Some Beginner Brewing Questions

[Brandonesc]

I'm completely new to brewing, haven't even done my first batch yet, but before I start, and buying some equipment, I thought I'd ask here.

My girlfriend has an old 3 gallon pressure cooker in her garage, I was planning to use that, to save some money. :rockin:

So my first question is, would I be able to brew two separate 2 gallon batches and put it in the 5 gallon carboy? Also, I read somewhere that I could just add a gallon of water to the rest of the 4 gallons to make it a full 5 gallons. The first batch I was planning on doing was a West Coast IPA and hopefully with this method.

Thanks for any help.

- B

 

[AMonkey]

I am a newbie as well, and just got my 2nd batch in the primary. I boil around 3.5 gallons which leaves me with around 3 gallons and I top off to 5 gallons. Works great. I use bottled water for the last 2 gallons and have it chilled in the fridge to help cool down the wort. I am assuming you are doing an extract kit? You could boil 2.5 gallons and top up to five gallons, or do two batches each with half of your extract and top up to 5 gallons. Either should work out fine.

 

[Brandonesc]

I am assuming you are doing an extract kit?

Actually, I am going to be doing All Grain.

How big is your boiling pot? Are you boiling outside?

 

[AMonkey]

All grain BIAB? Not sure a 3 gallon will be big enough for that. I have a 5 gallon that I use, but just got a 7 or 8 gallon off craigslist that I have not had time to clean up. I will be moving to all grain BIAB if my stove can handle it. I am also looking for a cheap turkey fryer so I can move outside.

 

[unionrdr]

I use my 5 gallon (20qt) ss stock pot for 3G boils. Or the 4G (16qt) ss stock pot for 2.5 gallon ones. If any grains or wheat DME's are involved,they can make a foamy hot break. So a little head room is a good buffer zone kinda thing.

 

[Brandonesc]

AMonkey, unionrdr so what it looks like, is I should just buy a larger stock pot? Yeah, I was questioning the size of the 3 gallon, it may be larger actually, but regardless, doesn't look like it is going to cut it.

 

[Whattawort]

First off, congrats on jumping into homebrewing and a big WOW for jumping in with both feet into AG. I'll chime in with a hard lesson learned regarding your question. It is possible to combine 2 boils but the logistics are pretty iffy. I made an AG amber not long ago but my new pot was still stuck in the mail. So instead of waiting for it to come in, I just said screw it and decided to do it with my old 4 gal brew pot and a 2 gal stock pot (still less than a full boil). The mash out and sparge were a bit of a bugger since I was using both pots to heat the sparge water (one on the propane burner and one inside on the stove) and I had nothing to collect the 1st runnings in. I just dumped the larger amount in the mash tun and started collecting the wort. 10-15 later I dumped the rest of the water (actually forgot it was on the stove). You wouldn't believe how tricky it was time all that movement brewing solo. My wife hates the smell of boiling wort and I didn't have 2 burners, so one pot had to hang out for an hour wrapped in a towel while the other one boiled. Didn't have time or a place to let the 1st batch cool as the only available vessels were being used and I was quickly running out of time. So I ended up dumping boiling wort into my bucket and hoped for the best while other pot was boiling away. Then I had to dump that boiling wort into the bucket. I threw it into my swamp cooler and let it cool down overnight before pitching the yeast. To make an already long story shorter, it all worked out in the end, but that was the most stressful (aka NOT FUN) brew day ever. I'll just wait until I have all my equipment at hand next time.

 

[ludomonster]

Between mashing and sparging, the best I can do with an 18qt steamer is 7lb of grain. If you can't get a bigger pot, you can brew with as much as you can and get to your target gravity with extract. Here are some things to consider: you want 1.25 - 1.33 qt/lb of mash water. You can guess that you will lose 0.1 - 0.2 gallons/lb to the grain, but you will eventually be able to determine this empirically. You want to estimate high to start, because you can only sparge with: Pot_capacity - mash_water + water_absorbed_by_grain. Otherwise, you'll have too much liquor for your pot. You also want some headspace for when you are boiling. There's nothing quite like watching a boil when you start only an inch below the lip.

 

[menerdari]

So my first question is, would I be able to brew two separate 2 gallon batches and put it in the 5 gallon carboy?
- B

Is your carboy only 5 gallons? If so it is not big enough for primary fermentation of a 5 gallon batch.

 

[AMonkey]

If you do an extract, you can make the 3 gallon pot work by boiling 2 gallons of wort. For all-grain I don't think you would want to use something that small.

 

[unionrdr]

Ok,here's my current idea for my 1st partial mash kit lying in wait. It's some 5lb of grains,needing about 1.5 gallons of water to mash @ 156F to start. I can do that in the small 3G stock pot. Then have the 5G stock pot ready for the boil & sparge with the remaing 1.5G at 165-170F.
So the 3G pot might be ok for PM,since a small jug of plain LME or like amount of plain DME wil be added to the boil for hop additions. But I also do the late extract addition as well so color stays lighter & no extract twang. Hope that give some ideas.

