5-gallon boil & 14.5-gallon fermenter

[Marauder777]

Hello all! I've been lurking for about a year now and have gained tons of information from you folks.

With that being said, I'm not sure I've ever seen a thread that addresses my question.

I am limited to only being able to boil 5-gallons at a time (stove-top, electric elements), but I have a 14.5-gallon stainless conical fermenter. Is there any problem spending an entire day and brewing multiple batches of the same recipe, and "topping off" the fermenter?

If there is no problem doing that, what kind of time frame am I limited to? Can I do a brew in the afternoon, pitch yeast, go to bed, get up in the morning and make another?

It seems a shame to not be able to fully utilize this fermenter.

 

[DannPM]

The brewery at at Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy (Rochefort) pours new wort on top of fermenting wort intermittently until a full volume is reached throughout the week.

You could try it this way, just brew three times a week, and add the volume as you brew, just like they do. It saves on pitching the proper amount of yeast for a 14.5 gallon batch as well, eh?

 

[Marauder777]

Well, that answers my next question then.... no need to pitch additional yeast.

Any idea of a time frame where it's probably not a good idea to do this?

 

[Paramecium]

A lot of breweries do multiple boils to fill larger fermenters. Should be fine to do a couple batches and fill it up.