Boil Size smaller than Batch Size?

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TspoonO9

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I'm a beginning brewer and am looking into simple extract recipes for a piney pale ale/IPA.

I noticed some recipes will have a boil size considerably smaller than the batch size (e.g. boil size = 3 gallon & batch size = 5.5 gallon). Does this mean I brew at 3 gallons, then add additional water to my carboy to make sure it reaches 5.5 gallons? If so, any tips for making sure the water is "sanitized" before adding it to the wort?

Also, if you have any suggestions for making a piney/earthier pale ale, I'm all ears! I'm thinking of incorporating Simco and Chinook closer to the end of the boil, while using Centennial (have plenty of extra to use) as my main bittering hop. But definitely open to suggestions.
 
The concentrated boils with topup water process is typically performed out of necessity due to either too small of a kettle, not powerful enough burner, or the lack of a wort chiller. In the latter case, it's faster to ice bath chill 3 gallons vs. 5 gallons and the fact that you can prechill the topup water to fridge temps.

You can make the water sanitary by boiling it first and then chilling it down.

Note that hoppy beers benefit from a full boil where you start the boil at about 6.5 gallons and boil down to 5 gallons since you won't be diluting your hop concentration.
 
I noticed some recipes will have a boil size considerably smaller than the batch size (e.g. boil size = 3 gallon & batch size = 5.5 gallon). Does this mean I brew at 3 gallons, then add additional water to my carboy to make sure it reaches 5.5 gallons? If so, any tips for making sure the water is "sanitized" before adding it to the wort?

How To Brew, 4e is an excellent resource for a technique that was often called partial boil with late extract additions. Roughly half the water / extract at the start of the boil, the rest at the end. It's not a concentrated boil (as there is a claim that long concentrated boils can result in unexpected flavors). There is an upper limit for the number of IBUs that water can hold, so adding water at the end of the boil will dilute the IBUs. How to Brew, 4e covers the details well - including how to approach adding water at the end of the boil.


 
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