Will it fit?

spbrhs07 · Jun 1, 2016

I recently finished a recipe for a massive triple IPA... For a 5 gallon batch, I need to start with 6 gallons of water for my hop chemistry to work properly. The recipe also requires 15lbs of DME. However I only have an 8 gallon kettle... Would the 2 gallons of head space be enough?

dsniegocki · Jun 1, 2016

It might fit, but if you have a massive hop addition, THAT's where your boilover will happen.

Since this is an extract recipe, you might be better off holding back on a bit of the water until topoff, or until later in the boil when some evaporation has occurred. It might affect the hop utilization of some of your early hop additions a bit, but that is much better than losing it from boiling over the side of the kettle.

You could shift some of the additions to flameout to help as well, still get IBUs there and some great flavor as well.

Or consider scaling the recipe to 3 or 4 gallons, and see how the kettle holds up.

Calder · Jun 2, 2016

Start with about 5 gallons in the kettle, and only half the extract.

At the end of the boil, add the remaining extract (temps will still be above pasteurizing temps.

Then add your finishing hops and leave with the lid on for an hour.

People do it differently, but I like to get my wort down to about 175 F before I add my flame out hops.

Adding about 8 lbs of extract to say 4 gallons of boiling wort will probably only bring it down to 200 F. You can let it cool on it's own to hop temp, or you could add some of the make-up water to help lower it. Again, everything is still above pasteurization temp.

obsessedbrewing · Jun 2, 2016

What about your boil-off? If it's pretty standard, then it's about 4.2 quarts per hour, which means you'll be finishing the boil (assuming 60 minutes) with a little under 5 gallons. Then if you're not using a hop sack/spider, you'll probably lose 2-4 quarts to hop trub in the kettle, now you're at 4-4.5 gallons into the fermenter. After dry hopping, you'll lose another 2-4 quarts into the keg/bottles, so you'll end up with 3.5-4 gallons of finished beer.

If at all possible, start with a higher volume in the kettle. I have a 7 gallon kettle that I fill to almost the brim in order to end up with about 4.75 gallons of finished beer with an IPA.

As for the head space concern, you can watch the kettle like like a hawk and have a spray bottle ready with cold water to cut back the hot break at the beginning of the boil. Do the same with any hop additions. If you can get some Fermcap-S or Fermcap AT, that will significantly help in the prevention of a boil-over.