Wort Question

[newbrewboy]

Hey all, new to brewing and I have a question: When boiling your wort, is it necessary to add all of the water (totaling +/-5gallons) or can you just add the remaining water to the carboy later?

thanks.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Either is fine, as long as your water is not contaminated.

By all accounts boiling all, or a "full boil" is preferred and measureably better.

 

[brewkrew]

Lots of people concentrate their wort, mostly because they don't have a brew kettle big enough for the full 5gal batch. I've only done one brew, but I made my wort with just over 3gal of water and topped it off to 5gal in my carboy after.

 

[Austinl08]

im pretty new to this as well but some recipies tell you what to boil it in. but many dont. i add water to mine to fill up the 5 gallons. working fine so far just got in the bottles.

 

[KevinW]

Equipment is what determines your boil size and as stated, a full boil is better but you cannot(properly) boil 5 gallons of wort in a 5 gallon kettle so it is OK to do concetrated boils then top off.

 

[tfrost12]

I used to do 3 gallon boils, the biggest issue I found was a lack of hop utilization. if you are doing any darker beers try to add the extract towards the end of the boil, last 20 min, and have the hops in for a full hour if you want any bitterness. I definitely had 3 batches with basically no hop bitterness because of this. But from experience, it is worth it to get a bigger pot, but that also means you should then look into a wort chiller, then it becomes a slippery slope of am I spending too much for the convenience or am I just mad. Really slippery slope, but i love every weekend of it. But you have been warned.

 

[brewkrew]

I used to do 3 gallon boils, the biggest issue I found was a lack of hop utilization. if you are doing any darker beers try to add the extract towards the end of the boil, last 20 min, and have the hops in for a full hour if you want any bitterness. I definitely had 3 batches with basically no hop bitterness because of this. But from experience, it is worth it to get a bigger pot, but that also means you should then look into a wort chiller, then it becomes a slippery slope of am I spending too much for the convenience or am I just mad. Really slippery slope, but i love every weekend of it. But you have been warned.

I'm inching down this slope... My space is limited, my budget is well I'm still a college student, and every day at work I'm trolling this forum and constantly think of a new toy I want... It's a dangerously expensive and enjoyable road for more beer. I've only done one batch and my gf already has said that I am incapable of having a hobby... It always turns into an obsession...

 

[mikeysab]

if I'm doing a batch bigger than my boil kettle_ I'll pull some boiled wort into a separate pot, get all my water in, then add the wort to the fermenter. Don't know if it helps to do that, but I feel better about getting all my water into the boil

 

[Hang Glider]

If your recipe is for partial boils, then partial boil it. Or, you can get a software program like BeerSmith (free trial) to help with IBU calculations.

reason:
Hop Utilization. If you boil your hops in 3 gallons, then add 2 gallons of water, you're essentially "diluting" the hops. So a partial-boil recipe should account for this.

However, in a full-boil scenario, you're using the hops throughout the 5 gallons of water, therefore no diluting occurs. In fact, if you're a fan of the extremely hoppy IPAs and IIPAs, you really NEED to do full boils, so you're not diluting your hard work (lotta hops in IPAs).

Keep in mind evaporation. 5 gallon batch? need to boil 6 - 6.5 gallons of water. 8 to 10 gallon brew pot.

 

[tfrost12]

I'm inching down this slope... My space is limited, my budget is well I'm still a college student, and every day at work I'm trolling this forum and constantly think of a new toy I want... It's a dangerously expensive and enjoyable road for more beer. I've only done one batch and my gf already has said that I am incapable of having a hobby... It always turns into an obsession...

Its bad. In less than a year I have done approx 20 batches, which is a lot I feel since I just did my first batch since may. Had a lot to do in the summer, and unstable fermenting conditions. But I already have a 5ft chest freezer with temperature control, enough carboys to ferment 8 five gallon batches, and a mini yeast bank in the making. At this rate, I wont save anything by making my own beer, maybe ever. But at least I am doing all grains now which are saving me some money. I am not sure where you are at now with the hobby, but mine has without a doubt become an obsession.