10 Gallon Boilermaker and 5 Gallon batches

eaglerising · May 9, 2012, 2:57pm

-Im a new brewer.
-Extract Brewing
-5 gallon batches

Question : Can I start out boiling the 5 gallons of water versus the 2.5 that the kits says to start boiling.

Reasoning: If i only bring 2.5 gallons of water to a boil, the water level is not high enough for the thermometer on the boilermaker to reach and give an accurate temp. My thought process is that I add the water later anyway so why not start with enough water to reach the thermometer so that I actually get some use out of it.

Is this a good idea? Any concerns

dobe12 · May 9, 2012, 2:59pm

Yes, full boils are better. Start with about 6 gallons and boil down to 5. This will increase your hop utilization. So take that into consideration.

chester3 · May 9, 2012, 4:12pm

Just don’t steep any grains in the full volume.
:cheers:

dobe12 · May 9, 2012, 4:13pm

[quote=“Chester3”]Just don’t steep any grains in the full volume.
:cheers: [/quote]

Never heard that before. Curious, why?

mvsawyer · May 9, 2012, 4:34pm

[quote=“dobe12”][quote=“Chester3”]Just don’t steep any grains in the full volume.
:cheers: [/quote]

Never heard that before. Curious, why?[/quote]
Supposedly it’s a PH imbalance thing with 6 gallons of water and only a 1-2 lbs of grain extracting tannins. I’ve steeped in 5gal without a problem but I might be PH lucky.

the_professor · May 9, 2012, 4:55pm

A big +1 …the full wort boil was one of the three things that made my extract batches 1000% better back in the days before I went all grain.

sluggo · May 9, 2012, 9:45pm

You will need to consider a wort chiller if you do not already have one.

eaglerising · May 9, 2012, 11:10pm

Yah I have a wort chiller. Just finished brewing a Biere de grade an hour with a starting 5 gallons of water instead of starting with 2.5. Looks and smelled great! Minus the alcohol it taste pretty damn good too.

chester3 · May 11, 2012, 4:45am

[quote=“dobe12”][quote=“Chester3”]Just don’t steep any grains in the full volume.
:cheers: [/quote]

Never heard that before. Curious, why?[/quote]

I had some tannin issues after switching to full boils. Narrowed it down to 1# of grains in 6.5 gallons water. I had it happen multiple times, but not since correcting my procedure.

erikhillard · May 11, 2012, 4:51am

So you guys recommend steeping the grains in 2.5 gallons and then adding the rest to do a full boil?

s_scoggin · May 11, 2012, 5:07am

yup. that would be best

stormybrew · May 11, 2012, 3:44pm

[quote=“Chester3”][quote=“dobe12”][quote=“Chester3”]Just don’t steep any grains in the full volume.
:cheers: [/quote]

Never heard that before. Curious, why?[/quote]

I had some tannin issues after switching to full boils. Narrowed it down to 1# of grains in 6.5 gallons water. I had it happen multiple times, but not since correcting my procedure.[/quote]

I call Shenanigan!! Quantity shouldn’t matter. Only high PH and high temp.

cheers

xjrewster · May 11, 2012, 6:14pm

[quote=“StormyBrew”]

I call Shenanigan!! Quantity shouldn’t matter. Only high PH and high temp.

cheers[/quote]

X2 even the latest brewtv has them steeping in a full boil.