full boil questions

[impulserush]

I was wondering when full boiling, do you steep grains in the same 6 gallons or so or do you do like 2 gallons then add and boil.

I could not find any other posts on how I should do a full boil.

Thansk

 

[cuinrearview]

I can't speak on how you should do it, but I put my grains in a separate pot and keep them at conversion temps. (148-156) for an hour and strain into my main pot which is already heating. I also heat some sparge water and run it through the grains prior to ramping up the heat on the main pot. The liquid always tastes sweet and I can pick out some grains in the finished product using this method.

 

[brewmasterpa]

steep your grains at 156ish in 2 gallons for about 30 mins, then bring that to a boil then add extracts and boil for an hour with hops and all etc etc. i assume you know that whole routine. oh, dont forget the sparge. then add to fermenter with the rest of your water (ice water preferably). any other questions? not sure if thats clear enough or if i just gobble-de-gooped that together and its totally unreadable.

 

[SumnerH]

steep your grains at 156ish in 2 gallons for about 30 mins, then bring that to a boil then add extracts and boil for an hour with hops and all etc etc. i assume you know that whole routine. oh, dont forget the sparge. then add to fermenter with the rest of your water (ice water preferably)

That's not a full boil, that's a partial boil.

Full boil means you boil all your water rather than saving part out and adding in the fermentor.

I'd steep the grains in 2 or so gallons while bringing the rest to a boil, then pour the steeped portion in to the remainder and bring to a boil.

 

[brewmasterpa]

well there you go. i never did a full boil when i was doing extract in that case so i didnt know. i do all grain now so i guess im using a different deck of cards. i didnt do extract brewing for more than like 2 or 3 weeks before i went to all grain.

 

[hoppheadIPA]

Steep your grains in the pot you're doing the full boil in. No reason to steep in less water.

 

[HOOTER]

Agree. Just steep in the full amount of water, bring to boil, add extract and hops, blah blah blah and so on. Same procedure as a partial boil except with more water, and the need for a chiller, outdoor burner and whatnot. Clear as mud?

 

[SumnerH]

Steep your grains in the pot you're doing the full boil in. No reason to steep in less water.

Main reason: it's a lot faster to get half the water to steeping temp then boil the other half.

But if you're making a full day of it, yeah do it all in one.

 

[Joker]

I steep my grains in a small cooler or something the will hold a constant temp. I start my pot about half way through with a 2-3 gallons of water to get it warming up. Then add steeped grain liquid to pot and commence brewing.

 

[cuinrearview]

I steep my grains in a small cooler or something the will hold a constant temp. I start my pot about half way through with a 2-3 gallons of water to get it warming up. Then add steeped grain liquid to pot and commence brewing.

This is more or less what I was trying to say. I guess at this point it's not considered a steep. As long as you have enough grains in there with conversion enzymes it's a mash. I do it in a smaller pot and keep the water around 1.33qts/lbs. of grain. It's not much more time than a steep because when I strain it into the main pot the water in there is already heating. And as far as using more water it is important for starch conversion if that's what you're going for.

Steep for 30 minutes and get some flavor or mash for 45-60 minutes and get some flavor and some more fermentables, it's your call.

 

[Dave__C]

well there you go. i never did a full boil when i was doing extract in that case so i didnt know. i do all grain now so i guess im using a different deck of cards. i didnt do extract brewing for more than like 2 or 3 weeks before i went to all grain.

I'm thinking about going all grain. What made you switch and are you happy you did?

 

[Firstnten]

AHS directions are for a partial boil. (that is when seeping gains are in the recipe)

Beermore.com directions are for a full boil.

Beermore suggest putting the seeping grains in 5 gallons and heating the water untill it gets to 170F. Then take them out.

Seems everyone here has a way they like doing it. The funny thing is I suspect everyone is happy with their product.

I just did the AHS Maibock and started out following their directions, when I realized it was a partial I added more water and save a gallon to pour over the gains when done seeping. I have a thread ion the forum discussing the results.

 

[nopride]

I'm doing my first full boil this weekend. I have an extract kit for a belgian ale. The bittering hops is 1 oz of Northern Brewer for 60 mins. The instructions are for a partial boil. Do I need to use less hops because of the increased efficiency? Or should I not worry about it and just throw it all in?

 

[McGarnigle]

nopride,

I'd probably use about 80% of the hops. Someone can give you a less half-assed estimation, but given that it's a Belgian ale, you probably wouldn't want too much bitterness.

 

[impulserush]

I calculated my last recipe, an IPA. and I used partial boil and full boil volumes and the IBUs came out from 85 partial, and 82 with a full. I thought there would be a bigger change. Or will the taste be more bitter.

I really want to know so i do not make overly bitter beers from partial boil recipes.

If I add less(hops) in the beginning can I add the rest later in the boil for the flavors?

Help please!

 

[SumnerH]

I calculated my last recipe, an IPA. and I used partial boil and full boil volumes and the IBUs came out from 85 partial, and 82 with a full. I thought there would be a bigger change. Or will the taste be more bitter.

I really want to know so i do not make overly bitter beers from partial boil recipes.

Gravity doesn't affect hops utilization. This is something that brew software (and IBU algorithms) often get wrong. (for unrelated reasons, a recipe with a certain (full volume) OG will tend to have lower utilization than one with a lower (full volume) OG, though that is not strictly true nor directly attributable to gravity; the reasons for it mean that it really shouldn't matter (or not much) how concentrated a boil you did).

Other factors may make the overall utilization slightly less (ie less bitter) in the partial boil than in the full boil, but as far as I know whether that's true and to what extent is still a somewhat open question (cue a hundred people chiming in saying it's absolutely one way or the other). Some places recommend maybe 10% less hops in a partial boil, other places (e.g. the kits from Northern Brewer) recommend the same hops schedule for full and partial recipes.

The best bet is to use the same hopping schedule in your partial boil that you would use in the full boil, until you get a few brews under your belt and start deciding if there is a noticeable difference or not.