Need to know the scoop on a full boil

[sims_l22]

I have heard mix feelings about a full boil. I just done a full boil and used 5.5 gallons of water to allow for evaporation and absorbtion. I steeped my grains in 5 gallons of water at 160 degrees. Listed below is the extract kit that i used. Is there anything that i done wrong on should have done different.



California Style Ale

6.6 lbs Muntons Amber Extract
1 lb Crystal Grains 120L
2 lb DME
2 oz Columbus Bittering Hops
1 oz Columbus Finishing Hops
1 oz Columbus Aroma Hops
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
125ml Wyeast 1056 smack pack

 

[Tiamat]

doing a full boil from an extract kit that expects a 2.5-3 gallon boil is going to over-utilize the hops and give you a more bitter than expected beer. Not knowing the bittering units, but 4oz of hops in a 5 gal batch is going to be a bit on the bitter side.... but maybe that's what you were after.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

That recipe looks positively awful. 2 lbs of crystal malt is quite a bit (at or even slightly over the limit of what I would use in a 5 gallon batch). I really hope that you didn't put 2 oz of Columbus into the boil at 60 minutes. Assuming an AA of 14%, that's nearly 100 IBUs!

Usually you steep the grain in a smaller quantity of water. 2 quarts per pound of grain works well. Also, you should make a starter when using liquid yeast.

 

[sims_l22]

Sorry for the error in the recipe it was 1 lb. crushed crystal malt 120L and 2 lbs of the DME.
Sorry

 

[Yuri_Rage]

To give you an idea of how much the boil volume changes things, I ran the recipe through BeerSmith (assuming a 60 minute boil with bittering hops added at the start of the boil).

In a 3 gallon boil, with all of the extract added at the start of the boil, 2 oz of 14% AA hops would result in 48 IBUs.

In a 5.5 gallon boil, with all of the extract added at the start of the boil, the same amount of hops results in 80 IBUs.

In a 5.5 gallon boil, using a late extract addition method where only 2 lbs of DME are added at the start of the boil with the rest added at flameout, the same amount of hops pushes this beer to over 100 IBUs.

 

[IceFisherChris]

You should tell us the schedule for those hops. If you boiled the 2oz columbus for 60 minutes, that is going to be bitter!! Going to a full boil will change your hop utilization and make it way more bitter.
The only thing you can do is wait to see how it tastes. I ALWAYS taste test during "every" stage of brewing
If you take a hydro reading, steal a sip and see what you think.