Moving to extract from all grain

[MrFancyPlants]

I just moved into a new house and am gearing up to start brewing beer again.
I was thinking I might do some partial mash batches with DME in the short term so that it will give me some time to get the grain mill and propane or induction burner and everything else situated. In fact I'll be on the kitchen stove for a little while and not even sure how much water I can boil in one go on there. I have a 15G kettle.

Do I really even need to boil when using DME and specialty grains in a bag? I know there is the hop utilization issue but I was planning on going for mostly hop stand hops and have enough hops that I am pretty sure I could get enough IBU without the boil.

I think my current plan to make a 10G batch is to start with 5G + DME and FWH w 1 oz and bring to a boil, then add campden treated water until temp gets down to 160f, and then add steeping grains and a big hopstand in a brew bag. I'd let the temp drop slowly for a low temp pasteurization of the specialty grains / hop stand of 30 min or so.

Am I asking for a DMS bomb this way? I am planning on using pacman yeast.

Is there an online calculator that will show how much water to add to get 5 G boiling to 160f? or how much the temp will then drop when I add ~2.5 lbs specialty malts?

If I wanted to top off the batch to 10G at what temperature should I start worrying about not sanitizing the added water?

 

[RM-MN]

If you have a glass top stove, stop right here. It probably won't bring your wort to a boil and is likely to break the glass top sooner or later.

If your stove has the coil burners, see if your pot can span two burners. If it can, put in 8 gallons of water and see how long it takes to come to a boil. If it won't boil that much you have your answer.

 

[Morrey]

I think I'd be very concerned over my hop utilization (bittering) with no boil. To me that's a red flag. Maybe you can skate the issue with hop shots, hop teas or the like, but "ain't nothing like the real thing"...the boil.

Could you settle for a 5G batch and see if you could get a boil going by reducing your batch size?

This is just my opinion and the way I'd personally approach things, but how far away are you from your grain mill setup and propane burner being ready to go? Extract is fine for what it is, but add to that the hop issue (no boil) you plan on bringing to the table. I think the beer you make with this method would be a let down at best. Again just my opinion, but I'd wait until you are really setup for the long haul and do it correctly.

 

[JohnSand]

I have boiled 7 gallons on a glass-top stove, but I use a kettle that fits the element. Be careful, my stove heats so fast that it will warp a thin pot. I brew BIAB outside, extract or partial mash inside in bad weather. When trying to figure temperature drop, I just do a ratio, 5 gallons of 60* water will bring 5 gallons of 210* water to 135. I don't see why that shouldn't work. I've never had tap water contaminate my brew when topping off. I do bigger batches outside, often smaller ones inside. Consider five or three gallon batches. There is always a way.

 

[IslandLizard]

If you have a glass top stove, stop right here. It probably won't bring your wort to a boil and is likely to break the glass top sooner or later.

If your stove has the coil burners, see if your pot can span two burners. If it can, put in 8 gallons of water and see how long it takes to come to a boil. If it won't boil that much you have your answer.

I can attest to the glass top being a poor choice for brewing. The sheer weight of a 10 gallon kettle filled with 8 gallons of wort on that glass top is scary.

When I used to do that, the stove has a 12" triple heater element, I would make sure there was no sand/grit on the glass top or under the kettle to prevent excessive point pressure cracking it. The inside temp sensor technology also switches the elements off perpetually, and it was about impossible to attain/retain a good boil, even with the lid on halfway, and bubble wrap around the kettle. I did however manage to boil off 3/4 gallon an hour, and the beer was always fine. If it wasn't for that weight...

I switched to a 240V 3500W (IC3500) induction plate, and use it for a lot more than just brewing beer. Maybe it's suitable for you too. I can brew any time, regardless of season, weather, mosquitos, and what not. There are a few threads on using that specific "burner."

 

[kristiismean]

I have brewed countless batches on my glass stove top. 7.5 gallons boiling in 42 minutes or less.

clearly not super fast, but have to cut power down to 8.5 to keep a nice rolling boil.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

Thanks for the input everyone. I do have a glass electric stove, but it sounds like a 5G boil would not be a problem. I wan't suggesting no boil (although I did question the potential for it), but a concentrated boil and then steeping the specialty grains after the boil with some hop stands as the temperature goes back down, maybe with a pour over to rinse the sugars off of the specialty grains.

Maybe I'll just start with a 5G batch anyways as my pacman culture has been innoculated with Oenococcus oeni and I'm curious how an unhopped batch of the same base beer would progress.

 

[bajaedition]

Thanks for the input everyone. I do have a glass electric stove, but it sounds like a 5G boil would not be a problem. I wan't suggesting no boil (although I did question the potential for it), but a concentrated boil and then steeping the specialty grains after the boil with some hop stands as the temperature goes back down, maybe with a pour over to rinse the sugars off of the specialty grains.

Maybe I'll just start with a 5G batch anyways as my pacman culture has been innoculated with Oenococcus oeni and I'm curious how an unhopped batch of the same base beer would progress.

normally you put the specialty grains in and raise the temp to 150 F, for 15 minutes, then remove them, putting them in as you suggest and you are going draw the tannins out of them, not good,

 

[kh54s10]

normally you put the specialty grains in and raise the temp to 150 F, for 15 minutes, then remove them, putting them in as you suggest and you are going draw the tannins out of them, not good,

If the OP waits until after the boil to steep the grains, and gets the temperature below 170 first extracting tannins is not likely. It takes a combination of high temperatures and pH levels together.

I'm not sure that doing all the hops after the boil will get the proper results.

 

[bajaedition]

If the OP waits until after the boil to steep the grains, and gets the temperature below 170 first extracting tannins is not likely. It takes a combination of high temperatures and pH levels together.

I'm not sure that doing all the hops after the boil will get the proper results.

If he said to wait until after it hit 170, then I would have never voiced that, I was simply saying the normal method and why

 

[kh54s10]

If he said to wait until after it hit 170, then I would have never voiced that, I was simply saying the normal method and why

He did. He said he would let the temperature drop to 160 then add the steeping grains and hop stand together.

OP, DMS will not be an issue with DME and steeping grains. With the DME it has already been mostly removed in the production process and you won't get it from the steeping grains. At least not enough to worry about.

 

[bajaedition]

my bad then

problem with internet forums ia we are not in the same room and things get a little messed up. If we were together we would be on the same page in seconds

it is all good, enjoy a home brew