Full boil question

[Gopher40]

I am going to be starting my first batch soon and have a question regarding ammount of water to use. I was given advice at my local brew supply store that the full boil was better than the partial (have read this several times also). He told me to start out with the normal 2.5 gallons for steeping, and then after steeping add to bring it to 6 gallons of water so I will finish with the normal 5 gallons + desired ammount after the boil. Sound right?

 

[Justibone]

One reason that a full boil is "better" is that it simplifies the calculations for the hops. Also, you don't have the issues with mixing that you do with partial boil. There are other reasons (mostly if you are doing all grain), but I'll leave others to answer that.

Full boil is, in my opinion only, not necessary. Safety first. If you are doing extract on a stovetop, full boil is kinda overkill. That's just how I see it, and I'm open to correction.

That being said, when a recipe I'm making calls for full boil, I do it.

 

[Yooper]

If you have the stove to boil 6 gallons and a way to cool it, I think it's great and will improve the beer. For most people, equipment is the reason that they do a partial boil.

He's correct that you want to mash your grains in a lesser volume, and then top up to 6 gallons after they are removed. About a gallon an hour or so boil-off is a good guestimate for a place to start.

 

[nebben]

I concur with the equipment limitation being a good reason to do partial boils. If you cannot bring ~6.5G for a 5G batch to a boil on your stove, or if you don't have a pot large enough, you will need to adjust your approach or else you wont have any beer. Partial boils are 100,000,000,000,000% better than not making beer.

In addition to the other reasons already mentioned in this thread, full boils are fun, IMHO, since they are often done outside for practical reasons (it is difficult to operate a large gas burner safely inside, and 220v isn't available to all brewers for electric homebreweries). Even in late fall or early spring, it's great to be outside with a jacket, a beer, and a roaring propane burner next to you. Ahh...good times

 

[Gopher40]

So is it not advised to try and do this on the stove? I have also been told you can increase the ammount of water you boil and add less cold water at the end (I guess you could call it a 3/4 boil). Also as far as cooling down the wort goes has anyone ever taken a boiling bag (like you might cook a chicken in) and filled it full of ice and placed it in the pot? Seems like that might help a lot.

 

[Yooper]

So is it not advised to try and do this on the stove? I have also been told you can increase the ammount of water you boil and add less cold water at the end (I guess you could call it a 3/4 boil). Also as far as cooling down the wort goes has anyone ever taken a boiling bag (like you might cook a chicken in) and filled it full of ice and placed it in the pot? Seems like that might help a lot.

If your stove can do it, you certainly CAN do it on your stove. I always was able to on my stove. But, I have a "professional" stove and can bring 6 gallons up to a boil on one burner. Try it before you commit to doing it- try to boil 6 gallons on your stove. If you can't, then you'll know before you try to brew and do a full boil.

You can also do a 3/4 boil, or whatever you can. The more you can boil, the better, in my opinion.

Putting ice in the pot doesn't really work that well. I'm no physicist, but it has to do with the volume and temperature. 5+ gallons of boiling wort won't be cooled much at all by a block of ice. You can try stirring the wort (with a sanitized spoon) gently to make contact with the ice, but it gets "hot spots" and doesn't work very well at all. It seems more efficient to put the pot into an ice/water bath and stir that, as well as stirring the wort. It's not easy to chill 5 gallons that way, though, so most people don't do full boils until they get a wort chiller.

 

[pcollins]

All the replies so far are great. Good advice all around.

I like the idea that a partial boil is better than no beer at all! Solid.

I just switched over to full boils and it was the equipment that was holding me back. I just didn't have a pot large enough. I ended up doing a trade and getting a keggle so it was off to the races.

Whether it produces better beer or not is up in the air for me. I have my first batch still in primary so I'll let you know in a couple of weeks.

I'm lucky to have a stove that can bring the 6.5 gallons to a boil. It takes a bit of time but it gets there. I tend to do things at the same time so that I'm steeping grains while I'm bringing the bulk of the water to a boil. Once the grains are steeped I add that wort and then the extract once it's boiling but while I have the flame off. It's then another bit of time to bring it back to a boil.

The wort chiller is a necessity otherwise you're going to be waiting a long time to get to pitching temperature.

The partial boil can be any volume you like it as long as you're topping up to 5 gallons. The disadvantage of the partial boil is the hop utilization and concentration of the wort leading to possible extra caramelization. Again, doing it that way is better than not doing it at all!

 

[Justibone]

You can also do a 3/4 boil, or whatever you can. The more you can boil, the better, in my opinion.

Putting ice in the pot doesn't really work that well. ... It's not easy to chill 5 gallons that way, though, so most people don't do full boils until they get a wort chiller.

Even chilling 3 gallons that way is a pain... takes over an hour. Next piece of gear I'm getting is a wort chiller.