FuLL Boil

[comicsandbeer83]

So i just got a 30 qt kettle and i want to do a full boil extract beer, but most recipes call for doing partial with topping off at the end. is there an easy way to figure out how to adjust the instructions on a recipe to accommodate a full boil?

 

[comicsandbeer83]

a lot of what im confused about is how much water to add the steeping grains to before i bring the water to 6-7 gallons to boil.

 

[philipCT]

When I was doing extract, there was a point where I wanted to do full boils, so I got a bigger pot and just put the maximum water I needed that the pot would hold, and went from there. As I recall, I still needed some top-off water.

The primary impact, from what I read, was that you tended to get better hops utilization with the bigger boil. I don't recall ever making an adjustment for that, and I never had a "problem", but at that early stage it was still hand grenades and atom bombs.

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

If you think about it, say you are boiling down to 3 gallons and then topping off to 5. So whatever malt ingredients you used for the 3 gallon boil should stay the same for a 6 gallon boil (for example 6.6 lbs of lme regardless of whether it's a 4 or 6 gallon boil). You are shooting for the same OG no matter what your boil volume is (4gal boiled down to 3 + 2gal water or 6 gal boiled to 5).

The hops are a different story. Since the wort is "thinner" you will get better hop utilization. I'm sure there's an equation or calculator out there but you will need to use fewer hops (maybe not significantly less, but less in theory).

Stepping grains are only to add color and very few fermentables so I think you will be safe steeping in the full volume before bringing to a boil and adding your extract. That's how it's done in an all-grain batch, anyway. I don't think the standard qt/ lb of grain ratios will apply.

 

[Sailingeric]

I have done a couple full boils and I have kept the steeping grains the same since in the end it will all be about the same. With a partial boil you will be watering down the steeping grain ratio with water when you top off while doing a full boil you might come out a little thinner but you wont be watering it down any more.

 

[eadavis80]

Just put in 6 gallons of water and put the grains in there. You don't have to adjust for anything. You just won't be topping off anything. You'll lose about a gallon to evaporation to yield 5 gallons of wort.

 

[comicsandbeer83]

excellent. thanks a lot everyone. i have a program on my laptop now that may help with calculating the hops. I will input the recipe into it tonight and see if it helps.

 

[joshesmusica]

if that program you're talking about is beersmith, you're on the right track. it will help you determine all of that.

 

[comicsandbeer83]

also, my recipe calls for english pale malt extract, however i don't recall seeing that around. what is a good substitute for that?

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Regular old LME will probably be your closest bet

 

[Ravenshead]

There isn't a great substitute for english pale extract since regular pale extract won't have that english nutty flavor. It will be pretty close though. Assuming you're new to this obsession, you may not even notice the difference.

 

[comicsandbeer83]

It's for an Irish red ale. I guess I can just use pale malt lme?

 

[Ravenshead]

You'll be fine.

 

[lcbjr77]

I bought an extract kit from my LHBS, I emailed them a couple days later I was thinking of changing the recipe to full boil and was concerned what I bought from them. I don't know how they calculated it out but the only change they said to do was deduct 22%of my battering hops, everything else was as per the partial recipe.

 

[lcbjr77]

Bittering

 

[bobbrews]

Muntons Light DME is made from English 2-row with a bit of carapils in there.