2 pot full boil?

[FatsMcBrew]

So common sense says If I do two 2.5gal boils in two stockpots at the same time, and split my DME, hops, and other ingredients equally between the two, that is the equivalent of a 5gal full boil minus a little extra volume loss to evaporation due to a larger surface area.
However, common sense doesn't always apply so, any problems with this idea?

 

[Yooper]

So common sense says If I do two 2.5gal boils in two stockpots at the same time, and split my DME, hops, and other ingredients equally between the two, that is the equivalent of a 5gal full boil minus a little extra volume loss to evaporation due to a larger surface area.
However, common sense doesn't always apply so, any problems with this idea?

No, that'll work just fine. Start with 3.25-3.5 gallons in each part, though. You'll probably boil off at least 1 gallon out of each pot. And two pots = twice the boil off. For my one pot on the stovetop, I boil off just under a gallon an hour.

 

[Arkador]

I am sure people have done it before. Logically it will work, and you will probably get better beer than a partial boil with top off water. If you have a little more hops in one, and extract in the other, it will homoganize during fermentation.

If you really wanna to full boils, you may find it easier to get a big pot, turky fryer, and chiller. I enjoy this method because it moved me outdoors on brewday, and my wife hates the smell of beer brewing on the kitchen stove

 

[FatsMcBrew]

Thanks!
It's an emergency measure to correct a newb mistake. I didn't realize till after I bought my ingredients that the recipe called for a full boil, and My 20qt stockpot wasn't gonna cut it.
After reading a head swimming amount of info about converting the recipe to a partial I figured this would be simpler.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks!
It's an emergency measure to correct a newb mistake. I didn't realize till after I bought my ingredients that the recipe called for a full boil, and My 20qt stockpot wasn't gonna cut it.
After reading a head swimming amount of info about converting the recipe to a partial I figured this would be simpler.

You can do either- turn it into a partial boil with late extract addition, or do a full boil with two pots. Keep in mind that if you're doing two pots, you have two pots to have to chill to pitching temperature, and no cold water to top it off.

 

[Arkador]

You can do either- turn it into a partial boil with late extract addition,

to elaberate on that process, you only add half of the extract at the begining of the boil, because the higher maltose content of a partial boil will give a lower hop utilization. Then add the remainder of the extract with about 10 minutes remaining in the boil.

the late extract addition often gives a slightly lighter color because of carmalization.

 

[heywolfie1015]

Is there any reason not to do, say, a 4-gallon boil and then pour in 1 gallon of preboiled water before cooling and pitching?

 

[FatsMcBrew]

Yes, Apparently the higher SG of the partial boil throws off the hops so you need to add extra, and it's a bit complicated (at least to me.) to determine exactly how much more.

 

[Yooper]

Is there any reason not to do, say, a 4-gallon boil and then pour in 1 gallon of preboiled water before cooling and pitching?

Yes, Apparently the higher SG of the partial boil throws off the hops so you need to add extra, and it's a bit complicated (at least to me.) to determine exactly how much more.

Well, yes, sort of. If you can do a 4 gallon boil, though, in general that's better than a 2.5 gallon boil. It will help to make less carmelized wort, and better hops utilization, than the smaller boil.

There are some other things you can do- like adding 1/2 the extract with 15 minutes left, for example- in a partial boil that can more closely mimic a full boil.

Sometimes hops need to be adjusted slightly (only the bittering hops), due to the higher hops utilization boil you will get with a late extract addition or a larger boil. Some brewing software can help with that, or one of us can give you more specific advice when you have a recipe in mind.

 

[New-B-Brewer]

Fats, I have done a few extract and patial batches using two 5 gal pots to boil half the wort in each pot. You will need to start with 3.5 gals in each pot (at least if you have a powerful gas stove like I do, if you are using an electric stove you might not get quite as strong a boil going). No need to be exact on splitting the extract and hops, just make it close.
I actually just recd the ingredients for my first attempt at an all grain brew today. I will be using DeathBrewer's easy stovetop all grain procedures outlined on HBT slightly modified to boil in two different pots. One of these days I need to make the investment to get a bigger pot.