Converting Partial Boils to Full

What type of adjustments would I need to make to a kit like the ones Northern sells, http://www.northernbrewer.com/alekits.html if I wanted to do a full boil instead of a partial boil?

I would guess that if I just followed the recipe exactly but used 5.5-6 gallons of water it would be fairly hoppy. Is there a simple conversion to follow?

To convert from partial to full boil, just start out with the full amount of water (i.e. 6 gallons or so). Shouldn't be any change in recipe formulation. You could play around with late extract additions, but that's not even necessary.

Also, your link is to all of the Northern Brewer kits, is there one in particular you were interested in?

I definitely plan to try the Irish Red kit in the near future.

I thought I had read somewhere that you need to adjust hop rates when changing water volumes. More water = less hops required. I could be wrong though.

it has more to do with the gravity if your boil. lighter gravity gets normal utilization, thick gravity has reduced utilization.

you can always plug the recipe into beertools.com and get teh IBU's for a full boil. if they are radically higher you may need to reduce hops.

the only difference is you'll need to get a wort chiller if you're currently cooling in a water bath and you may need to aerate more if you're currently topping off with water.

malkore said:

it has more to do with the gravity if your boil. lighter gravity gets normal utilization, thick gravity has reduced utilization.

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I was recently told by a brewer that you need at least some extract or you won't get anything from the hops. Pure water won't do anything. Is that true? It didn't seem to make sense.

I usually steep specialty grains in the water that the recipe calls for. If you use the full amount,it will make your beer astringent. After steeping, I will add the rest of the water and part of the extract, bring to a boil then follow the hop schedule Then add the rest of extract in last 10 to 15 min left in boil. . You will get better hop utilization, so you can adjust your amount of hops. I usualy use the same amount depending on the recipe,(who does'nt like a hoppier pale ale!)

I do full boils with Northern Brewer and Austin Homebrew's kits all the time. I have found that with a 6 gallon boil using between 50% and 75% of the bittering hops will be about right. I think if you put them all in there you'll come out a little more bitter than you are shooting for. Just an observation I've made. Not always a bad thing though if you love hops

I guess the other question is: what is the advantage of doing a full boil over a partial?

My initial reason is because I can. I have a 7.5 gallon pot and an IC. I would guess that you boil all your water so there is less chance of an infection from the water and you get everything mixed together which is nice for getting accurate OG readings. Any other reasons I'm missing?

Liquidicem said:

I guess the other question is: what is the advantage of doing a full boil over a partial?

My initial reason is because I can. I have a 7.5 gallon pot and an IC. I would guess that you boil all your water so there is less chance of an infection from the water and you get everything mixed together which is nice for getting accurate OG readings. Any other reasons I'm missing?

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Better Hop Utilization, Better control of the color of your brew, (My partials came out much darker), I think the overall finished product is just better because you get a better hot break boiling it somewhere other than a stove. I do think the brew is better because of a full boil.

The #1 reason to do full boils is practice for all grain since you MUST do full boils.

The adjustment you have to make was mentioned and it's all about hop utilization. If the recipe was designed for 2 gallon boils, a full boil will almost double the IBUs if you don't scale back the bittering amount or boil time. Using software is the best way I know how to scale back either one to match the intended IBUs.

Liquidicem said:

I guess the other question is: what is the advantage of doing a full boil over a partial?

My initial reason is because I can. I have a 7.5 gallon pot and an IC. I would guess that you boil all your water so there is less chance of an infection from the water and you get everything mixed together which is nice for getting accurate OG readings. Any other reasons I'm missing?

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IMHO a full boil is the way to go if you have the equipment. Most people say that a full boil with extract is how you can get your biggest improvement in quality, it will also reduce or eliminate the extract twang you can get with concentrated boils.
Plus the better hop utilization & less caramelization of the wort makes for a lighter color.

I think it is better to steep the grains in a smaller volume of water, since this gets the right PH.

After steeping in separate pot, add the tea to the main pot.

I used to steep the grains in the boil pot with 5 gallons heating up ... I have read that this is not the proper way to do this..

Good luck with the batch

Cutting the bittering hops about 25% is the only change necessary.

kappclark said:

I think it is better to steep the grains in a smaller volume of water, since this gets the right PH.

After steeping in separate pot, add the tea to the main pot.

I used to steep the grains in the boil pot with 5 gallons heating up ... I have read that this is not the proper way to do this..

Good luck with the batch

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How much a gallon or two?

Yeah a gallon or two works. I think the important thing is to allow the water you are steeping your grains in to drop to a pH of 5 to 5.5... that way you don't extract tannins from the grains making the beer astringent.