of my priming sugar?

Yes, you need to adjust the priming sugar addition accordingly for the smaller volume of beer.