Bigger boil????

[rmart28]

Hi all! My name is Rich and I've recently decided to start the home brew hobby after years of loving beer. My first beer which is still in the primary (5 days now) is a pumpkin ale that is looking good so far. My boil for this pumpkin ale was 3 gallons for a 5 gallon batch. I've reading a lot about the craft so as to get a good knowledge base. I'm extremely intuitive and must know everything possible.

I boiled the 3 gallons because I read that the bigger the boil of wort, the better your beer will potentially taste. A home brew supply store clerk told me that if you are making 5 gallons of beer, it's better practice to boil 5 gallons of wort (if possible).

Is this way off, or right on? I'd appreciate any tips!!!

I've placed a pic of the pumpkin ale. Beautiful color!!!!


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[cubalz]

Typically I boil 6 gallons of water and it "reduces" down to 5 gals or less after the boil is complete. Chill with an immersion chiller and top off with water as necessary before pitching your yeast. On average a bigger boil produces a better beer but it is not the law.

 

[carluchi]

Doing a larger boil has its benefits but is by no means required.

Some benefits include:
1. Better hop utilization since you have the full volume in the pot
2. Better control of the overall process (ie no need to worry about stratification of the sugars and freaking out that you OG is way off).

There are others so I'm sure someone else will chime in

 

[wfowlks]

If you are doing extract, I typically only boiled 3. I ended up scorching the wort which gave it dark colors, however I was able to remedy that by adding the wort in the last 20 min. As far as getting better hop utilization you should be fine as the water is not over saturated with the hops. When I do all grain I typically start the boil out with 7-8 gallons or even a little more if I'm doing an IPA because you will lose some space to hop water absorption and trub.

 

[FoCobrewguy]

If you have a big enough kettle to support 6 gallons for the boil I would go for it. When I do extract I start with 7 gallons (I have a 10 gallon kettle). This allows for me to get 5.5 gallons into the fermenter and 5 gallons in my keg. You may need to play around a little bit with starting gallons as everyone's boil off is a little different. I think it is actually easier to get the extract mixed with larger volume of water. Also your og numbers will be more to what the recipe states. When you top off with water you are diluting the wort and going to have higher og before you top off. It threw me off my first brew. I have found the flavor to be a little smoother as well and more consistent throughout the keg.

kf

 

[rmart28]

I really appreciate the tips guys! I'll post how my first beer tastes after a while.


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