Full Boil Extract Boil with question on batch volumes

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

tjashing

Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2012
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Location
Calgary
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!
 
don't know if this is good advice or not, but when has that stopped me?

Everything I've seen says if you got the room, use the room, so I don't understand the 1.5 gallon start? Are you inside or out?

I brew outside, start with 6 gallons and steep my grains for 30 minutes. Add my LME (usually 5-9 pounds depending on the brew) bring to a boil, add hops per schedule and boil away for 60 minutes. After chilling down I end up with just about 5 gallons a cup to pint either way. I hit my numbers and have made some good beer this way.

I am curious as to how much LME or DME your receipe calls for. 2 pounds doesn't seem like a lot. Is this a kit?

take your OG when you get ready to transfer to primary. before yeasties.
 
1. add the full 6 gal
2. add all the LME, And you'll need more extract than 2 #.
3. Bring wort to boil, add bittering hops. More like 0.50-1.00 oz. Irish dry stouts aren't exactly known for hop character.
4. At the end of the boil, turn off heat, do not add more LME
5. Cool wort w/wort chiller or ice bath to 65 degrees, shake like hell for a good minute to add oxygen, pitch yeast
6. Transfer to fermenter, 6 gallon boils usually boiloff at the rate of 0.80 to 1.20 gallons per hour.

OR should I stick to a partial boil (3 gal)? NO

Gravity reading is taken when the wort is cool (before you pitch the yeast). Be careful to be sanitary.

Second gravity reading can be taken after 1 week, when primary fermentation has stopped, or after 3-4 weeks total conditioning- immediately prior to bottling.

(The late extract additions are generally recommended for extract or partial mash brewers who make hoppy pale beers, and not usually for malty dark beers).

Follow these guidelines: http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style13.php#1a

I strongly recommend using a more friendly software to design a base brew, like hopville's beercalculus. Do a google search for it. Beersmith has confused many a beginner.
 
what is your extract recipe? 2.25pds is way to much for a 5 gallon recipe but .50 is on the low side...read up on alpha acids and how each strain has its own flavor, bitter and aroma profiles to help you dial in how much you need for a recipe...i do partial boils now as my space is limited but steeping in a predetermind volume with a certain amount of grains is only for mashing and converting starches to sugars the larger your boil volume the better utilization of steeping grains and hops
 
All,

Thanks for the replies - and I made a few mistakes. I am using 6 lbs of liquid LME and 2.25 oz ( not lb) of hops.

Bobbrews: for a batch size of 5 gal, should I changed the amount of hops I am adding? Also, for the brew you described, would 6 gal of LME be on the low side?

Thanks!
 
0.50 oz. hops at 60 is not on the low side if you use a high alpha hop... if you use a traditional low alpha hop for an Irish Dry Stout, then yes... it might be low. But then again, the OP did not exactly give us a traditional IDS recipe.

OP:

Shoot for 30-45 IBUs as stated in the BJCP guidelines.
6 lbs. of extract and 1 lb. spec grains will be somewhat on the low side for a full volume 6 gallon boil.
 
Bobbrews: for a batch size of 5 gal, should I changed the amount of hops I am adding? Also, for the brew you described, would 6 gal of LME be on the low side?

Thanks!

:D You should check your unit labels

6 Pounds of LME is a great amount of LME, you'll get a pretty nice body out of that. Can I ask what type of LME? Muntons, Briess... extra light, dark...?


I suggest more volume when steeping your grains, for a few reasons.
-It will be hard to maintain a low temp with such a high powered burner on such a small volume of water.
-You won't have to reach to the bottom of the big pot to check the temp or remove the grains
-When you add the rest of the colder water in later, you'll burn more gas trying to come up to a boil

I've made extract where I add in the LME or DME later, and some where I put it all in the beginning. The biggest difference I've noted is in color.

Most people assume a 1 gal per hour boil off when finding initial volume. I would err on the side of using less water. That way you can add more in at the end if you have to, other than boiling longer to get down to 5gal.
 
I think 3.5-4.5% abv on the low side... considering the majority of Irish Dry Stouts I drink are 4.8-6% abv

Nothing wrong with either though.
 
Also: keep in mind that a jar/can of LME is generally about 3.33 pounds. Sometiems 2, but more often they're the standard size.
So if you meant 2 cans of LME, you'd be great. And a 5 gallon boil with 6.66 lbs LME is actually just about what I did this weekend, except I added 1 lb of DME as well.

I had an OG of 65 for 5gal, and I do all partial boil.
 
Getzinator: It’s actually a light malt extract from a local brewing store where I live (label suggests 1lb LME dissolved in water to equal 1 US gal gives an approx SG of 1.035). So it’s a store made malt extract – and it is 3lb. However, I did buy some light DME, which I plan to add about 4-12 oz to my recipe.

I’ve revised my hop additions to 1.0oz (60min), 0.5oz (30min) and 0.25oz (15min) – all East Kent Goldings (a/a 5%).

According to BeerSmith, my OG is 1.049, IBUs are 32.2 and I get 4.7abv all with a batch volume of 4.75 gal and an est pre-boil volume of 5.4 gal.

Thanks again for the help, I have a much better understanding of the process.
 
Oh wow, I've never heard of anything like that. The confusion was my fault, in my ignorance I assumed that everyone else would have the same supplies that I did.

I am very interested in how that turns out though, and also curious to find out about how your LME dissolved in gallons works out.
 
Back
Top