question on brewing my first batch

I just bought a Scottish ale Brewers best kit for my first brewing attempt.

It says boil 2.5 gallons of water and etc. but what if i wanted to do a full 5 gal. boil? It says the volume of wort boiled affects the hop utilization.. so would i need to buy more hops or what?
I don't want to screw up the recipe.

thanks in advance

If you read further on the instructions you'll see that you'll be adding another 2.5 gallons when you transfer to the primary

Can you give us your specific recipe with quantities? If you do a full 5 gallon boil with the ingredients you got with a kit intended to only have a 2.5 gallon boil with a 2.5 gallon dilution, then yes you do need to adjust your hops. If you do not, you will essentially double your IBUs.

Pretty sure the best brew kits take the 2.5 gallon boil into account. They're designed to be pretty much fool proof if you follow the directions exactly

TorribleBrew said:

Can you give us your specific recipe with quantities? If you do a full 5 gallon boil with the ingredients you got with a kit intended to only have a 2.5 gallon boil with a 2.5 gallon dilution, then yes you do need to adjust your hops. If you do not, you will essentially double your IBUs.

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ok, that answers my question. so basically just follow the directions exactly unless i feel like buying additional hops.

i have heard of people preferring a full boil. I just wasn't sure if it was worth the trouble in this instance

bagpiperjosh said:

ok, that answers my question. so basically just follow the directions exactly unless i feel like buying additional hops.

i have heard of people preferring a full boil. I just wasn't sure if it was worth the trouble in this instance

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Just to clarify... doing a full boil will increase your hop utilization. So you would actually use less hops if you're boiling the whole 5 gal. Generally, it's not recommended to attempt changes in your first few batches until you get the hang of it. That being said, if you search "full boil," there are a few threads about adjusting your hops. Some people don't even adjust, and rock it a little more bitter.

This one made the most sense to me: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/full-boils-296221/

There should even be a note on the instruction sheet that talks about why they use 2.5 gallons and what would happen if you used more or less. i know my Brewers best Red Ale did,

Before I knew any better, the instructions on my 1st batch started with "heat 2.5 to 6 gallons." If you throw the recipe in a calculator... my 3.5 gal boil (w/ rinse) comes out to 21 IBU, whereas a full boil should yield closer to 28.

If you boil a full 5 gallons and add all the hops in your brewers best kit your beer will be WAY too hoppy bitter. It's strange but the more water in your boil the MORE bitter your beer becomes so you would actually need less hops for a 5 gallon boil.

I have used 3 brewer's best kits now and if you follow the directions to a T they will come out good! I would recommend that you do re-hydrate your dry yeast though, even though the kit says to just sprinkle it on the surface of the wort and stir, it will be active faster (less risk of bacteria growth) if you re-hydrate it.

Does this look ok it's coopers English bitter with 500g dme and 500g brew suger this pic is 42 hours after pitching just wondering if it looks normal?

Yep - shows signs of visible fermentation. Now the hard part - being patient!

Cheers!

izuel01 said:

Does this look ok it's coopers English bitter with 500g dme and 500g brew suger this pic is 42 hours after pitching just wondering if it looks normal?

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