I'm thinking about doing some 2.5 gallon brews instead of my standard 5 gallon. These would be to try new styles, that I might not want a full keg of, and do attempt a couple big brews, like a RIS and a Belgian Quad. Would there be any reason not to do the boil for these smaller batches in my 10 gallon kettle, or should I use a smaller kettle?
Smaller batch in big kettle?
- Thread starter PADave
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
If it has a mounted thermometer the wort might not reach it, but there's no reason not to use the 10g kettle...
Cheers!
Cheers!
You'll get more boiloff in the larger kettle, but that isn't a problem if you allow for it in the recipe. If anything it will increase your efficiency.
One thing to consider is that your wort level might be a bit low for your immersion chiller to do it's job properly. Assuming you use one of those, won't be a problem if you use something else for chilling.
Other than that I think you'll be fine. I've brewed 2.5G batches in my grainfather with no issues at all.
One thing to consider is that your wort level might be a bit low for your immersion chiller to do it's job properly. Assuming you use one of those, won't be a problem if you use something else for chilling.
Other than that I think you'll be fine. I've brewed 2.5G batches in my grainfather with no issues at all.
One big advantage of the larger kettle is that boil-overs are not a concern. I started off doing 5-gal batches in an 8-gal kettle, and I had to babysit the thing through the entire boil. I now have a 15-gal kettle, and have never come close to a boil-over with a 5-gal batch.
