Home-brew Full Extract Question

[The forager]

Complete beginner at beer making. I have just received my first full extra kit including grains, extract and hops. On the instruction it mentions to add 26 litres of water and bring to the boil. I don't have a pot big enough to hold this amount. Is there any other workaround?

 

[hottpeper13]

Belated welcome, if you can boil 1/2 that's what most do .Add 1/2 liquor(treated water if needed) ,steep the grains as directed , add the DME or 1/2 of the LME and boil. At 10 min left in boil add the remaining extract. I always chilled enough to not break my glass fermenter(wow that was a time or two ago) then top up to 21L or so. It would be at pitching temp,hope you got the rest down cause it's not part of this equation.

 

[The forager]

Belated welcome, if you can boil 1/2 that's what most do .Add 1/2 liquor(treated water if needed) ,steep the grains as directed , add the DME or 1/2 of the LME and boil. At 10 min left in boil add the remaining extract. I always chilled enough to not break my glass fermenter(wow that was a time or two ago) then top up to 21L or so. It would be at pitching temp,hope you got the rest down cause it's not part of this equation.

Ok, think I understand. The main thing is that I dissolve the LME into the water?

I also don't have anything to "chill" the wort".

 

[IslandLizard]

What @hottpeper13 said.^

The main thing is that I dissolve the LME into the water?

That's correct!
You really don't need to boil the extract or all of it. Hot or near boiling water will dissolve the extract quicker than cold water. Just be careful adding liquid extract (LME) while heating the water. It tends to sink to the bottom and stay there, while the (direct) heat may scorch it.

If you're really serious about brewing, get a copy of John Palmer's How to Brew, 4th Ed.
Or read a lot here...

On the instruction it mentions to add 26 litres of water and bring to the boil.

Watch out with "kit" instructions, they tend to assume things you may not have, or even need, such as a large kettle for full boils, which isn't necessary for extract brewing.* Many also include outdated procedures, such as using "secondaries." Avoid using those, unless you brew "specialty" beers that do require a secondary fermentation (such as added fruit or other fermentables), or need long bulk aging. etc.

* You can brew 20 liters of extract based beer using a 5 liter pot.

 

[Bobby_M]

Whatever water you dont put in the boil can be added to the fermenter. Just make sure that water is sanitary so bottled or pre boiled and chilled. You can freeze it in small container to help chill the wort down.

 

[The forager]

Thank you both. I will purchase that book.

I will boil the LME with water then add boiling water to the fermenting vessel.

Surely it can’t be so much different to a kit?!

 

[Sammy86]

add boiling water to the fermenting vessel

DO NOT ADD BOILING WATER TO THE FERMENTATION VESSEL!

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Thank you both. I will purchase that book.

I will boil the LME with water then add boiling water to the fermenting vessel.

Surely it can’t be so much different to a kit?!

As Sammy says don’t add boiling water. At that point, you are wanting to cool your wort, add cold water, the colder the better. All the magic has already happened in the pot. Cool your wort in your pot in an ice bath or by putting the pot in the sink and changing out the water every 10 minutes or so before you put it in the fermentor. Top off with cold water. You want your wort in the fermentor to be 70 - 80 degrees or so when you pitch your yeast.

 

[bracconiere]

DO NOT ADD BOILING WATER TO THE FERMENTATION VESSEL!

damn you just gave me a good laugh! i remember when my hose was frozen...i said i'll just let the wort cool in the carboy....gernade shrapnel....or at least the bottom blew off any way....

 

[The forager]

Haha. Ok got it. Won’t add boiling water to the fermenting vessel.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I will boil the LME with water then add boiling water to the fermenting vessel.

What you can do is to use a water bath in the sink to knock off most of the heat. You can generally lower a small pot from boiling temps to around 90F to 100F pretty quickly. Normally, that last 20-30F to get to pitching temps is what takes the longest time, but adding chilled water will help get you there.

It has been a while since I did a partial boil extract batch. I know the last time I found a calculator that helped me calculate how low I needed to get my water so that I would end up with around 70F after mixing.

When chilling in a sink I will drain off the first batch of hot water, and fill up with cool tap water (repeat that another time if your tap is not very cold). If I need to add ice, I will add that to a fresh batch of cool water after the wort is down to 100F or so. Adding ice to chill boiling wort is just a waste of ice.

Just note, once the wort drop below around 180F, sanitation is important. Make sure any thing you use to stir the wort is clean and sanitized and avoid splashing water into the wort.

 

[Steveruch]

Ok, think I understand. The main thing is that I dissolve the LME into the water?

I also don't have anything to "chill" the wort".

Lots of brewers do what's called no-chill. When I finish boiling I turn off the heat, seal around the lid with plastic wrap, leave it in the cellar overnight, then transfer to the bucket and pitch the yeast.