Full Boil Brewers Best English Brown Ale

I would like to do a full boil for this recipe instead of a partial boil. What would I need to change in order to get the same outcome? This kit includes steeping some grains.

The hop extraction will be greater with more water in the boil. Everything else will be the same. So you can cut back on the bittering hops. Or just damn the torpedos and throw it all in. I mean who doesn't like over hopped beer?

I have been reading that full boils require less hops. How would one go about figuring when and how much I need to change to keep the same outcome? Also when steeping do I still steep the grains in the 2.5-3 gallons of water and then add the extra water after?

There are several formulas for hop extraction. I'd recommend some brewing software like beersmith to help you figure it all out.

Add all the water to the pot (I use 6 gallons to account for boil off).
Turn on heat and add steeping grains.
Bring temp to 155F +/- turn off heat and wait 20 min +/- then remove steeping grains
Turn heat back on and bring water to a boil.
Turn off heat and add extract
Stir it a whole lot to ensure extract is completely dissolved and will not scorch the on the bottom of the pot
Turn on heat and bring it back to boiling
Start the clock, add hops per the recipe, etc...

If your on a stove top you will soon want a propane jet burner
If you don't have a chiller you will soon want one of those as well.

I plan on doing it on a Turkey fryer. I have been searching on the forums for hops calculations. My recipe has 3 kinds of hops do I cut them all back 20% and still put them in at the same time the recipe calls for?

Here is a link to the brewing instructions.

http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1016 English_ Brown_Ale.pdf

There is note about if you brew more than the 2.5 gallons but of course does not tell you how much less to make.

If you have some brewing software, that really can help. There are some free online ones, and I have Beersmith which has a free trial.

Without knowing the exact AAUs (the number on the hops package), to tell you how much to reduce (or even use) would be a wild guess.

This was taken from another thread. Trying a calculator with it right now.
INGREDIENTS :
3.3 lbs. Plain Amber Malt Extract
2 lbs. Plain Amber Dry Malt Extract
8 oz. Crushed Crystal Malt 60L
1 oz. Willamette Hops (Bittering)
1/2 oz. Willamette Hops (Finishing)
5 oz. Priming Sugar
1 each Beer Yeast

Honestly I would just throw them all in but I really like hoppy beer.

If you want to cut it back I'd cut only the first addition of 1 OZ of "bittering" hops. Try going with .8 OZ and see what happens. Either way I think you will have a nice beer.

The later additions do not boil long enough to have a heavy contribution to the resulting bitterness in the finished beer.

Not really sure what this calculator is telling me. hmm.....

I just went with 4.8% AAU Willamette, since that's what mine are.

The kit gives you approximately 13.5 IBUs with a 2.5 gallon boil. That's fine for that style of beer, right in the middle of where it should be.

With a 6 gallon boil, I get 22 IBUs. With .75 ounce of the willamette (4.8%), I get 17.4 IBUs. So, for a full boil, I'd use .75 ounce of bittering hops. That should get you close.

Also, keep in mind that you'll need some way to cool 5 gallons of hot wort. It takes a very long time to do it without a wort chiller, unless you have something set up to cool it.

When entering data into a brewing calculator under fermentables do I include the malts that are steeping for a bit?

Diesel48 said:

When entering data into a brewing calculator under fermentables do I include the malts that are steeping for a bit?

Click to expand...

yes 1234

Diesel48 said:

When entering data into a brewing calculator under fermentables do I include the malts that are steeping for a bit?

Click to expand...

You can, but in an extract batch with just steeping grains, the fermentables extract are almost nil. Make sure the calculator gives you the proper OG.

YooperBrew said:

You can, but in an extract batch with just steeping grains, the fermentables extract are almost nil. Make sure the calculator gives you the proper OG.

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They may not be fermentable but they contain sugars that will effect the OG and FG. An exagerated example would be a beer with a ton of crystal. say your making an amber and you use a pound and a half of crystal. That has to have some effect on the OG and since it's not fermentable sugar it will also bump up the FG. I'd put all the steep grains into your software.

