Double batch: 10 gallons from 36qt pot

I recently brewed a 5 gallon batch of a nut brown, to which I added bourbon-soaked oak chips in the secondary. I've had quite a few people requesting more of this, so I thought I'd try to make a double batch (10 gal) next time. I have a 36qt ss stockpot and was thinking that I could try to do about a 7 gallon boil, double my ingredients, and then split it up into 2 5-gal fermentors and then top them off to 5 gallons. I know that brewing this much in my pot could likely cause a boil over, so I would really need to keep a close eye on things, or maybe just do about 6 gallons. Does anyone see any problems with this, other than the greater risk of a boil over? I usually try to do as close to a full boil as possible so I don't dilute the beer too much, but I'd also prefer not to have to brew this twice if I could manage to do it as one batch. Thanks for the input.

I don't see an issue with boilovers. I've done 14 gallons in a 15.5 gallon converted keg...no issues. You just need to pay close attention to it. Try putting a fan next to the kettle so it blows right over the top of it....it'll help.

I used to make 10 gal batches with a 7-1/2 gal pot. I would take a recipe for 10 gal, half the base malt, then at the end of the boil add enough DME to make up for the other half of the base malt. I ended up with about 3-1/4 gal in each carboy and topped up to 5 with water.

Oh, and use fermcap to prevent boil overs. Best invention since beer.

The only other thing to consider would be adjusting your process for hop utilization. You'll either be boiling a fairly concentrated wort that will minimize utilization, or making use of a late extract addition, so just keep that in mind when putting together the hop schedule. Otherwise, as long as you don't boil over or anything you should get away with the 10 gallon batch fine.

+1 on Fermcap. I can't believe I waited so long to buy that stuff.

keep the boil down fairly low, and keep the kettle topped up as it evaporates off. With fermcap and careful attention, you could boil 8.5 gallons in a 36qt kettle - I have.

However, if you plan on doing double batches more than once in a blue moon, I *highly* recommend finding a large aluminum stockpot at a restaurant supply place. I got a 17 gallon one for about 80 bucks, and it's so much nicer for double batches, and even makes triples a possibility.