Full vs. Partial Boil

[maglorski]

The camps seems to be pretty split between partial and full boils...

I've still got the training wheels so I guess I'm looking for some insight.

Will I still get a decent product if I do a partial boil then top up with cold?

I've read some forum's where it's recommended to spread the addition of the LME into two groups (one at the start, the other with about 10 mins left).

My last batch I did an (almost) full boil, I added about 4 litres to bring it up to 6 gal.

Thx.

M.

[mthibodeau]

you will still get great beer with a partial.

The big difference from what I understand is hop utilization, and thats based on the gravity of the boiling wort. So full volume you get better utilization as the gravity is lower, same thing with the other method, you keep the gravity low for most of the boil, thereby extracting the bittering as planned, and then put in the rest of the extract at the end to kill off any germs in it, and then top up later

[Bizlair]

I'm not sure what your setup is like, but have you considered doing two separate 3 gallon batches instead of one 6 gallon batch?

This would require having two fermentation vessels available, and you'd have to have time to brew twice.

If these concerns aren't an issue then you could try a partial boil and a full boil. Then you could compare the results yourself. Do side-by-side tastings.

[chalmers]

You will definitely still get a decent product if you top up with water, assuming the water is clean, not full of chlorine, or nasties that would have been boiled off like the other 5 gallons of wort.

Are you topping up because you want more product, or because you want to reduce the gravity?

As for LME addition, you do want to add it in the boil to sterilize it, and ensure it's well dissolved. If you are brewing a light beer, it probably is better to add it later in the boil, to keep it from caramelizing (and darkening your beer colour). But you do want *some* sugar during the entire boil so that the liquid is wort-like, hence the suggestion to add it in stages.

You are ultimately in charge, so I'd suggest running a couple of experiments to see what you prefer, or share some at the next meeting.

Good luck!

[maglorski]

I'm topping up to get to the 6 gallon mark.

[spears104]

I used to do staged additions of malt extract when I was doing partial boils, one to aide with hop utilization, and second to prevent darkening of the wort due to caramelization.

There are some videos on youtube that compare the same recipe done with partial vs full boils (sorry I can't remember where I found them) and there was a noticeable difference in colour between the two batches.

Saying that, do the best you can with what you have, with your long term goal being acquiring the equipment to get up to a full volume boil.


Cheers!