YooperBrew said:

I just went with 4.8% AAU Willamette, since that's what mine are.

The kit gives you approximately 13.5 IBUs with a 2.5 gallon boil. That's fine for that style of beer, right in the middle of where it should be.

With a 6 gallon boil, I get 22 IBUs. With .75 ounce of the willamette (4.8%), I get 17.4 IBUs. So, for a full boil, I'd use .75 ounce of bittering hops. That should get you close.

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Did you use 6 gallons because that is the amount of water I should start out with to get to 5 gallons after evap?

Diesel48 said:

Did you use 6 gallons because that is the amount of water I should start out with to get to 5 gallons after evap?

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Yes, that is just a guess. You might boil off more, or less. But 6 gallons is a good starting point. If you boil off more, you can add a bit of water to get you back to 5 gallons at the end.

The instruction sheet says the beer should have around 21-25 IBU's. When I put it into the calculator at 2.5 gallons it is showing up as 17.5 IBU's. Should I consider the calculator to be more accurate than the instructions? I am assuming I should make the changes for a full boil to try and get my IBU's between 21-25, not the 17.5 the calculator is showing me.

YooperBrew said:

I just went with 4.8% AAU Willamette, since that's what mine are.

Click to expand...

Really close the package says 4.9%

Ended up doing a partial for my first kit, plan on doing the full boil for my next batch in 2 weeks. Going to try the phat tyre ale from norther brewers.

Diesel48 said:

Ended up doing a partial for my first kit, plan on doing the full boil for my next batch in 2 weeks. Going to try the phat tyre ale from norther brewers.

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How did it end up if you don't mind me asking...just bought mine today...gonna do my first brewing thursday

i just picked up a brewers best english pale ale kit and had the same question as this thread. I prefer to do full boils, but this kit is set up for a 2.5 gallon boil. What the heck do i need to do with my hop additions when I start with 6 gallons to boil? where do I start to figure this out?

I just got a kit and all my hops are labeled as Alpha Acid 6.0% Williamette.
The brewing software I used, free online, only shows the 4.8%AAU that was mentioned earlier in this thread and does come out as 22IBU.

So I am wondering if the 6.0% is going to crank it up a lot and if so how should it be adjusted.

Also the ingredient kit has different hop additions that you guys posted earlier.

INGREDIENTS :
3.3 lbs. Plain Amber Malt Extract
2 lbs. Plain Amber Dry Malt Extract
8 oz. Crushed Crystal Malt 60L
1 oz. Willamette Hops (Bittering)
1/2 oz. Willamette Hops (Finishing)
5 oz. Priming Sugar
1 each Beer Yeast

Click to expand...

My package contains:
1oz bittering at 60min
1oz flavoring at 15min
.25oz at 5min

I would do the calculation with your beer software. That way you can stay within the beer style and if you like it you can make the same beer if your hops AA% is different the next time. I have also been reading that all hops this year are higher than average AA%.

I'll be brewing a batch of the Brewer's Best English Brown Ale tomorrow. This is my third batch, but my first using one of the Home Depot paint strainer bags for steeping the grains. I've heard the less water (within reason) the better for steeping. Last time I steeped in 1.5 gallons and it was a bit hard to maintain the temp. Would you guys recommend steeping in 2.5 (that's what you're supposed to do according to the recipe for all of the boil, then add another 2.5 post-boil).

Also, do I need to do anything (other than soaking in Star San) to prepare the bag for the steeping process?

Since I was planning on doing a full boil, I think I'll scale back the bittering hops a bit (maybe do 0.75 oz instead of 1 oz of the Brewer's Gold).

Also, I'd like to add most of the extract toward the end of the boil. Since this kit uses both dry and liquid, which one should I put in at the beginning, and which should I hold off on until the end? It calls for 3.3 lbs Amber LME and 2 lbs Amber DME.

How's all this sound? Any other changes you'd recommend for those who have brewed this kit or just have much more knowledge about brewing than me?

Thanks!