How water do I actually boil?

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Nexus555

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Ok I really wasn't worrying too much about this, and then I thought: If I add 3.3 pounds of amber extract, 3.3 pounds of dark malt extract, steep specialty grains, and add 2 ounces of hops, won't that increase the volume in the kettle pretty drastically?

I have a 3 gallon brew kettle. I am going to boil 2.5 gallons of water, toss it in the primary. Then I am going to do 2.5 gallons of water and add ingriedents. Will this still work? Obviously 2.5 gallons + 2.5 gallons = 5, but with the extract, wouldn't it be a bit more? What do you guys think I should do or is it really not a concern?

Also I was wanting to transfer to the secondary for clearing a little bit. I have a 6.5 gallon plastic for primary and 5 gallon carboy for secondary. If it's a little over 5, wouldn't it not fit in the container?

Thanks for the suggestions. BTW I'm brewing Big River Brown Ale . Has anyone ever tried this?
 
I typically go to 5.5 gallons in the fermenter, because you lose some volume to the trub.

LME runs 10-12 lbs per gallon.
 
The directions specify 1.5 - 2 gallons of water for your steep and boil. I would follow that since the amount of grain, etc are specifcally callibrated.

There are advantages to doing a smaller volume boils for extract and since this style doesn't have a big hop profile, I'd stick toward 1.5 if you were concerned about boiling over or closer to 2 if you thought you might scorch.

Remember, when you change vessels (Boil pot to Primary... Primary to Secondary) you are going to lose volume. In other words, RDWHAHB.
 
Thanks guys, that really answered a bunch of questions!!

One thing though. I think I'm going to quit ordering from Midwest Supplies. I ordered my ingriedents yesterday (Tuesday), and the estimated delivery time was 3 days. So I figured that I should get it by Friday, and do my boil Saturday with a friend of mine.

Well turns out I got an email just now that says it will take Midwest 48 hours to get it shipped out, NOT including Fed Ex time. So that means that my plans for this weekend are utterly ruined! When I ordered my kit, I did not get this delay (well I live in LA and we had mardi gras holiday Mon & Tues so it did take a bit longer.) But this is crazy, considering it's $10.00 for shipping.

Also about Midwest, I was going to order and extra packet of dry yeast, in case any problems arise. Well what do you know, $10.00 shipping for a $1.00 item. The cheapest shipping option they have is $5.00. That's a little steep for a $1.00 product that weighs in at a mere few grams.

What are some good, reliable, and decent priced ingriedent sites out there? Thanks!!
 
Your best bet may be to find a local place. I order a bunch of my stuff online but when it comes to being able to run out and gran a packet of yeast at the last minute or a racking cane because I broke mine AGAIN a local place with bad selection and not so great prices beats out an online store that takes a week to ship stuff

Online stores I prefer are
http://www.northernbrewer.com/
http://www.homebrewheaven.com/
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/
 
Thanks. The only problem is that I'm having a hard time finding a local brew shop. I live in Louisiana (about 10-15 minutes from Baton Rouge) and from my understanding the nearest place is by the LSU campus, which is about a good 20-25 minute drive at least (so an hour long venture for a packet of yeast.) Kind of sucks that there aren't many brew shops around here (at least to my knowledge.)
 
yeah but an hour trip sure beats waiting for shipping and ruining of your brew day

I did a real quick googlesearch and found a club in your area that may be able to point out a store or 2 . . .
http://hbd.org/redstick/

also found this, but no website Bootleggers Brewing Supply
 
20-25 minutes?

Count yourself among the blessed. I have two stores I can pick from - each 60-70 minutes away (each way). I'm lucky in that one of them is a very nice little shop, but I would kill to have it only be twenty minutes away.
 
Nexus555 said:
Thanks. The only problem is that I'm having a hard time finding a local brew shop. I live in Louisiana (about 10-15 minutes from Baton Rouge) and from my understanding the nearest place is by the LSU campus, which is about a good 20-25 minute drive at least (so an hour long venture for a packet of yeast.) Kind of sucks that there aren't many brew shops around here (at least to my knowledge.)

Dude! My nearest HBS is over two hours away! I just plan extensively for brewing, estimate my needs for products and then plan a whole day in that location for a meal out or something, spend big in the HBS and then I'm set for a month or so. There are items that you will want to get multiples of because you're constantly using them, then there are specialty items you can plan for.

Hell, I'd give the guy at the LSU shop a call on the phone or e-mail or whatever and see if he could send you a kit via ground and you'd probably save on shipping and reduce the time it takes to get to your door..it's worth a shot?
 
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