Making large partial boils (25g yield)

[TommyB]

Theoretical situation for the group:

Water levels for a basic partial boils for a simple 5 gallon recipe is 3 to 4 gallons, hops, and 6 lbs of LME.

Here is my question....lets say you are have a large family cookout/event/party and you want to brew a ton of beer. Cost would not be a concern. Could you combine five extract kits in a 20 gallon pot with say 18 gallons of water, add the hops from all the kits at the normal 60 min and 15 minute boil times and after cooling, divide the contents up into 5 fermenters and top off with water to 5 gallons of wort for each fermentor?

Say your doing a simple american wheat recipe?

End result would be 5 kegs of a forced carbed beer? Not the highest quality I agree, but better than a keg of Busch light

What problems can you see from this? Not enough hops? Too much?

 

[david_42]

It would work just fine. Your biggest problem will be cooling that much hot wort, but beer recipes scale up or down without a problem.

When you fill the fermenters, put about half the amount of wort into each one, then go back and add the rest. That will make the wort in the fermentors more uniform.

 

[Zixxer10R]

I really hope you've got a valve on that BK. You're gonna have a hell of a time pouring that much liquid evenly without spillage into 5 fermenters. In fact, i would get that kettle cooled down and then use a siphon for transfer. After you get it all dispensed then shake the crap out of the FVs for oxygenation.

Also, extract beer doesn't degrade in quality just because it's extract. I would argue (if it's fresh) that extract will give you a more uniform repeatable recipe than an AG batch. There are no mash-related variables involved.

 

[TommyB]

Yeah I have a valve, a way to cool it all down, siphon, oxygen tank and stone......I usually do 10 or 15 gallon AG batches......

I just have alot of people I share my brews with, and have been asked if I could come up with that much beer for a camp out or party or whatever reason......

I figured that would be the fastest, easiest way to come up with a ton of home brew.....especially if I buy the LME in bulk.....(36Lbs from NB for $80)