Full boil question

I have all the makings to do a full boil (finally). Question: How much water should I start with to end up with 5 gallons? I put it into BeerTools, but I couldn't get a straight answer.

The more water you can boil the better. How big is your kettle? I use a 3 gal kettle and fill it with just a little over 2 galllons.

It depends on your kettle. For example, I use a 3 gal kettle, and use just over 2 gals of water and always end up with just a little less than 5 gals.

A good guess is 6 gallons to end up with 5 gal after a 60 minute boil. But that said, there are several things that need to be considered. So my answer of 6 gal is only a rough estimate to give you something to think about.

KayaBrew said:

I have all the makings to do a full boil (finally). Question: How much water should I start with to end up with 5 gallons? I put it into BeerTools, but I couldn't get a straight answer.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty new here, but I think the answer is "it depends." On your pot - tall narrow pots have less evaporation than short, wide ones. How long are you going to boil - 60 min, 90 min, longer. I suspect that a very vigorous boil will result in more loss than a bare simmer.

My recommendation is to start with about 6.5 gallons and then measure what you end up with. It should be between 5 and 6 gallons. Then you will be able to anticipate your evaporative looses next time.

I'm new at this but from what I've read on the recipes you boil a couple gallons and add three to your carboy. I like boiling all five at a time but....you could find your 5 gallon mark on your carboy and note it with say a sharpie?

Not to hijack your thread but I've got five gallons of Vanilla Stout on the stove right now and am having a hard time getting the temp above 180deg F. Is it absolutely necessary that I get a real boil where the water is bubbling up or is the temp of 212deg F my main goal?

**EDIT**
I placed the pot over two burners and it boiled right away, had to adjust it down a little in fact because it was an overly aggressive boil.

I personally did 6 gallons to start. I marked the 5gal spot on my kettle so I knew if I had to add any. I think I came out ahead (volume wise) but it made up for it with such a damn violent fermentation. (Blew ALOT of Krausen)
-Me

i buy 8 gallons to start, and the last two times ended up with under 5. no idea why, but some days i lose a gallon and a half in an hour, other times half a gallon. i really need a measuring stick. that is twice today i have said that.

I get 7 1-gallon jugs and put 5.5-6 gallons in my kettle. (the 1 gallon is for incase I spill one or whatnot. I usually use all 7.

Kaya? Kaya? You there? We're trying to answer. Where'd ya go.....

Oops, yeah. Thanks for the advice. I thought I'd try starting with 6 gallons.

histo320 said:

It depends on your kettle. For example, I use a 3 gal kettle, and use just over 2 gals of water and always end up with just a little less than 5 gals.

Click to expand...

Could you please explain how you start with two gallons and end up with 5 gallons inside of your three gallon pot?

This site has some awesome calculators including evaportion rates:

The Brewer's Lair