Brew 5 Gallons of Beer

[BillyRaygun]

My neighbor bought me a soda keg so that I can keg my beer. It holds 5 gallons. Reading The Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian, the section Especially for the Beginner states to boil 1.5 gallons of beer, then add 3 gallons of clean water to give me approximately 5 gallons to ferment.

I recall watching a friend boil 5 gallons of beer at one time but never thought to ask why, as I never even thought about brewing my own beer.

Being this is my second batch of beer, with the first batch bottled about 16 months ago, does it matter if I boil all 5 gallons of wort, or do I really need to just boil 1.5 gallons and add the balance prior to fermenting?

If I do boil all 5 gallons, is there a benefit from doing so, or will change the end result?

 

[trigger]

You should probably boil all 5 gallons, but you don't have to do it all at once. Boiling sanitizes the water and drives off chemicals added by your municipality. You can boil 4 gallons, then pour it into sanitized jugs and put it in the fridge to cool. After you boil your wort, add the cooled water to it. That'll help bring your temperature down to pitching temps.

 

[findlaym]

if you boil less than the final volume then you are doing a partial boil. This is what I do because its difficult to heat and subsequently cool that much water.

It effects how much of the compounds are extracted from your hops but if you use beersmith or other software you can account for this if you really want to. also, it tends to produce a slightly darker beer. personally I don't really care, but this can be dealt with to some degree by doing late extract additions.

so, yes it's ok. yes some stuff changes, but nothing major

read up on "partial boil" you will be fine.

 

[BillyRaygun]

Thanks guys for such quick feedback. I bought a stainless steel pot big enough to boil 5 gallons at once. I also bought a wort chiller that allows me to cool the wort by attaching a garden hose to one end, and run cool water through the copper coil and exit at the other end.

This evening, I just bought iBrewMaster for my iPad to better track and measure my brewing process.

From the sounds of it though, brewing 5 gallons all at once, or doing a "partial boil" really doesn't matter as long as I track what I'm doing and follow the proper steps when it comes to adding ingredients?

Since it has been so long since I made my first batch and spoke with a local home brew store, I'm kind of starting from scratch again. As I do, I'm re-reading my books, learning software and talking with people so this next batch will be a success.

Im confident it will come out tasty, but for some reason I recall from my first batch, boiling 5 gallons all at once required more sugars or an extra step? Is that not the case?

 

[brewit2it]

Thanks guys for such quick feedback. I bought a stainless steel pot big enough to boil 5 gallons at once. I also bought a wort chiller that allows me to cool the wort by attaching a garden hose to one end, and run cool water through the copper coil and exit at the other end.

This evening, I just bought iBrewMaster for my iPad to better track and measure my brewing process.

From the sounds of it though, brewing 5 gallons all at once, or doing a "partial boil" really doesn't matter as long as I track what I'm doing and follow the proper steps when it comes to adding ingredients?

Since it has been so long since I made my first batch and spoke with a local home brew store, I'm kind of starting from scratch again. As I do, I'm re-reading my books, learning software and talking with people so this next batch will be a success.

Im confident it will come out tasty, but for some reason I recall from my first batch, boiling 5 gallons all at once required more sugars or an extra step? Is that not the case?

No extra steps. Either do a full boil (if you want to end up with 5 gallons you are going to want to start with more than 5 to account for boil off) or do a partial boil then top off to your desired final volume, about 5.5 gallons if you want to end with 5 gallons bottled or kegged.

 

[findlaym]

yeah you will loose some water in the boil too right? about 15% per hour is the ballpark. also you need some room on the top of the pot or your delicious beer will be all over your kitchen. I'd start with 4G water in your pot and end up with 3.5 G wort.

 

[erikpete18]

If you've got the capability to boil 5 gal, I'd go for it. That means you probably need a 7 gal pot, or some fermcap to keep the boilovers down. You are gonna get some boil off, but once you boil a few times you'll figure out pretty quickly how much you boil off and can adjust for it. Make sure you mark your fermenter (if it has marks on it already don't trust them without checking). That way even if you boil off some you can add back enough water to get to 5-5.5 gal.