 

[Brandonesc]

First off, congrats on jumping into homebrewing and a big WOW for jumping in with both feet into AG. I'll chime in with a hard lesson learned regarding your question. It is possible to combine 2 boils but the logistics are pretty iffy. I made an AG amber not long ago but my new pot was still stuck in the mail. So instead of waiting for it to come in, I just said screw it and decided to do it with my old 4 gal brew pot and a 2 gal stock pot (still less than a full boil). The mash out and sparge were a bit of a bugger since I was using both pots to heat the sparge water (one on the propane burner and one inside on the stove) and I had nothing to collect the 1st runnings in. I just dumped the larger amount in the mash tun and started collecting the wort. 10-15 later I dumped the rest of the water (actually forgot it was on the stove). You wouldn't believe how tricky it was time all that movement brewing solo. My wife hates the smell of boiling wort and I didn't have 2 burners, so one pot had to hang out for an hour wrapped in a towel while the other one boiled. Didn't have time or a place to let the 1st batch cool as the only available vessels were being used and I was quickly running out of time. So I ended up dumping boiling wort into my bucket and hoped for the best while other pot was boiling away. Then I had to dump that boiling wort into the bucket. I threw it into my swamp cooler and let it cool down overnight before pitching the yeast. To make an already long story shorter, it all worked out in the end, but that was the most stressful (aka NOT FUN) brew day ever. I'll just wait until I have all my equipment at hand next time.

Yeah! That's exactly why I was thinking it was best until I have everything. I would love to just try with what I have, but I'd rather wait, to have an awesome perfect first experience with brewing. Also, thanks for such a long reply, and the welcome!

 

[Brandonesc]

If you do an extract, you can make the 3 gallon pot work by boiling 2 gallons of wort. For all-grain I don't think you would want to use something that small.

Thanks, I plan to stick to all grain, no extracts. I am going to just go with a bigger kettle I don't really have an interest for extract.

 

[Brandonesc]

Ok,here's my current idea for my 1st partial mash kit lying in wait. It's some 5lb of grains,needing about 1.5 gallons of water to mash @ 156F to start. I can do that in the small 3G stock pot. Then have the 5G stock pot ready for the boil & sparge with the remaing 1.5G at 165-170F.
So the 3G pot might be ok for PM,since a small jug of plain LME or like amount of plain DME wil be added to the boil for hop additions. But I also do the late extract addition as well so color stays lighter & no extract twang. Hope that give some ideas.

Thanks it was helpful, I should have mentioned though, I don't plan on using any extract. I don't know how people feel about beginners going straight to all grain, but I'm into having every bit of control of my beer, and doing everything possible, it will make me more proud of the beer. But, that's just me I love the idea of doing every step possible, to say you did it all.

 

[Brandonesc]

Is your carboy only 5 gallons? If so it is not big enough for primary fermentation of a 5 gallon batch.

What amount is suitable for a 5 gallon carboy? It may be 5.5, I have to go and measure.

 

[SeanRRogers]

Don't worry about the 5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon carboy. I do it all the time, have done for years. Just be prepared for blowoff. You'll lose a little beer, but not too much. I'm generally within a couple of 12-oz bottles of 2 cases in the end--which ends up being about 4.5 gallons finished beer.

If it bothers you, just size the batch down to 4.5 gallons. If you have a 5.5 gallon carboy, you should be golden.

Brings to mind a tip: I'd recommend measuring the carboy volume and marking it beforehand, I wish I'd done mine sooner. And plan a way to accurately measure the volume of your input water and first runnings as well. Without that, you won't be able to calculate your efficiency.

 

[Brandonesc]

Don't worry about the 5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon carboy. I do it all the time, have done for years. Just be prepared for blowoff. You'll lose a little beer, but not too much. I'm generally within a couple of 12-oz bottles of 2 cases in the end--which ends up being about 4.5 gallons finished beer.

If it bothers you, just size the batch down to 4.5 gallons. If you have a 5.5 gallon carboy, you should be golden.

Brings to mind a tip: I'd recommend measuring the carboy volume and marking it beforehand, I wish I'd done mine sooner. And plan a way to accurately measure the volume of your input water and first runnings as well. Without that, you won't be able to calculate your efficiency.

Thanks a ton man! :rockin: I would be more comfortable most likely doing 4.5 gallons, just since it's my first time.

 

[Whattawort]

Yeah! That's exactly why I was thinking it was best until I have everything. I would love to just try with what I have, but I'd rather wait, to have an awesome perfect first experience with brewing. Also, thanks for such a long reply, and the welcome!

I can be pretty long winded. Sorry 'bout that.

 

[ajf]

I use a 6.5g carboy for 5g batches, and even then, I sometimes need a blow off tube. I wouldn't like to try to ferment more than 4g in a 5g carboy.

-a.