Boiling 3 gallons vs 5 gallons

I had another question about this. My other thread was talking about the OG not being at what it was suppose to be and from the advice i got it (and another good thread on here) it was because the topping off the 2 gallons of water at the end. My question then is, is it ok to boil 5 gallons of water instead of 3? I don't have a kettle big enough for that yet but i am thinking of getting a nice one soon. When looking at the instructions the recipes are for a 3 gallon boil.. If I were to do a 5 gallon boil would it still taste the same with the same amount of ingredients going in, or do you have to change up the ingredients to make up for the two extra gallons of water being boiled? Thanks so much!!

GRAINS would be the same; whether you boil the water together or add it at the end, the gravity SHOULD come out the same

HOPS are a different story; more water in the boil = better hop utilization = can use less hops for same IBUs

I think a full boil with five gallons is recommended. The act of boiling does a lot to make beer better. Depending on your setup at this stage you might not be able to boil that much in one go. It also depends on your recipe and how it was written. A lot of people doing extract start with three gallon boils and top off with two more gallons in the fermenter before pitching yeast.

http://brianbeer.blogspot.com/2008/03/importance-of-full-wort-boil.html

I'd also imagine you might get more caramelization of sugars and subsequent darkening in a three gallon boil than a five gallon boil.

Arrheinous said:

I'd also imagine you might get more caramelization of sugars and subsequent darkening in a three gallon boil than a five gallon boil.

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Late extract additions will greatly reduce or eliminate the caramelization. Many add the LME at 10 minutes left or flameout. My last batch I only boiled the steeping grain wort and 1 lb of dme and added all the LME at flameout.

I suggest getting an 8 gallon kettle. This will allow you to do full boils.

richwyso said:

If I were to do a 5 gallon boil would it still taste the same with the same amount of ingredients going in, or do you have to change up the ingredients to make up for the two extra gallons of water being boiled? Thanks so much!!

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The recipe is assuming you are are doing a half boil. You do not need to change and Ingredients if doing a full boil. Full boil will taste much better.

I started out doing full boils in an 8 gal kettle. If I knew then what I knew now I would have just gotten a 15 gal kettle. You will need 6 and a 1/2 gal for a full boil. That will leave you about 2 in. to stop a boil over. It's to close for my comfort. A gal or so will boil off and ur grains and hops will absorb some. I would say get a 15gal. You won't regret it.

That's just my opinion. Can't wait to upgrade from my 8gal. It is the absolute minimum for a full boil.

Is your setup capable of keeping a vigorous boil at full boil?

ncbrewer said:

Is your setup capable of keeping a vigorous boil at full boil?

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THe kettle I have is technically 5 gallons, but when I did my first batch i bought separate 1 gallon water jugs to put into the kettle and when we got to the third it just seemed way too high and that all 5 gallons wouldnt actually fit in there without a boil over. So that's why I would do a vigorous boil with 3 gallons and not worry about a boil over

lespaul23 said:

The recipe is assuming you are are doing a half boil. You do not need to change and Ingredients if doing a full boil. Full boil will taste much better.

I started out doing full boils in an 8 gal kettle. If I knew then what I knew now I would have just gotten a 15 gal kettle. You will need 6 and a 1/2 gal for a full boil. That will leave you about 2 in. to stop a boil over. It's to close for my comfort. A gal or so will boil off and ur grains and hops will absorb some. I would say get a 15gal. You won't regret it.

That's just my opinion. Can't wait to upgrade from my 8gal. It is the absolute minimum for a full boil.

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Ha i replied to the other posting before i read this. So basically I would have to get a 6.5 at least. I live in a condo thats already busting at the seams with my stuff. Between all my power tools and now the collection of brewing supplies. The guest room is luckily mine but my fiance does not like clutter in there so if i were to upgrade to a bigger one it would be the 6.5 gal one for now. Happy wife happy life eh? ha

I hear ya. We are taking our kitchens and closets back lol. Just keep in mind if you want to do full boils u need 6 and a half gal of water. So a minimum 8 gal pot. And like I said if I were you, I would do it right and get a 15 gal kettle from the start.

Good luck!!

So would it be okay to use 5 gallons instead of the 3 my extract kit recipe says to use for my next batch? (does that mean I should start boiling 6.5 gallons?)

If u have a kettle big enough and a means to boil a lot of water u should do as close to a full boil as u can. The recipes say to boil 3 gal, that's for a partial boil. If u can boil 5gal do it! But if u want a full boil, be prepared to boil about 6 and a half gal and u will be left with 5 gal of wort.

Like I said b4 I use an 8gal pot and I think it's to small. When I boil 6 and a half gal I only have about 2 in. b4 I get a boil over. It would be nice to have more wiggle room so I would say anyone wanting to do a full boil should have at least a 12gal pot. But that's just my opinion. I have what most would say is the minimum sized pot for a full boil and I think it's too small.

double post sry.