Most likely a dumb question about brewing

Hey all, I have so far only been doing a few brew with a pre-packaged kit, where you just add your malt sugers a few other hops etc and yeast. I have been reading more and more of you guys boiling up the wort yourself with all the grains etc.

It seems you have to boil up the whole 23 liters, or am I going crazy? I would never be able to fit a pot that big in my kitchen, is it possible to do small worts and add more water to the mix in the carboy?

Thanks all, sorry if this is clearly explained some where, I have been looking but am ot sure how to go about making my own brew from scratch with limited space

Thanks.

Partial boils are the norm for extract brewing. (meaning you do not boil the full volume of the wort). Usually 2.5 - 3 gallons (depending on your kettle size), topping off the primary with enough water to total 5 gallons. Do a google search for Beer Smith. They offer a fee trial period for their software where you can formulate recipes and see how different boil volumes effect your hop utilization.

You can do partial boils if you are using a little grain and mainly extract.
If you are using All grain then you need to do a full boil and it is more like 30L you need to boil to end up with 23L in the fermenter.

Go and buy an extract kit from the home brew store. All extract kits I have seen are partial boil. They have all the ingredients needed and most have decent instructions. Also read this. Good luck.

You can easily do mini-mashes with a 2.5 gallon pot. All grain requires a large pot, because you have to concentrate the wort.

How do people boil 30L of wort? Will a kitchen stove do it?

moto36 said:

How do people boil 30L of wort? Will a kitchen stove do it?

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Turkey fryer and 30+ quart stainless steel pot out doors (or in a garage with the door open).
I'm a kitchen brewer so far and have gotten 4 gallons to boil in a decent time but that will depend on your stove. Gas tends to be better than electric but burners differ in max output.
The ingredient kits I have tried so far have been steep specialty grains and extract. The directions are fairly clear and easy.
http://www.howtobrew.com also has instructions for beginners.
Craig

I'll bet 30L of spilled boiled wort would be the end of a man's feet.

Moto what's your location?

moto36 said:

I'll bet 30L of spilled boiled wort would be the end of a man's feet.

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and more than likely his genitalia if he's married.

I'm in Kennesaw Ga Orfy. I was just picturing myself handling 45 lbs of boiling hot wort myself and and having it spill.

I was asking because you was using litres instead of gallons.
Mostly us Brits using the correct measurements.

If you where this side it'd restrict your option equipment wise.

I hear you Orfy but you have to admit a system in which 10 is the factor rather than our plethora of factors (5,280ft/mile, 1760 yards/ mile, 128 oz/ gallon etc) is a heck of a lot more simple. Unless of course you grew up with English measurements as I did.

But I do admit it. That's why I use proper metric measurements.

BUT LEAVE MY PINT BE.

orfy said:

But I do admit it. That's why I use proper metric measurements.

BUT LEAVE MY PINT BE.

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I thought you Brits believed the only proper things were those that you invented. We inherited this archaic system from you, so it must be the proper one

IowaStateFan said:

I thought you Brits believed the only proper things were those that you invented. We inherited this archaic system from you, so it must be the proper one

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Our civilisation has advanced.

orfy said:

Our civilisation has advanced.

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So has our civilization.

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