Can I do a full 5 gallon boil?

[Brewhaa]

I have a 6 gallon stainless pot. All of the kit instructions state to boil 2.5 gallons and add the remaining 2.5 gallons to the finished wort. Even some of the books I have state to only do 2.5-3 gallon boil. Is there anything wrong doing a full 5 gal boil? Does it affect the hop addition or grain seeping process?

 

[RM-MN]

I was going to tell you that you can't do a 5 gallon batch in a 6 gallon pot but I just did 4 gallons in a 5 gallon pot. It isn't easy, the wort is within 1/4 inch of the top at the start of the boil.

You may get better hop utilization with the full 5 gallon boil and cooling it down to yeast pitching temperature may be a challenge. If you only boil 2 1/2 gallons and add cold water top off you can chill it faster in a sink full of cold water and do the final chilling with the cold water addition.

 

[Broken Crow]

The first time I tried to do a full-boil 5-Gallon batch on my stovetop, I did just that.... The boil-over was a nightmare and I ended up having to replace the stovetop element. That cemented my need for a larger vessel.
So you can do it, but it could be very messy. Mind you; The 3-3/4 gallons of ale I ended up with did taste awesome.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Yeah, it'd be tight. You would want to have some defoamer close by and as mentioned above the use of a wort chiller is best to cool the wort when finished boiling. I did 5 gallon batches in an 8 gallon pot. Typically I would start with 6.5 gallons, have some room for boil off and trub loss.

 

[Brewhaa]

I've done a few 5 gal boils in this kettle and its been ok. I can get a good rolling boil on my gas range, but it I've not had any boil over issues. Knock on wood. I also use a copper coil wort chiller. It cools the 5 gal down pretty quickly. I figured I would have better saturation and sanitary control if I boiled the full volume of wort.

 

[wepeeler]

I do 14.5 gallon boils in a 15 gallon kettle all the time. Fermcap S is my best friend. I use it in starters too. They say 2 drops per gal, but I can usually get away with 1 drop per 5. Obviously I go slow with the heat to get a decent hot break, then monitor until a nice steady rolling boil. 5 gallons in a 6 gallon kettle should be fine.

 

[DBhomebrew]

I do 4.5G pre-boil in a 5G kettle

Remember: X gallons at room temp is X+~4% at boil.

First wort hops do the job of Fermcap for me.