boil volume question

[rege]

Should the starting boil volume be with or without the extract. If I include the extract, I'm reducing the amount of water, so will this reduce my hopp utilazation?

 

[runningweird]

if you are doing full boils and not partial(adding water back to bring up volume) then your starting volume is the amount of water needed plus your extract. that being said a partial boil is a way to keep your volume down and not overshoot your end volume. as long as you follow your hop schedule I don't see how using a gallon or two less water would hurt the way your hops are used.

 

[Rev2010]

I disagree, the total preboil volume should be the whole thing - extract included. Especially with higher gravity brews all those pounds of extract take up a lot of volume. I recently did a full boil where I started with the water volume then added the extract. I couldn't boil off enough in one hour with an agreesive boil and wound up past my desired volume by about 3/4 gallon. I would add the extract then add the water to reach your preboil. If near the boil end you are a little short you can add a little more water in, not the other way around unfortunately - unless you boil longer and can possibly make the beer darker.



Rev.

 

[runningweird]

boil off rate is more a function of the size of your boil vessel and strength of your boil, along with ambient factors like temperature and humidity, IIRC, rather than how much liquid you have.

adding the extract to the pot can also lead to scorching if you are not careful to mix it all very very well, I found it easier to add the extract to near boiling water thus dissolving it more evenly.


This is all assuming OP has a pot capable of holding 6.5 gallons of boiling wort(guessing at 1.5/hr boil off rate). I feel a full boil to be preferable, but when doing extract I found it easier to do a partial boil and then pour my wort over two 10 pound bags of ice to cool it down rather than fool with an immersion chiller inside or an ice bath.