What size wort/primary for a double IPA?

[mikesalvo]

I want to brew my first Double IPA, and Im told that the fermentation in to crazy for a 5 or 6 gallon carboy. What do you suggest I use as a primary for a 5 gallon batch of Double IPA?

Also, the recipe I have says to top my kettle of the 8 gallon during the brew. Why so much for a 5 gallon batch? Is it because I will loose volume during the heavy hop addition?

as always, thanks!

 

[fletchsj]

The hops will certainly soak up wort... But 3 gal i doubt. Depending on your process and how much boil off you get I guess 8 gal isn't a terrible initial quantity to start with in your kettle. But, I boil off 2 gal an hour generally, and that is on the high side. I use 7-8 gal buckets for anything over 1.075 as I don't want to have to worry about bucket bombs. You can do it in a smaller bucket no problem, just use a nice large diameter blow off tube and have a container large enough to hold a decent amount of liquid. I use an old nalgene bottle for this. Good luck

 

[scoundrel]

I want to brew my first Double IPA, and Im told that the fermentation in to crazy for a 5 or 6 gallon carboy. What do you suggest I use as a primary for a 5 gallon batch of Double IPA?

That's not really a true statement. Yes higher alcohol can cause the ferment to be vigorous but temperature and yeast also play a role. Controlling your temperature will really help. If you can ferment around 64 for the first 36-48 then you should be able to keep it under control. I use 6 gallon Better Bottles for all of my beer.

Also, the recipe I have says to top my kettle of the 8 gallon during the brew. Why so much for a 5 gallon batch? Is it because I will loose volume during the heavy hop addition?

as always, thanks!

There will be loss to consider. You'll probably boil off between 1-1 1/2 gallons per hour, depending on your kettle and environment (inside/outside), then you'll lose about 1/2 gallon to chilling and another 1/2 gallon if you leave break material behind.

Basically expect to add at least 2 gallons on top of your 5 gallons. You can find calculators on the web or I highly recommend buying Beersmith for $25. It will remove the guess work.

 

[mikesalvo]

awesome, thanks for the input. If I top off to 8 and have more than 5 gallons left, should I just discard the remainder?

 

[JakeFegely]

If you end up with more than want (or more than you feel comfortable putting into the fermentor), you could discard the excess. However, you will be throwing out sugar (gravity points), and all other things being equal, you won't hit your target OG. You might make an IPA instead of an IIPA. It's important to learn the boil-off rate for your specific set-up and only experience can tell you that.
You could start slightly conservative (7 or 7.5 gallons) and add (boiled, then cooled) water once you've cooled the wort and know how much you have. In that case your gravity out of the kettle should be above expectation and the water addition (if needed) should get you to the expected OG.

 

[fletchsj]

why do you need to top off? sounds like you have plenty of wort... but as Jake said above, you need to learn your boil off rate and adjust accordingly.