Brew Day Tomorrow, A few Last ?'s

Yay, my first brew day tomorrow. Looking forward to it. However I have a few last moment questions.

I have a 7.5 gallon Aluminum Pot. It's dirty as it has been sitting in storage for over a year I'm certain. I've read sever articles on cleaning and sanitation however I can not seem to find much information concerning aluminum. What should i sanitize it with? Scrub it with? If there are scratches inside it I have read that you can boil water in it to reform that layer? Do this before or after using my sanitizing agent--doubt the order matters but i wanted to make sure.

Also, If my kit comes tomorrow and it only gives instructions for a partial boil is it safe just to go ahead and boil it all together anywho? Since I have that 7.5 gallon pot. Oh and how much water should I initially start with? Boiling for an hour will drastically reduce water levels but I have no idea how much more i should start with (5 gallon batches).

Hmm... I'm sure more questions will come up but for now this is all i can think of. I'll be back soon

I'd suggest just detergent and hot water, with nothing abrasive. This will protect the oxide layer. If you damage it, just boil some water, and dump it. Don't worry about sanitizing, the boil will take care of that.

Go ahead with a full boil, your beer will be better for it. Add enough water to get to 6 or 6.5 gallons. Definately watch careful for boil-overs. Keep a spray bottle of water handy and spray like mad to knock down the foam at the beginning of the boil and when you add the first hops.

Now is a good time to calibrate your kettle so you know the level for 5, 5.5, 6, and 6.5 gallons. I used 1/2 gallon milk jugs and marked the level on my stirring spoon.

Good luck and welcome to the obsession.

clean the al pot with a kitchen scrubbie and rinse very well. No need to sanitize as you'll be boiling in it, but if you must just don't use bleach. I'm not familiar with partial boils but I would go for about 6.5 gallons - if your al pot is like my old one that's up to about where the rivets for the handles are. Then watch it like a hawk for a boilover as it is coming to a boil. Have fun!!!!

Another thing to remember is that if you change the "prescribed" boil volume, you are going to change your hop utilization during the brew session. Changing the utilization will give you are more bitter beer if you increase your boil volume. If this is your first brew, I don't think that there is anything wrong with following the directions, and getting the basics down. You can still make good beer regardless of the methods as long as you follow the recipe.

Yet another consideration... if you do a full volume boil how will you rapidly cool the wort?

I wasn't even going to bother with that question...