Im confident it will come out tasty, but for some reason I recall from my first batch, boiling 5 gallons all at once required more sugars or an extra step? Is that not the case?

What you might be thinking of is correcting for IBU. The higher the gravity, the fewer IBUs you can extract from hops. If you do a 2.5 gal boil with all your sugars, its twice the gravity than a 5 gal boil, and you'll get fewer IBUs from the 2.5 gal with the same amount of hops. If you do partial boil, what you can do is only add half the extract at the beginning, then 45 min. into your boil you can add the rest of your extract. This way your bittering hops are in the lower gravity wort when boiled, so you can copy someone's 5 gal. recipe without having to increase the hops. If you're boiling 5 gal (or close to it) I wouldn't worry about it!

 

[chaydaw]

I'm pretty sure it is taken as a fact that doing a full boil will greatly enhance the end product. Not sure you will find anyone who will choose to do partial boils when they have the capabilities of doing a full boil.

 

[Malintent]

what's better, 8oz of beer, or 8oz of beer with 10oz of water poured into it? you decide.

I'll duck for cover now as the partial mash brewers start throwing their tiny little pots and pans at me.

 

[liebertron]

Most people think i am crazy, but when i taste people's partial boil brew I ALWAYS can taste a taste that you only get from tap water. I always boil all five gallons because it gets rid of that tap water taste.

 

[BillyRaygun]

Thank you everyone for all the feedback. Excellent information.

@erikpete18, I have to do some more studying, but IBUs is what I was thinking may be the extra step.

Anyway, thanks everyone. I really appreciate the support.

 

[jonmohno]

what's better, 8oz of beer, or 8oz of beer with 10oz of water poured into it? you decide.

I'll duck for cover now as the partial mash brewers start throwing their tiny little pots and pans at me.

Im gonna find out in a few weeks because i topped off my last beer bottled that was 3/4 full but was a .06 og. not quite yours and i dont really know whats going on but i know medocino white hawk ipa its tastin all- right.ha:ta

 

[ACbrewer]

@BillyRaygun - before you go an put all 5 gall on the stove in that 8 gall (32 quart) pot you will need, you need to be sure you can heat it.

Personallybecause my poor electric stove can't drive more than about 3 or 4 gallons to boil, which means I can't do a full 5 gallon boil without splitting hte bach, I usually do a partial and add tap. Another option is (and I could do this and did once) split your ingredinents about in half and use 2 pots - basically making 2 2.5 gallon full boils and then cool and put it all in the fermentor.. I find that for my palette an unneeded hassle.
If you are worried about 'off flavors' from the clorine in your water, you could boil some, and cover it and let it sit over night the day before.

Again, a lot of this for me is driven by the whole electric stove, gas stoves or propane burners can get hotter.

@Malintent - it isn't an 8oz beer with 10oz of water v 8oz beer, it is an 8 oz double strength beer with 10 oz water ...

 

[BillyRaygun]

@BillyRaygun - before you go an put all 5 gall on the stove in that 8 gall (32 quart) pot you will need, you need to be sure you can heat it ...

I am going to boil outside using a propane burner. From what I've read, propane should boil 5 gallons pretty well and if I have a go at it for about 60 minutes, I should end up with a good wort.

Does that sound right?

 

[drathbone]

Most people think i am crazy, but when i taste people's partial boil brew I ALWAYS can taste a taste that you only get from tap water. I always boil all five gallons because it gets rid of that tap water taste.

Just because it's a partial boil doesn't always mean they are using tap water....I use tap with my 2g parboil and add bottled water for topoff, so there wouldn't be any tap water to taste, per se.

what's better, 8oz of beer, or 8oz of beer with 10oz of water poured into it? you decide.

What? Is this a troll post? How is that even the same thing? It's not beer until after it's been fermented and you're still going to have the same gravities overall. A full 5 gallon boil with 6lbs of DME is (mostly) the same as 2g partial boil with 6lbs dme with 3gallons top off. They are both 5 gallons water, 6lbs DME no matter the order. You're not adding the 3 gallon top off to beer after fermentation, you're adding it to your super concentrated wort. Saying you're watering down your beer doing a partial boil couldn't be more incorrect.

