Methods to keeping a full boil going?

[pshankstar]

With four brews under my belt so far, I would say I'm still very new at home brewing and thought this may be the best forum to ask in.

I am very interested in a doing a full boil for my next home brew. I have read that some people will keep adding some boiling water to the wort as it evaporates or burns off. My concern is, I create my wort outside on a propane burner and I would have to keep a pot of water boiling inside on the stove if I followed this method. My concerns are walking away briefly and having a boil over. My pot is only 7.5 gallons in size, so I would be pushing it.

So I was curious to know, would it be ok to keep filling/topping it off with jugs of spring water as needed? In the summer time here in Western NY it can stay pretty warm. If I keep the jugs near me in the sun while I'm making the wort, the water will be very warm. If this method is no good, what other methods or suggestions do others have? Any and all input would be appreciated!

Thank you in advance and take care!

 

[cannman]

Well.... I've never heard of this method... Not to say it's not done, but I can see problems as the water you add brings down the temp and YES you are right, how would keep the boil going?!

Are you brewing extract or all-grain? This will help figure things out.

The trick most of us use is to calculate apx how much water the grain suck up from our total volume and we top up to meet the required volume BEFORE the boil.

Now, I know this is in the beginner's sections but there's no way around it, you need to figure out what your boil off rate is. You can do this by taking a measured full pot of water and boiling for an hour and then remeasure. Given this factor, you can figure how much water to overshoot your boil by.

The easiest and least favorable (IMHO) but most effective is to have a large volume of pre-boiled water ready, full boil as much as your kettle will allow, and simply top up with the pre-boiled water. IE Lets say you boil 5 gal, your eveaporation only leaves 3 gallons, you want a 5 gallon batch, so you top up at the end with 2 gal of your pre-boiled water.

I consider the boil time as only time that there is turbulence on the surface of the wort, so don't use the add-water-as-we-boil method...

Good Luck!

 

[pshankstar]

Thanks @cannman!! Right now I'm only doing extract brewing. My last brew said to start with 4 gallons after steeping the grains. When I was done I had only 2.5 gallons of wort.

Now I know the weather probably plays a factor. For example it was around 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside with no shade and the humidity was high too. I will need to do some experiments to better nail down the boil off for sure.

Thanks again!!!

 

[C-Rider]

You don't have to do your "test" boil for an hour. You could do it for 10 min and then multiply by 6, or for 15 min and multiply by 4. Got it?

 

[mrgrimm101]

Well with extract you can do full volume boils, but why can't you do a partial boil and top up later? When I do an extract batch, that's what I do.

I boil about 4 gallons in my 5 gallon kettle, which boils down to about 2.5-3 gallons. Then I transfer to my primary and top up to about 5-5.5 gallons. I've never really had a problem hitting my OG this way.

As far as I understand, with a full volume boil, you'll want a big enough kettle to put your total volume into without having to top up with more water later. That way if you boil 8 gallons it should boil down to 5 gallons. If you're really adamant with doing a full volume boil, I guess I'll be the guy who says you should get a bigger kettle. I don't usually like to suggest spending more money on equipment..but in your case I fear you would be limited with the 7.5 gallon kettle trying to boil 7-8 gallons.

 

[smizak]

Definitely don't sweat trying to maintain the full batch volume during the boil. I brew all-grain and intentionally aim to over-boil at least a little bit. I always have an unopened jug of distilled water to top up in the fermenter if need be.

 

[jrgtr42]

IMO 7.5 gallon pot is the absolute minimum for a full boil, and you will be right on the line. I usually try to collect between 6.5 and 7 gallons pre boil, expecting about 5.5 going into fermenter. I have a 33 qt pot that 95% of the time I can avoid boil overs. It takes some careful watching and stirring to make sure of it, and occasionally I have to lower my flame on the burning a bit for a minute. If I was you with a 7.5 gallon, I would plan to start boil with about 6 gallons, and top off with pre-boiled or a jug of water from the store (I don't think there's enough bugs in there to worry about.) - not water right from the tap. Another advantage to topping off is that you can get that water as cold as you can without freezing and use it to get the wort temp down if your chiller isn't up to snuff. As others said, don't top-off during the boil - it just isn't the most efficient way to do things.

 

[Hello]

I've never heard of adding water throughout the boil. It seems like the wort could be watered down by it or something. At the very least, maybe the hop utilization will change.

When I do full boils I get enough runnings to account for boil off. I don't bother adding water if I hit my target OG.

 

[AlfA01]

I'm not one to topoff a beer. Whatever end up with after a boil, is what I'll be drinking minus trub, hop residue, etc. which causes some volume loss. I make really good notes and correct any mistakes made on the next brew. I'm an AG brewer as well, so I'm the best source of info for extract brewing.

You can also get a free brewing app such as BeerSmith to help with pre and post boil volumes.

I wouldn't deal with tap water as a topoff medium though. Chlorine and other non-beer friendly chemicals are often in there.

Cheers,
Dan

 

[pshankstar]

You don't have to do your "test" boil for an hour. You could do it for 10 min and then multiply by 6, or for 15 min and multiply by 4. Got it?

Makes sense!! I tend to over think things then later on my brain is processing it in the background and I realize there is usually an easy way. Such as you stated. Thanks!!!

 

[pshankstar]

Thanks everyone!! I appreciate the feedback!!

 

[lucas75_75]

Hi everyone. i'm new to all grain and boiled over my first batch. 7.5 gallon pot. i live in the country and use well water. Could I boil some water in a separate pot to add to the wort to reach my 5 gallons after the boil? If so how much should i try to boil in my 7.5 gallon pot?

thanks

 

[Yooper]

Hi everyone. i'm new to all grain and boiled over my first batch. 7.5 gallon pot. i live in the country and use well water. Could I boil some water in a separate pot to add to the wort to reach my 5 gallons after the boil? If so how much should i try to boil in my 7.5 gallon pot?

thanks

If you check the gravity after the boil, and it's too high, you can add water to get to your desired OG per your recipe.

I used a 7.5 gallon pot for quite a while, and found I could boil about 6.2 gallons in it, if I watched it carefully for boilovers (it was in my kitchen).

 

[mxstar21]

Brewing software such as Beer Smith can help calculate boil off and other things too. It is only $25, but probably one of the most valuable tools for brewing I have purchased. It is awesome for creating recipes.

For what it is worth, I have never heard of adding boiling water to compensate for boil off either as several others have stated. I think doing so would keep you from hitting the correct O.G. Maybe this was an old way of brewing? Not knocking it, and if this way works for you then that is great!