A lot of mash/wort questions

I did my first partial mash this weekend, American Pale ale, and found myself with a lot of questions regarding grains and extract:

After mashing and combining the extract should it be brought to the total volume, does this only affect hopping and bitterness or does it have something to do with mash?
I had about a gallon from the grains and a gallon from the extract, but a lot of water boiled off, it seemed very concentrated, but this helps me with cooling because I add a lot of cool make-up water. Is it worth the trouble to increase the volume of my brew? will an icebath be able to cool that volume in decent time? during the wort cooling period am I extremely vulnerable to infection?

yes, we are reading...

Sorry, i have problems with premature posting, had to edit

I'll assume you're doing partial mash recipes...the info you gave is pretty sparse.

After mashing and combining the extract should it be brought to the total volume, does this only affect hopping and bitterness or does it have something to do with mash?
After you mash, you can top up to the final volume without any problems. Just be sure to adjust your hops to get the proper utilization with a full boil.

I had about a gallon from the grains and a gallon from the extract, but a lot of water boiled off, it seemed very concentrated, but this helps me with cooling because I add a lot of cool make-up water. Is it worth the trouble to increase the volume of my brew?
A 2 gallon boil is VERY concentrated. I recommend boiling at least 3 gallons, or you'll likely see a lot of carmelization, and little to no hop utilization.

Will an ice-bath be able to cool that volume in decent time?
Probably.

During the wort cooling period am I extremely vulnerable to infection?
At temperatures below 150, your wort becomes increasingly vulnerable to infection. Cool it fast, get it into a sanitized fermenter, and pitch the yeast as soon as possible.

Sasquatch420 said:

After mashing and combining the extract should it be brought to the total volume, does this only affect hopping and bitterness or does it have something to do with mash?

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Okay, I need clarification here. Are you saying you are adding the extract to the mash?

Sasquatch420 said:

I had about a gallon from the grains and a gallon from the extract, but a lot of water boiled off, it seemed very concentrated, but this helps me with cooling because I add a lot of cool make-up water. Is it worth the trouble to increase the volume of my brew?

Click to expand...

So your boil was 2 gallons? To answer, yes it is worth the trouble to increase the volume you boil. Especially with a lighter colored beer like an APA. One reason being the higher concentration of the sugars are more likely to carmelize and darken. So for lighter color and flavor, boiling a less concentrated wort helps. Also, you use less hops (you get better utilization of the hop oils) with a less concentrated boil.

Sasquatch420 said:

will an icebath be able to cool that volume in decent time? during the wort cooling period am I extremely vulnerable to infection?

Click to expand...

It depends on the volume. If you are trying to cool a full 5 gallon batch it will take a while. You can use a wort chiller, or do what I have been doing recently. I have switched to AG but I do not have a big pot yet. So, I boil the full amount of wort in two pots and cool them in 2 baths (one in each side of the sink). By using just cool water and changing it regularly and than adding the ice after a few changes it cools within 1/2 hour. Yes, the longer you take to cool the more chance of infection, but, do not worry so much about it. As long as you minimize the exposure of the wort to the air (keep the lid on) and make sure that any thing that comes in contact with it is sanitized it should be fine.

That help some?

Thanks for all the info guys, I guess I'll increase my boil volume and look into making an immersion chiller to go along with an ice bath. it seems like the most sanitary way to coil chill, you only have to sanitize the outside.