Start Volume - 5 Gallon Extract - Blichmann 10 Gallon Pot?

[J2W2]

Hi,

I'm doing a 5 gallon extract this weekend, with a Blichmann 10 gallon brew pot. This will be my first batch with this pot, and my first full boil.

I know the boil off will depend on the shape of the pot (surface area) and how hard a boil I do, but can someone familiar with this type of pot tell me how much water to start with? I'm assuming somewhere in the 6 - 6.5 gallon range?

And what is the target volume at the end of the boil, somewhere in the 5.5 gallon range?

Thanks for your help!

 

[MurphysLawBrewer]

I have a 15 gallon tall boy kettle, similar ratios just a bit larger and wider because of the extra 5 gal capacity.

When I'm steeping grains and using leaf hops (the hops I press into a strainer to pull out the liquid) I generally start off with about 6.5 gallons of water for a 5 gallon batch and 60 minute boil. When using LME I use more like 6.25 gallons otherwise you just end up with too much volume.

Normally I get around 1.5-2 gallons of boil off if it's vigorous and uncovered.

 

[J2W2]

When I'm steeping grains and using leaf hops (the hops I press into a strainer to pull out the liquid) I generally start off with about 6.5 gallons of water for a 5 gallon batch and 60 minute boil. When using LME I use more like 6.25 gallons otherwise you just end up with too much volume.

I'm brewing Midwest's "Ferocious IPA", which has a smaller amount of grains and two bottles of LME, totaling just over 9lbs. This is the first one I've done with that much LME.

I'll start with 6.25 gallons and see how it goes. I'm boiling a gallon of water right now, just so I have some available if I need to top off the carboy tomorrow.

Thanks for the help!