Is it best to start the boil with closer to 5 gallons so when the wort is finished and in the primary I can top it back off to 5 to get a full 5 gallon batch? and could i actually go a little further by adding an extra half gallon to make up for the wort lost in trub?
how much water
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BryceL
Well-Known Member
Whatever you do you need to plan accordingly so that your OG is not low. I think most of us would just plan for the boil off by adding more water at the beginning of the boil...assuming you have a big enough pot. I usually start with around 6.25 gallons and after my 60 min boil I am usually just over 5 gallons. When I rack I leave about an inch in my kettle along with a good amount of the trub resulting in 5 gallons going into my primary.
BoxofRain
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't recommend boiling 5 gallons or wort in a 5 gallon pot. Things will get messy and dangerous. Do a three gallon boil and top off in the fermentor.
Yeah, if you're using a 5 gallon pot, you'll want to start with 3.5 to 4 gallons, and top off in the fermenter. When I was at this stage of the hobby, my first upgrade was to an 8 gallon pot, so that I could boil the entire batch.
At the moment,I'm doing 10L to allow for boil off for 2.5G in a 5G pot. Looks to work a little better for hop additions,etc. 5G boil would be too much for our electric stove.
Everyone does this through the resources they have available, and based on the investment that they want to make in the hobby. Nothing wrong with that, as each of us should do this in a way that we enjoy.
In my case, I rapidly started moving towards doing this outdoors, rather than in the kitchen. This way I could do full size batches, and didn't tick my wife off making a mess oin the kitchen.
Fortunately, my wife's been very supportive, so I also have a kegerator, so that I wouldn't be bottling either!
The judges agree! Good points to pass on...
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