Boil size.

[IBrewBeerInPortland]

Ok ya'll, i have a question for you.

is there a quality difference if i boil 2.5 gallons with the malt and hops and add it to the carboy which has another 2.5 gallons of water.

Or

If I just boiled the malt and hops with the whole 5 gallons of water and put it in an empty carboy.

 

[moonbrew]

Full size boil is better for a number of reasons, but mostly for better hop utilization.

 

[shortyjacobs]

Full boil! In fact, you'll want to start out with like 6.5-7 gallons, so you have 5-5.5 when the boil is done with.

 

[slowbie]

Full size boil is better for a number of reasons, but mostly for better hop utilization.

Could you name some of those other reasons? Just out of curiousity. Basically, I want to know if it would theoretically be possible to taste the difference, not accounting for things like hops utilization, which can be corrected by buying more hops.