Stupid all-grain boiling question

[cprincipe]

Hate to ask such a basic question but I've searched around the site and haven't found an answer.

If I were to do an all-grain, how much liquid would I end up having to boil to get a 5 gallon batch in my fermentation bucket? I've been doing extract brewing so I do my boiling right now in a 4 gallon stock pot and have something like 2 gallons of "concentrated" wort that I then add water to. If I'm doing all-grain, after lautering do I end up with five gallons to boil? More or less? (I know that there are a lot of variables around this, just trying to come up with a ballpark to get an idea of how large a boil pot I'm going to need.)

 

[EdWort]

When I did 5 gallon batches, I would start with 7 gallons of wort to get to 5.5 gallons so after all the racking and testing, I would end up with 5 gallons in the keg.

Your boil off amount will be determined by the diameter of your kettle, how roiling your boil is, relative humidity, and the BierMuncher wind velocity (fan to prevent boil overs).

After a brew or two, you will see how much boils off in a 70 to 90 period as you dial in your system.

I recommend a minimum of an 8 gallon pot for starters.

 

[FishinDave07]

I'm not exactly and expert but, After you drain the mash tun and you get X amount of wort, lets say 3.5 gallons, you then would add 3 gallons of sparge water, preferably split it into 2 separate batch sparges using 1.5 gallons for each sparge. This will yield 6.5 gallons of wort and then depending on your boil off you might end up with 5 gallons going into the fermenter roughly.

I would recommend buying brewing software. I believe that beersmith has the option for "topping off" with water for AG.

 

[TeleTwanger]

I boil 7 gallons to end up with about 5.5gallons...It's all in your system though, how long you boil, how hard etc. I do 60 min boils that are pretty vigorous so I boil off a lot. I'm not a fan of topping off at all....BTW I have a 10 gallon kettle and that is as small as I'd want for 5 gallon (7 gallon boils) Even with a 10 gallon I have to watch for the initial boil over/hot break and it's always near tragedy when it happens but I somehow manage to knock it down ok.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

You can comfortably do 5-gallon batches in a 7.5 gallon turkey fryer kettle if you use foam control drops. You can still definitely do it without foam control if you watch it like a hawk when it comes to boil, drop the heat, and be ready with a spray bottle of water. IMO, foam control is worth its weight in gold if you're brewing anything in a pot that's less than double the size of the boil (ie - 7 gallons of wort for a 5 gallon batch in a 15-gallon keggle is pretty safe without foam control, but much more than that can be pushing it)

 

[Edcculus]

I have a 7.5 gallon pot. I can barely get by. When it gets close to boiling, my roomate and I sit right next to it. When it looks like boiling over, we blow on it and spray with water and turn down the heat. We probably have to do this for 2-3 minutes before the boil settles out. I need foam control drops.

 

[TeleTwanger]

Has anyone tried the pennies in the pot Palmer method?

 

[Diablotastic]

I have a 7.5 gallon pot. I can barely get by. When it gets close to boiling, my roomate and I sit right next to it. When it looks like boiling over, we blow on it and spray with water and turn down the heat. We probably have to do this for 2-3 minutes before the boil settles out. I need foam control drops.

haha....sorry to chuckle at your expense but that's gotta be quite comical to watch

 

[Edcculus]

haha....sorry to chuckle at your expense but that's gotta be quite comical to watch

Oh yes it is. Maybe we need to do a live webcam.

 

[FishinDave07]

Oh yes it is. Maybe we need to do a live webcam.

You also need to have a catchy title:

"2 desperate college room-mates blow the heat"

 

[scinerd3000]

I have a 7.5 gallon pot. I can barely get by. When it gets close to boiling, my roomate and I sit right next to it. When it looks like boiling over, we blow on it and spray with water and turn down the heat. We probably have to do this for 2-3 minutes before the boil settles out. I need foam control drops.

try laying a spoon over the top. It depends on how agressive your foam is but for a while i was using a 7.5 gal pot and i used the spoon over the top as a way to break surface tension...

 

[nathan]

my pot looks like it's just under 8 gallons or so by my rough measurements. A 7.5 gallon runoff fills up to about an inch and a half from the top.

Luckily I have the space and dedicated toys, so I use a filtered water sprayer with a hose attachment just for my beer. The water is prefiltered and carbon filtered. I set the sprayer on mist as the boil heats up, then just give it quick shots until the break.

Of course, I just need to focus on getting the new keggles done...

 

[BrewBrain]

I have a 7.5 gallon pot and start with 7 gallons that boils down to exactly 5 gallons after a one-hour boil. I'd like an extra half gallon, but I boil off more than most it seems.

I don't get boilovers because I'm careful and I use the force.