Adding Wort to the Boil

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jayhoz

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I am in the process of gathering my gear for my first AG (probably this spring). My boil kettle is a 30qt turkey fryer pot. I think this will do me well for a good bit of the beers I want to make, but I was wondering about the times where I may need to collect a larger volume of wort from my MLT. Is there anything wrong with collecting say 6.5 gallons of wort in my kettle and a couple more gallons in a second pot? Once the volume in the kettle had gone down due to evaporation I'd top up with the remaining wort and continue to boil off the water till I hit my mark of 5.5 gallons.

Thanks for the advice.
 
That'll work fine. It may take a few times before you get the timing down so you know when to add your bittering hops, i.e. when you have 60 minutes left. My guess is you could probably start the clock after you add the extra volume if that brings you back up to ~6.5 gal.
 
jayhoz said:
I am in the process of gathering my gear for my first AG (probably this spring). My boil kettle is a 30qt turkey fryer pot. I think this will do me well for a good bit of the beers I want to make, but I was wondering about the times where I may need to collect a larger volume of wort from my MLT. Is there anything wrong with collecting say 6.5 gallons of wort in my kettle and a couple more gallons in a second pot? Once the volume in the kettle had gone down due to evaporation I'd top up with the remaining wort and continue to boil off the water till I hit my mark of 5.5 gallons.

Thanks for the advice.
I do this with no ill effects. You can also use any extra wort for starters too if the gravity is right.
 
One other question regarding the gravity. How do you take the gravity of hot liquids (from MLT or the boil)? I would be worried that the hydrometer would break due to thermal shock. Do you let the sample cool before dropping in the hydrometer?
 
Be careful not to shatter the glass when putting the hydrometer in boiling wort. Most hydrometers are calibrated for 60 degrees. However, there is usually a temp conversion on the hydrometer. If not go online and google hydrometer temp conversion.
 
jayhoz said:
One other question regarding the gravity. How do you take the gravity of hot liquids (from MLT or the boil)? I would be worried that the hydrometer would break due to thermal shock. Do you let the sample cool before dropping in the hydrometer?
Yep, you need to cool it down. I grab some with a glass measuring cup and put it in some ice to cool it.
 
For those who do this, is there any problems with having to wait to get the wort back up to a boil after adding the non-boiling wort?

Or do you just add small amount at a time to keep the boil going?
 
Jer said:
For those who do this, is there any problems with having to wait to get the wort back up to a boil after adding the non-boiling wort?

Or do you just add small amount at a time to keep the boil going?
Jer, it will take a few minutes to return to a rolling boil and I do add a few minutes to the boil time. I generally add before the 30 minute mark so any hop additions after that still are on the same time schedule.
 
I batch sparge & start heating the first runnings immediately, so I make two additions of "cool" wort. I just wait until all of it is in the kettle and boiling before adding any hops. The additional boil time would only be a problem if you were aiming for a light-colored Pilsner or Pale.
 
I just made 8 gallons in a 9 gallon kettle. Third time I've done that.

An adjustable regulator is a good thing to have to regulate the fire. You don't want to get tooo much boiling going on with a kettle full to the brim. Keep a close eye on the pot, and turn down the heat as it nears boiling. That first 'hot break' wants to boil over extremely.

This time I did seem to notice more 'hot break' rising after each time I added enough to cool the wort. A watched pot never boils - over, we hope...
 
I recently did my first high-grav AG, and I ended up with two separate kettles going at the same time, then combining them towards the end when my 32-qt pot was low enough. I've got 2 turkey fryers, so it works out great that way, and the evap rate is excellent. I just divvied up the hops accordingly.
 
I do it with no problems. On a normal 60 min boil, I start with 6 gallons in the brew pot and another 1.5 on the stove. By 30 min to go in the boil it's all in the main pot.
 
Brewsmith said:
I do it with no problems. On a normal 60 min boil, I start with 6 gallons in the brew pot and another 1.5 on the stove. By 30 min to go in the boil it's all in the main pot.

Cool. So how do you do add your hops? Do they all go in the big kettle, or do you split them 80/20?
 
They all go in the big kettle. The only hop addition that really gets affected is the bittering addition, since I have a full boil for everything else. Also, it's the last runnings that are added later to the main pot, so the gravity isn't affected as much. And I add the wort continuously with a pyrex cup. It boils on the stove and I put it in as it will fit. The main pot holds 7.5 gallons, but I have to keep it at 6 until the hot break dies down.
 
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