Starting Water Amount

[MrEggSandwich]

This may be a dumb question, but what the hell:

I see a lot of recipes that say to start steep with 2-3 gallons water and top off to 5 gallons at end of boil. I have an 8 gallon brew pot, so can I just start the steep with 5-6 gallons of water (depending on recipe)?

I would think starting steep with full amount right off the bat would result in a more uniform final wort.

Am I missing something? Thanks!

 

[LimerickBrewCo]

Full boils are better than partial boils so definitely.

 

[Yooper]

Sure! Assuming you can boil that much liquid of course, as well as chill that much boiling wort. Many homes have stoves that simply can't boil 6.5 gallons of wort on them, so some homebrewers do a partial boil. Also, remember that it takes a long time to chill 5 gallons of boiling liquid! If you can do it in an ice/water bath, that's fine but it's easier to chill 2.5 gallons of wort to 90 degrees and then add 2.5 gallons of ice cold water to top up, that's why many brewers do it that way.

 

[msa8967]

I cannot say for certain about using the full water volume so steeping your grains but when it comes time to do you boil it is recommended that you use as much of the full amount as possible for best hop utilization. If this is an extract batch with steeped grains then you could always add more water to your kettle after the steeping has been done.

I don't think there would be any problem with steeping the grains in your full boil volume of water.

 

[MrEggSandwich]

Sure! Assuming you can boil that much liquid of course, as well as chill that much boiling wort. Many homes have stoves that simply can't boil 6.5 gallons of wort on them, so some homebrewers do a partial boil. Also, remember that it takes a long time to chill 5 gallons of boiling liquid! If you can do it in an ice/water bath, that's fine but it's easier to chill 2.5 gallons of wort to 90 degrees and then add 2.5 gallons of ice cold water to top up, that's why many brewers do it that way.

Thanks! I am good, 8 gallon pot...after 2 batches in an ice bath, I knew that I wanted a wort chiller, so I got that covered. And I have an outdoor setup so power is not an issue.

Equipment-wise, I dove right in. Just need to get the technique down. I've actually made 4 batches since Feb, and tasted the first 2. They have been OK, but out of the 4 brews, there are things I could have done much better.

 

[lgilmore]

Outside? 8 gallon pot? absolutely not a problem. I start with 6 in my 7.5 and finish with just a tidge of springwater to add. Just adjust your heat for boilover and watch it.

Go for it.

 

[Mase]

Looks like you have your bases covered.

I brew outside with a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer set up and use my 25' wort chiller to cool. Only difference i do is steep my grains on the stove top in about a gallon of water or so while my brew kettle is warming up to a boil (cuts down on brew time). Cheers!

 

[Aschecte]

YOU CAN DO IT !!!! and you should as long as you have the capabilities as Yooper has stated and it seems you do so your logic does make complete sense.