Creating a concentrate question ??

[AngeMarieinCO]

Hi there! Been lurking on the forums for a few months after I decided to make my own wine with some of our grapes...it has since progressed to beers and mead!!

I am trying a recipe that I am pretty excited about. However instead of my normal 1 gallon adjustments I am going to make this batch into 3 gallons.

The original recipe is for approx 5 gallons. We don't want to invest right now in a bigger pot to boil the wort in so I am planning on trying this.

Original recipe:
4.8 pounds light dry malt extract
12 ounces crystal 20L malt, crushed
3 ounces chocolate malt, crushed
30 ounces 100% natural canned pumpkin
1/2 ounces Northern Brewer Hops - 60 minutes
14 fluid ounces grade B dark maple syrup
1 teaspoon McCormick's pumpkin spice
1 package Safale US-05

Reduced the recipe down to:
46.08 oz of light dry malt extract
7.2 oz of crystal 20L malt, crushed
1.8 oz chocolate malt, crushed
18 oz canned pumpkin
.3 oz Brewer Hops
8.4 oz syrup
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1 package Safale US005

Easy enough to ratio it down to 3 gallons...however since I do not have a 4.5 gallon pot to boil the wort in I was thinking of going thru the whole process with 2 gallons of water, creating a concentrated version....and adding in a gallon of water when it goes into the carboy to get up to the 3 gallon mark.

Now I am still learning about efficiency and all of that good stuff...and I know when you are making a concentrate you sometimes need to "up" the ingredients so that it will all even out with the addition of the water at the end. I made a Beer/Mead that worked in this way, adding water in the end, and I liked it.

If I go with the original 5 gallon amount of
12 oz crystal 20L malt, crushed
3 oz chocolate malt, crushed
will that give me enough umph in my 3 gallon "concentrate" do you think?? Should I worry about uping the hops as well?

Appreciate the thoughts.
Thank you

 

[astacey1403]

Well with crystal you going to get more malty sweetness in the beer upping the hops will work to balance that but just watch your ratio. You could use some dry malt extract if your worried about it and adjust to your target OG.

 

[billl]

"Now I am still learning about efficiency and all of that good stuff...and I know when you are making a concentrate you sometimes need to "up" the ingredients so that it will all even out with the addition of the water at the end."

That doesn't really apply to extract. The bag has exactly the same amount of sugar in it no matter how much water you put it in.

But yes, you can boil only part of the water and then add the rest to the fermenter. That's how most people make extract recipes.

 

[dwhite60]

If you put your location in your profile you may find some kind soul nearby that has a pot you could at least borrow or they might even give you. I've done it before.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[Lefou]

I've done 5gal. DME batches with a 3gal. boil.
Adding water to the concentrate afterward will dilute things a bit, but I've never really stressed about a couple points of gravity. My lazy man's solution for that in an extract brew was to add a bit of soluble extract or adjunct, then take a hydrometer reading for satisfaction.
Second, not all of us have the capacity to do a full batch boil on a home stove - the BTU output just isn't there sometimes. I have a 5gal. stockpot and will be doing all grain BIAB this way. Space is limited and I won't buy a propane burner - and second, I don't want to use it in the snow and rain because I can only do seasonal brewing for now.

 

[AngeMarieinCO]

Thank you for all the answers!