Water in boil questions...

[Robdog289]

I have been doing extract kits with specialty grains and adding my own hop combo to my liking. Beers come out pretty good. 4 batches now.

All the recipes seem to call for a 2.5 or 3 gallon boil. Can i start my boil with 5 or 5.5 gallons? What will this effect (negative effects)?

I have a 10 gallon pot. all recipes are for 5 gallon batches.

I have read that more concentrated wort takes away from hop utilization. So am i correct that a more diluted start will increase hop utilization and not give off flavors?
Should i add additional hops at the beginning of the boil to compensate?

Thanks!

 

[kh54s10]

The hop utilization does change. I haven't done a full boil on a recipe designed for a partial boil so I don't know the correction.

One thing to consider is how you are doing the boil. If you are using an electric stove, do a test boil. It might take hours to get it to boil or it might not even be possible.

If you do a full boil you will have to figure out your boil off rate. I use an SP10 propane burner and boil off 2 gallons per hour. So I need 7+ gallons to end up with just over 5 into the fermenter and 5 gallons bottled/kegged. Or you will have to top up.

 

[flars]

Along with the points made by @kh54s10 do you have the means to cool the wort when doing a full boil?

Some say hop utilization may increase by up to 10% with a full boil compared to the hopping schedule of the recipe calling for a partial boil. Different hops may have a different utilization rate with a full boil though. Try the full boil with the same hop schedule to see if you like the results.

 

[Robdog289]

Along with the points made by @kh54s10 do you have the means to cool the wort when doing a full boil?

Some say hop utilization may increase by up to 10% with a full boil compared to the hopping schedule of the recipe calling for a partial boil. Different hops may have a different utilization rate with a full boil though. Try the full boil with the same hop schedule to see if you like the results.

Yes, i have a wort chiller