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Extract Brewing Full Volume

mterm

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I have been reading a few books on brewing and most of what I have read has suggested when extract brewing it is better to brew with a full volume boil instead of a partial boil. They say that it can prevent caramelization of the wort when using malt extract (I have had a few boils that at the end looked like molasses and the finished beer didn't turn out great) and also it helps get the highest utilization of the hops. I am considering getting a larger brew pot so that I can do full volume boils and was wondering if anybody has any input on full volume boils.

Thanks,
Mark
 
My brewbuddy does this. Aside from costing more per batch, I think full volume does give you better hop utilization.

You could just try moving your extract additions toward the end of the partial to reduce the mallaird (carmelization) reaction (excuse my spelling-no coffee yet)

One thing I'd recommend is a dowel or some kind of measuring stick that tells you preboil volume, postboil volume, and postboil volumw with your chiller in the pot.  With more hot liquid, you will need a chiller to drop the temp quickly.  The stick is far easier and foolproof them messing around with boiling liquid for measuring.  I put notches in a dowelrod after I soaked it in idophor.
 
+1 on the benefits of full-wort boils, and also the increased chilling needs.  And you get the sanitation improvement of boiling all the wort and not having to add water post-boil.  If you're doing 5.0 gallon batches, you likely want a pot > 7.5 gals to allow room for foaming and transfer losses along the way. 
 
Thanks for the suggestions I am looking at an 8 gallon pot and I will make a wort chiller. On the dowel as I get too the end of the boil is the idea to check the finish volume of the boil and add water if necessary to bring the final volume to 5 gallons.
 
Mterm, where are you from?  I am in illinois and found menards to be somewhat reasonable for the copper tubing for my chiller.  I got 60' for I believe about $45.  Just make the dowel ahead of time.  The idea is you want to be cutting off the heat when you are "a little" over 5 gal with the chiller in.  Because not matter what brewing we do getting low output makes us feel cheated!

+1 8gallon is a great size.  I used bro-in-laws turkey fryer for my first few batches with great success.  1 more question-Heat-are you planning to boil roughly 6.5 gallons down to 5 gallons on a stove or did you get a burner.  When I made the move I noticed it took much more energy to boil the additional wort.

Nearly everyone here has made the progression so don't be afraid to ask questions.
 
My typical 25 ft 3/8" IC from a store was fine for cooling less than 4 gallons, but when I went outside it didn't cool fast enough.  So, someone recommended www.coppertubingsales.com for the raw tubing, and he helped a friend and I build two 50 ft 1/2" ICs from one 100 ft roll.  Double the length and 33% bigger tubing works great.

Mine looks much like the XL model from Northern Brewer and was about $50 instead of $130.  My friend uses a 15-gallon Polarware so they made his custom to his pot and it's great as well.  If you are up for the coiling and minimal soldering required, you can save big bucks and get just the sized IC you need if you do it yourself.
 
Sogoak, Maltlicker,
I am from New Hampshire I went to Lowes and was able to get 50' of 3/8" for $43. I am going to take 30' and make the wort chiller from that and then use the remaining 20' to make a prechiller I figured a 5 gallon bucket full of ice with the prechiller in it should work. I have well water so the water coming out of the ground is pretty cold to begin with. I have a turkey fryer burner and was thinking of going that way instead of stove top. Thanks for the info on the dowel its a great idea. How long should I be looking at to get 5 gallons  wort from boil to pitching temperature? I know it should be as soon as possible but at what point is to long.

Thanks for your help,
Mark
 
If it were me, with consistently cool well water, I would put your expected final volume in the pot, measure that height, and make a chiller that high.  If your well water is usually cool, I would think you'll get more cooling from copper in the wort, as opposed to reducing well water temps a little bit with a pre-chiller. 

So if you think your final volume at flameout will be six gallons, fill the pot to that volume, and twist coils to that height in the pot.  With well water, that may be all you need. 

If you found you needed more cooling in the summer, many of us use a small pump to push ice water thru the chiller.  Using tap, and then ice water, I can chill 5.5 gallons from boiling to 60F in 25 minutes.  That includes a couple minutes switching from tap to ice water.  It's the temperature differential that drives down the wort temp, so actual ice water in the wort is pretty effective.
 
I oversized mine 60' of 3/8" with 5 gallons it flies, 10 takes a little time, but I get most of the break to settle and seem to get out of the bacteria threshold quick enough
 
I forgot- I am considering a prechiller and pump for ice, but not in the winter.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I will use the 50' of 3/8" and and make the wort chiller from that and hold off on the pre-chiller. Like you say it makes sense to get more copper in the pot to transfer the heat. If I find in the summer I need a pre-chiller I will add one then. I will let you know how I make out.

Thanks again,
Mark
 
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