Cold water confusion extract Brew instructions.

[detox916]

Ok really new to this here are my questions. I am working on extract brewing 5 gallon batches. I have a wort chiller. My directions say add cold water. Cant i just add all the water in my gigantic pot and boil all the water after steeping the grains. So add 2 gallons bring to 160 f then steep for blah blah minutes. Then i would add the other water bring to boil and follow the rest of the directions. Would this effect taste or anything else.

 

[Yooper]

Ok really new to this here are my questions. I am working on extract brewing 5 gallon batches. I have a wort chiller. My directions say add cold water. Cant i just add all the water in my gigantic pot and boil all the water after steeping the grains. So add 2 gallons bring to 160 f then steep for blah blah minutes. Then i would add the other water bring to boil and follow the rest of the directions. Would this effect taste or anything else.

In general, boil as much as you can! It will make a better beer, with less of a "cooked extract" taste and a cleaner tasting beer.

Most people who start brewing do partial boils because the are limited by pot size, or burner size, or by chilling issues. If you have the pot and burner that can boil 5-6 gallons, and then can chill it, then by all means you should do it!

 

[ACbrewer]

Yes you can if you have a wort chiller.

Most extract instructions go something like this, boil 2 gallons or so and at the end, add 2 gallons or so to cool and bring it up to 5 gallons total.

Now with a wort chiller, you can boil it all. It generally gets better flavor from the hops. Anyhow the only caution is that you need a pot at least 2 gallons larger than the amount you are boiling, possibly more. So If you are boiling 5 gallons, you need a 7 gallon pot, or even better 7.5 gallons (30 qt)

 

[SiriusStarr]

It will affect the taste/hop utilization, but in a positive manner. If you have the capacity (kettle-, burner-, and chiller-wise), full boils are always better to do. You can steep the grains in the full volume as well, for that matter.

Cheers!

 

[detox916]

Thanks for the info.

 

[eluterio]

Detox welcome to the hobby!!

To answer you simply yes you can add all the water into one gigantic pot. By adding all the ingredients would make the finish product in my opinion taste better!

If your doing extract is it LME (Liquid Malt Extract) or DME (Dry Malt Extract)?

Reason why is due to the amount of foam DME will create during your boil. So, you will need a huge gigantic pot. I have a 15 gallon keggle and with 8 gallons of wort I added 2 lbs of DME and almost had a boil over.

Before I get into more details need to know how big your pot is and what your using for extract.

 

[eluterio]

wow as I was typing others were answering! NICE!

 

[SiriusStarr]

wow as I was typing others were answering! NICE!

I feel your pain. :-(

 

[detox916]

Im using liquid right now. I have a 40 qt stainless pot. I do watch it close so i don't boil over. If i use DME i better watch the temps close.

 

[eluterio]

To my memory but I could be wrong I never had an issue with LME boiling crazy like DME. and I would do full boil with that pot!!! Just make sure you account for boil off! Good Luck!

 

[SiriusStarr]

Little late here, but you can definitely do a full boil in a 10 gallon pot. I use an 8 gallon for the majority of my boils and don't have any problems. Boil on!