is full boil ok?

Is it ok to do a full boil ending with 5 gal. When the kit specifies using 2.5 and adding water later?

most prefer a full boil. Your kit says 2.5 because most beginers dont have a pot large enough for a full boil. You will be fine! More important, what type of water did you use? tap water is ok, but its recomended to let the water sit overnight in an open vessel to clear any chlorine. I tried pre-boiling and I like it, but it is a time consuming process. my next batch is getting Spring water from a local spring in Salt lake!

Would it be beneficial to use one of those Brita or Pur filters that attached directly to the tap?

Mantra is "if it's good to drink, it's good to make beer with". Throw a 1/4 tablet of campden in before the boil to get rid of chlorine and chloramine.

If you have odd flavors, a filter should help. But, having a filter in line may remove minerals, you need minerals in the wort for healthy yeast and proper flavor. You may need to add some back in when using a filter. There's plenty of info around here that should help with this decision.

Before you dump any extract in, do a trial run. Most stoves won't boil the 7 or so gallons it takes to end up with 5.

billl said:

Before you dump any extract in, do a trial run. Most stoves won't boil the 7 or so gallons it takes to end up with 5.

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Good point...I have a fairly heavy duty gas stove in my kitchen and I was struggling to get 4 gallons boiling. If you can get your kettle over more than one burner you may have a chance.

Or just recognize that you are in for a long haul and start looking for a propane burner. This "hobby" quickly becomes an expensive obsession.

Upthewazzu said:

Would it be beneficial to use one of those Brita or Pur filters that attached directly to the tap?

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I have done this before with no ill effects.

Not only is it okay to do a full boil, but your beer will actually be better for it. However, bigger boil volume = better hop utilization, so you'll squeeze more IBUs out of your hops. Your beer will be more bitter than the kit/recipe is designed to give you. You can adjust for that by scaling back your bittering hop amounts. If you don't have BeerSmith or similar brewing software to help you do this, just post the recipe and I'm sure somebody on here will run the numbers for you and help you out.

Thanks for all the advice. I have read about water quality. First batch was at a friends with city water. I live on an acreage with well water. Doing a milk stout from Brewers Best next. Debating on using the hard water (no softner installed) or going with distilled from the store. I am going to check the hardness in ppm to see how much calcium I have. I will be buying a turkey fryer for heating the water so I'll go full boil.

Any thoughts on well water use? I know it depends on quality of my specific water. Pretty sure it's mostly high in calcium. If I'm mostly doing darker beers, it sounds like up to 300ppm could be benificial?

Just one small thing worth mentioning here. If a kit is designed for a partial boil then the hops that come with it will need to be adjusted, (you will need less) for a full volume boil.

I thought the full boil versus partial boil, hop utilization thing was debunked? As in the difference was nearly neglegible Oh well, maybe not.

Something I read recently, that is somewhat related. Higher (calcium?) carbonate content in your water tends to make a cloying, harsh bitterness , but higher sulfates content brings out a sharper, cleaner quality from, the hops used.

yewtah-brewha said:

most prefer a full boil. Your kit says 2.5 because most beginers dont have a pot large enough for a full boil. You will be fine! More important, what type of water did you use? tap water is ok, but its recomended to let the water sit overnight in an open vessel to clear any chlorine. I tried pre-boiling and I like it, but it is a time consuming process. my next batch is getting Spring water from a local spring in Salt lake!

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Off topic, is Salt Lake a dry city? I had friends in Utah (they are Mormon) and I know the part of Utah they lived in was dry. A lot of places didn't even carry caffeine drinks.

schittbreff said:

Just one small thing worth mentioning here. If a kit is designed for a partial boil then the hops that come with it will need to be adjusted, (you will need less) for a full volume boil.

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It wouldn't be noticeable at all. When I do kits that are for partial boil I use the hops per the instructions and it doesn't come out any hoppier.


I would highly recommend getting your water tested. I was using my tap water because it tastes good but it makes terrible beer. I kept my brew process the same and used spring water with some calcium and my beer now comes out great.

h22lude said:

It wouldn't be noticeable at all. When I do kits that are for partial boil I use the hops per the instructions and it doesn't come out any hoppier.
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I can taste the difference, esp. in lighter styles. Besides, If there were no difference, why use an ounce of hops for the same effect you can get with 3/4 oz? Waste not, want not, and all that.