Getting ready for first batch!

I will be brewing my first batch on Monday night. I have the Brewers best deluxe kit, decent boil pot, and a kit from my lhbs. The kit I assume is a partial mash kit since I have to steap the little bag of grains for 30 min then boil and add the lme etc.

One of my questions is I also have a turkey fryer that has a 30qt pot. Can I combine two kits to make a 10 gallon batch? I wont do it this time but once I get a couple brews under my belt I will. Reason I ask is I already have a kegerator and will be kegging. I have 3 spare corny kegs. If things work out and I like brewing I will build a keezer.

With the turkey fryer I have will I be able to do the Centennial Blonde 10g batch that seems real popular on this site?

Thanks

It was hard to wrap my head around the difference between extract with steeping grains and partial mash. Your kit is most likely an extract with steeping grains. A partial mash would be similar but with the requirement of base malts as part of the grain and a much tighter temperature range requirement. If it is a partial mash kit it should say so and give the instructions on mashing.

Instead of a 10 gallon batch, why not make 2 more 5 gallon batches that are different so you have choices of beer in your kegs? Those batches could be the same recipe if you want that or you could make slight changes to see how that affects your beer.

No, you won't be able to make 10 gallon batches with a 30 qt (7.5 gal) turkey fryer pot. You'll need at least a half-barrel keg (15.5 gal) turned into a kettle (keggle) to make 10 gallong batches. A 7.5 gal turkey fryer is almost too small for 5 gallon batches, since you'll need close to 6.5 gallons of water/wort pre-boil to account for evaporation and sediment loss.

Thanks for the advice

metanoia said:

No, you won't be able to make 10 gallon batches with a 30 qt (7.5 gal) turkey fryer pot. You'll need at least a half-barrel keg (15.5 gal) turned into a kettle (keggle) to make 10 gallong batches. A 7.5 gal turkey fryer is almost too small for 5 gallon batches, since you'll need close to 6.5 gallons of water/wort pre-boil to account for evaporation and sediment loss.

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7.5 gallons is more than enough for a 5 gallon batch. My kettle is no more than 8 gallons and I have considered doing a 10 gallon batch.

When you brew extract, and potentially partial mash, you don't need to do a full volume boil. This means AT NO POINT do you have to have 5-6 gallons in the kettle. I have done 9 extract w/ special grains batches on my own in my kettle. I never boil more than 3 gallons of water. Some people may like to boil the full volume, but I never have and never will. I view it as a gross waste of time. The bigger the volume, the longer it takes to boil and the longer it takes to chill.

I steep my grains in about 2-3 gallons of water. I have roughly a gallon boiling to top up the temperature if the steep gets too cold. Then I boil that amount which is never more than 3.5 gallons. When I go to chill, I add the boiled wort to chilled water in the fermenter. This helps my immersion chiller cool the wort as I have just added it to refrigerated water and tops it up to the necessary 5 gallons. I haven't had a bad batch come out of this method and would recommend it.

Rant over. That said, 7.5 is more than enough for a 5 gallon batch because hopefully you are never boiling the entire volume. For a 10 gallon batch though you are most likely going to need at least an 8 gallon kettle. This is just from my experience.

VTrookie said:

7.5 gallons is more than enough for a 5 gallon batch. My kettle is no more than 8 gallons and I have considered doing a 10 gallon batch.

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Well yes, but I was unaware that many people, if any, were using large turkey fryers. After reading the original post again, I can see how the OP was referencing extract brewing; I didn't take his beginner status into account because "turkey fryer" usually makes me think about all-grain brewing.

VTrookie said:

When you brew extract, and potentially partial mash, you don't need to do a full volume boil. This means AT NO POINT do you have to have 5-6 gallons in the kettle. I have done 9 extract w/ special grains batches on my own in my kettle. I never boil more than 3 gallons of water. Some people may like to boil the full volume, but I never have and never will. I view it as a gross waste of time. The bigger the volume, the longer it takes to boil and the longer it takes to chill.

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Actually, I've heard that regardless of method (extract, partial, or all grain), doing a full boil if possible is always going to provide a better beer, seeing as how you're boiling all of the malt and hops at full-volume instead of diluting it later. I know there's a lot more information out there supporting this, perhaps one of the more experienced brewers on here like Yooper could explain better.

As for a waste of time, if you can't get 5 gallons to pitching temp in under 30 minutes, that's on the chilling method used. A counter-flow or plate chiller will easily complete this task, and an immersion chiller will typically get the job done. Having to boil/cool 2-3 gallons less of wort doesn't outweigh the advantages of a full-boil.

VTrookie said:

I steep my grains in about 2-3 gallons of water. I have roughly a gallon boiling to top up the temperature if the steep gets too cold. Then I boil that amount which is never more than 3.5 gallons. When I go to chill, I add the boiled wort to chilled water in the fermenter. This helps my immersion chiller cool the wort as I have just added it to refrigerated water and tops it up to the necessary 5 gallons. I haven't had a bad batch come out of this method and would recommend it.

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I've had good and bad batches from extract, and I'm sure I'll have good and bad batches with all grain once I get more time to brew. The biggest factor for most people is all about what kind of space and equipment they have; from there I can only assume (as a beginner myself) that the knowledge and experience shared by the senior brewers here can only help to improve myt brewing.

VTrookie said:

That said, 7.5 is more than enough for a 5 gallon batch because hopefully you are never boiling the entire volume.

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Again, I'd love to hear input from those with hundreds of times more experience than myself about why full boils are always preferable.

Actually, here's a result from a quick search on Google, where Yooper answers said question: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/full-boil-2-5-gal-351104/

Edit: Oh yeah, full boils also produce more accurate OG readings. Not super important for the first few batches someone makes, but taking readings soon becomes one of the more advanced parts of brewing that home brewers adapt to their method in order to produce better beer.

... schooled.