 

[ACbrewer]

I am going to boil outside using a propane burner. From what I've read, propane should boil 5 gallons pretty well and if I have a go at it for about 60 minutes, I should end up with a good wort.

Does that sound right?

Sounds right.. happy brewing.

 

[brewit2it]

what's better, 8oz of beer, or 8oz of beer with 10oz of water poured into it? you decide.

I'll duck for cover now as the partial mash brewers start throwing their tiny little pots and pans at me.

You thought what you have at the end of the boil is beer?

 

[erikpete18]

I have to do some more studying, but IBUs is what I was thinking may be the extra step.

Since it sounds like you can do a 5 gal boil, unless you're going to try to replicate a beer you've done with partial boil you don't need to worry about IBUs. Since I only do partial boils I have to read the recipe carefully and change things up depending on how the recipe was written. I suppose I could do the math by hand, but I usually use BrewTarget to put together recipes and have them calculate it for me .

 

[Malintent]

You thought what you have at the end of the boil is beer?

My post was a tongue-n-cheek stab at partial mash brewers. I thought the image of "tiny little pots n pans" was funny.

What you get at the end of a mash is called wort. what you get at the end of the boil is called young beer. what you get after fermentation is beer. what you get after conditioning is good beer.

perhaps I should have said, "watered down wort".

 

[TTB-J]

Fermentation creates beer, and not a moment sooner. And you're confusing "partial mash" with "partial boil." No pans are used in making a partial mash beer. And even if there were, they would not likely be tiny. And you're using the phrase "tongue-in-cheek" incorrectly. Other than that, your post is great!

 

[ThePearsonFam]

I'd recommend boiling as much of the entire volume as you can. If you have a 5 gal pot, boil 4.5 gallons and top up. If you can get a 7 gal pot, boil your entire 6.5 gal to get to 5 gal (roughly speaking). The larger volumes allow for better hop isomerization, better boil off of nasty flavor precursors and a more even mixing. Do what you can and don't worry about it.

 

[zippo14]

I have done only two brews, both partial boil but used distilled water in the first and tap water in the second. cant say i notice a difference but tap water quality could be an issue. Cooling times obviously differ from a full and partial boil, and i find it tough to get ahold of something to boil five gallons

 

[windbreaker123]

Some people just have an issue with size. And have to tell everyone how big theirs is. Used to be called compensating when I was younger. Not sure what it means. But??? Some people also suffer from R/C/I and should see a specialist to get it taken care of. What ever you got 2.5 5 10 50 use it. It's all beer once it's done.

 

[zippo14]

well said

 

[Acoma]

Nice neighbor.

 

[Malintent]

go ahead.. ask SWMBO if size matters

Just kidding... I have the deepest respect for all brewers...

 

[rycov]

Some people just have an issue with size. And have to tell everyone how big theirs is. Used to be called compensating when I was younger. Not sure what it means. But??? Some people also suffer from R/C/I and should see a specialist to get it taken care of. What ever you got 2.5 5 10 50 use it. It's all beer once it's done.

RCI?

to the OP if you can do a full boil then you should. my first couple beers were partial boils, and very good. it is a great way for those who can't (burners without enough heat, kettle too small, no chiller and want to use top off to help chill) or those who don't want to do full boils, to make beer. but in my opinion, boiling all at once suits me better, and i have a chiller so i get it cool in ten minutes or so. its preference, thats all.

 

[MrStrangeBrew]

boiling it all will keep everything more sanitized. but boiling one gallon is a lot easier then 5 so as long as you keep everything clean and use decent water you should be good. try both see which you like better. its all about what is best for you!

 

[drathbone]

what you get at the end of the boil is called young beer.

It's still wort.

what you get after fermentation is beer.

This would be young beer.

perhaps I should have said, "watered down wort".

When doing partial boils the wort is concentrated in whatever amount you partial boiled at, using the top off water to come to a 5 gallon volume simply gives you the wort you would have had otherwise doing a full 5 gallon boil.