Full boil?

[dabull25]

I am about to brew my first batch of beer. I bought a kit from AHS and it says to bring 2 gallons to 155 F turn off heat then steep grains for 25 minutes then add another gallon and bring to a boil(3 gallons total). Then it says add to primary fermenter and add cool water to make 5.25 gallons. My question is can I boil the full 5.25 gallons in my kettle or should i just follow the instructions?
Thanks!

 

[jbsg02]

If you are boiling hops, you will need to recalculate how much hops you use because it will be different for a 3 gallon boil than a 5 gallon boil.

 

[Pennsyltucky]

If you have a big enough kettle do a full boil, keeping in mind that you'll need (about) 6.5 Gallons of pre boil volume to end up with 5.35 Gallons in your fermentor.

In my partial vs. full boil experience, in 5 Gallon batches is that unless you're doing some exotic hopping you will be close enough (especially for a first batch). Just my two cents.

Have fun!

 

[dabull25]

Can you bring 6.5 gallons to a full boil in a 7.5 gallon pot?

 

[zepolmot]

Can you bring 6.5 gallons to a full boil in a 7.5 gallon pot?

Depends on how strong your stovetop is I would say. Also want to watch for boil overs of course.

 

[munche]

If you are boiling hops, you will need to recalculate how much hops you use because it will be different for a 3 gallon boil than a 5 gallon boil.

All of the extract kits I had, I just ignored the instructions saying to boil 3 gallons and hopped as normal. Came out fine. :rockin:

 

[Daver77]

The biggest reason I don't do full boils is because it takes me too long to cool the wort. If I had a wort chiller I'd do full boils!

 

[LibertyTrailBrewing]

I just made a kit with a full five gallon boil. I steeped the grains as the directions suggest, then just added water to get to 6.5 gallons and brought it to a full boil. I added the hops that came with the kit as the directions suggested. The beer came out great. So, yes, you can add the water and do a full boil. Add the hops as your directions suggest.

The only problem I had is that I didn't have enough water boil off in an hour and had to boil longer. That probably has something to do with the dimensions of my kettle. I'll do a half gallon less next time.

BTW.... if you don't have a propane burner to do a full boil, I would get one if you can swing it. It saves a lot of time and it's more fun to brew outside....even if the temp drops to 19 degrees

 

[LibertyTrailBrewing]

The biggest reason I don't do full boils is because it takes me too long to cool the wort. If I had a wort chiller I'd do full boils!

Yes..... get one. My water is so cold right now that my immersion chiller cooled my wort to pitching temps in about 10 minutes. I stirred the wort with a sanitzed spoon to get the temp down quicker. They work great for 5 gallon full boils!

 

[dabull25]

So how much should I boil to get 5.25 gallons( amount instructions said, 3 in the boil then 2.25 cold water after) in the primary?

 

[BWN]

I am wondering the same thing. I am going to upgrade my kettle and buy a wort chiller. I want to try a few full boil extracts before making the leap to all grain. Since I have never done a full boil how will I know how much to put in. If I don't get down to 5.25 in an hour and have to boil longer will that change the beer? If I get down to 5.25 too quick what should I do? Add more water or quit boiling?

 

[Pennsyltucky]

So how much should I boil to get 5.25 gallons( amount instructions said, 3 in the boil then 2.25 cold water after) in the primary?

It all depends on the dimensions of you kettle, the atmospheric conditions and how vigorous the boil is. You can do a test run with just water and see how much you lose.

I do 6.5 - 7 Gallon boils in a 7.5 Gallon kettle with no problem... I made a wort chiller, I started using Fermcap (or a generic substitute) and I have a "power-boil" burner on my stove all of which help.

I have learned a ton by searching and browsing HBT. Half the time I'm wandering around here and see something mentioned (like fermcap) and think "what's that?" and I'm off and running...

 

[LibertyTrailBrewing]

I am wondering the same thing. I am going to upgrade my kettle and buy a wort chiller. I want to try a few full boil extracts before making the leap to all grain. Since I have never done a full boil how will I know how much to put in. If I don't get down to 5.25 in an hour and have to boil longer will that change the beer? If I get down to 5.25 too quick what should I do? Add more water or quit boiling?

These are good questions. I'm fairly new to brewing, so some may be able to answer this question better. I'll take a stab anyway.

I started my full extract boil with 6.5 gallons. After my one hour boil, I still had over 5.5 gallons. I had to boil aproximately another 15 minutes to get it down to 5.5. This is probably because of the proportions of my kettle. I have an 11 gallon kettle that is taller than it is wide. I would assume that a shorter/wider kettle would cause water to boil off faster because of a larger surface area.

I suppose its possible that the longer boiling period may have caused some type of change to my first addition hops. Regardless, the beer turned out great. I still reserved my final addition of hops until the last two minutes of the boil as my recipe called for.

For my next batch, I plan to start with 6 gallons. If it looks like too much has boiled off, I'll add a little more water near the end of the boil to bring it up to where I need it.

I think as you get to know your equipment, you will get a better idea about how much water you need to start with to end at 5.5 ir 5.25, etc.