All Grain Partial Boil?

I am hoping to get in to AG soon. (Ya I know someone posts this like everyday)
I have decided that I will start with some recipes that call for some simple single infusion mashes and go with batch sparging so I can use a converted picnic cooler mash tun.

My problem is that I don't want to spring for a large brew pot. I have been using a small pot for my extract brews and was wondering if I could continue to use it.
Is it possible for me to finish my mashing and set it aside (capped carboy or something sanitary, open to suggestions) and boil part of my wort and then later recombine the wort that was set aside and the hopped wort? It seems to make sense to me because it works with extract brews. This would allow me to get in to AG and postpone buying a large brew pot because the more I spend on brewing the less I brew. Does this make sense or am I missing something? Thanks in advance for the help.

ALL of the wort need to be boiled.

1. Gotta be sanitized.
2. Gotta get a good hot break and precipitate proteins out of the wort; most of that stuff is already removed when extract is manufactured.
3. DMS precursors need to be boiled off.

One option would be to get a second, medium-sized pot and do a split boil (but then you've got to figure on two ice baths, as well).

if money is a concern, pick up a cheap aluminum pot. They can be had for like $30

You could also do some high gravity brewing, say brew up 2.5 gallons of 1.090 wort and then dillute it with water down to 5 gallons of 1.045 wort.

the_bird said:

2. Gotta get a good hot break and precipitate proteins out of the wort; most of that stuff is already removed when extract is manufactured.

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Would you mind elaborating on #2 ? What it means and also how exactly you get the proteins out of the wort ?

Mutilated1 said:

Would you mind elaborating on #2 ? What it means and also how exactly you get the proteins out of the wort ?

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The heat of the boil coagulates the proteins into big clumps. Imagine you take an egg and mix it in a pot of cool water, then you start to boil it, the egg bits are going to start clumping together. When you stop boiling these clumped egg bits will stay clumped and drop to the bottom. Same kind of thing happens in the boil to the proteins from the malt (hops, too?).

I'd say do PM until you can afford a larger pot. AG requires excess water for sparging, in addition to all of the reasons above. The only alternative is to do several boils in the smaller pot.

david_42 said:

I'd say do PM until you can afford a larger pot. AG requires excess water for sparging, in addition to all of the reasons above. The only alternative is to do several boils in the smaller pot.

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I agree with PM idea. Its easier to practice the technique and if your extract yield is low its not a total loss since you're adding DME or LME. My first AG was low. It was disappointing. I had to add brown sugar to bump up the gravity so I wasn't drinking barley water. It was a brown ale from John Palmer's website.

If you insist, buy a turkey fryer for the holiday under the guise its for Thanksgiving! Then brew with it later. (Insert evil laugh here. muhahaha!!)

Even with this you may have to keep your grain bill down to a managable size. My fryer kettle can only hold about 7.5 gal of water. This is where you can still carry it w/o spilling.

PM's are good way to brew even AGer's do PM's when they are short of time but still want/need to brew!

FYI - Charlie Papazian's prefers PM brewing.

I also agree with the PM idea. I've done two small kettles (split boil) and its annoying to keep track of the same variables on two separate pots.
PM will still teach you all about AG brewing, just on a smaller scale. plus you can 'cheat' with DME to fix your gravity if you come up short.

ok good advice

would an 32qt/ 8 gallon Al pot work?

Yes I have read about the SS vs. Al and understand the pros and cons. What I was wondering was about Aluminum oxide. It is my understanding that this is a desired byproduct of your first brew. Is there a way can I create this layer before my first brew or would this be pointless?

8 gallon is the smallest size I'd recommend for full boils, and that's mainly due to avoiding boilovers during hotbreak and first hop addition.
if you're diligent, 8gal pot won't be a problem.
Mine's 9 gallons...and a lot of guys go for 10 gal so boilovers are hardly a concern for them.

BuffaloSabresBrewer said:

ok good advice

would an 32qt/ 8 gallon Al pot work?

Yes I have read about the SS vs. Al and understand the pros and cons. What I was wondering was about Aluminum oxide. It is my understanding that this is a desired byproduct of your first brew. Is there a way can I create this layer before my first brew or would this be pointless?

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Sure, just boil a pot full of water. You'll notice the interior will darken significantly.

Catfish said:

The heat of the boil coagulates the proteins into big clumps. Imagine you take an egg and mix it in a pot of cool water, then you start to boil it, the egg bits are going to start clumping together. When you stop boiling these clumped egg bits will stay clumped and drop to the bottom. Same kind of thing happens in the boil to the proteins from the malt (hops, too?).

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yes I've noticed the clumps coagulating ( <sp? ), but what I wasn't clear about is I sort of understood the other poster to imply that you could remove the clumps somehow. Maybe I didn't understand him correctly.

Is there something that you're supposed to do to get rid of the clumpy material ?

Mutilated1 said:

Is there something that you're supposed to do to get rid of the clumpy material ?

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It will settle out as the wort cools. I think it can also be described as trub. - Dirk

Schlenkerla said:

If you insist, buy a turkey fryer for the holiday under the guise its for Thanksgiving! Then brew with it later. (Insert evil laugh here. muhahaha!!)

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Heh. That's how I got my new stainless steel 36 quart pot! Great deal: 60 bucks and free shipping! It seems like it is pretty good quality too. I would suggest buying stainless steel if you plan on brewing often. Not because of the aluminum thing, but because it will last longer.