First brew by boiling and dry hopping. Help?

HI, I'm about to embark my first brew with a kit, with additions that will require boiling...

I am going to make a north west hoppy pale ale by pouring as much of wort from the kit (Brew House) into the biggest pot I have (about 3 gallons) as I can (leaving space of course) and bringing up to 170, add my grain bag of malt, and hold for 20 minutes, remove it, then I'll bring the wort to a boil, add my first batch of hops, boil for 10, add the 2nd batch, boil for ten, then give it an ice bath and/OR First Question: can I add the rest of the wort and a bit of water to bring the temperature down to where i have to pitch the yeast (and bring the volume up)?

After that I'll put in the primary for a few days, then to the carboy where I'll also add my finishing hops - which is my next question...can I throw them in unsterilized?

assuming it's a 5 gallon kit Yes add water to get to 5 gallons.You don't need to steralize your hops.some people do,but I have never had a problem.

Are you only boiling for 20 minutes total?

yes, i was only going to boil for 20...is it ok to add unboiled wort to the boiled wort?

go buy a 5 gallon pot.$10 at ocean state job lot.

You should almost always boil any ingredients that you plan on putting into your beer unless you know it is sanitary, which unboiled wort most certainly is not. Also, wort is almost always boiled for at least 60 minutes. It takes this long to get the best bittering potential from the hops, and different hops added at different times do very different things to the beer.

I can' buy a five gallon pot, nothing to cook it on...the wort is already sterile, its from a kit.

Fernwoodguy said:

I can' buy a five gallon pot, nothing to cook it on...the wort is already sterile, its from a kit.

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But the grains are not. Grains are covered with potential infections, like lactobacillus. You should steep the grains in water, at about 150 degrees, for twenty minutes or so, then add the wort and bring to a boil. You can steep the grains in a small amount of water, but I wouldn't steep them in the wort.

BarleyWater said:

You should almost always boil any ingredients that you plan on putting into your beer unless you know it is sanitary, which unboiled wort most certainly is not.

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The wort he is talking about is Brew House. It comes in a no-boil kit (15l/3-4gal). Makes really good beer. But the wort itself is completely sanitized and fine for addition to anything.

If you ever want to make a beer in 15 or 20 minutes that will turn out perfectly, Brew House is a great way to go. I've made 4 of them, and all of them have been stellar.

Yes, the Brewhouse wort is sterile, and they do make great beer, I've been drinking a friend's for awhile! But I like a good hoppy beer, ,not just bitter but aromatic as well, so i have to go experiment. Fortunately I was finally able to get a a hold of my brewmaster buddy and he has approved my method...heat as much wort as I can, steep my malt, remove, then bring to a boil, boil my hops, then boil my additional water for the kit separately and then throw it all together, including the leftover wort, though he did advise I should boil it too in case something gets in there when it was opened. Cool it, pitch the yeast and its back to following the kits instructions...

My 1056 yeast is on the go as I write...

and it's a he (hence FernwoodGUY ;-)