BrewCraftUSA kit question....? Or any extract kit question..

[TheHamNerd]

Okay, since I am new to this and this will be my first brew I have a few questions.
Here we go...just to get this one out of the way!

LOL

I have a 10.5 gallon SS brew pot. The instructions for the kit state to use 3 gallons for the process, and then add water to the fermenter later to bring it up to 5 gallons once you have finished the boil and chill process.

My question is this:

Can I do a full boil so I don't have to add the water later if I already have a pot large enough for a full boil? I think I would need about 7 gallons or so due to evaporation...correct? Then this should leave me with around 5 gallons of wort. Is it not the same difference as adding the water later?

I don't think it would dilute the wort or ruin it...correct?

Just curious, might be a stupid question, but I think the instructions are for people that brew on the stove. I have spent a shit ton of money getting started...around $500 on all kinds of shit to be ahead of the game and to try to do it right the first time.

[Ozwald]

Yes, do a full boil. Those instructions will make beer, but they're not very good instructions for someone like yourself (judging from your QRZ pic; I'm a Yaesu guy too & I know how we tend to think - nice rig btw)

The best thing you could do is pick up some software & input the recipe. It'll give you your numbers - gravities, pre/post boil volumes, etc. You could take advantage of BeerSmith's trial period or use any number of free programs out there. The math is all the same for nearly every calculation. The hardest part is going to be learning to read your boil off rate. You could always do a test run with water by putting a known volume of water in your kettle (about half full works well), boil for 30 minutes & measure again. Take the difference, multiply by 2 & use that to calculate the percentage. You want roughly 13%. As long as you're pretty close you can adjust it on the fly on brew day.

I just helped my mechanic brew his first batch a few weeks ago (who also happens to be a Yaesu guy) & we were talking about the exact same things.

[TheHamNerd]

Yes, do a full boil. Those instructions will make beer, but they're not very good instructions for someone like yourself (judging from your QRZ pic; I'm a Yaesu guy too & I know how we tend to think - nice rig btw)


I just helped my mechanic brew his first batch a few weeks ago (who also happens to be a Yaesu guy) & we were talking about the exact same things.

YEAH!!! Yaesu all the way! I need to update that QRZ pic....I have the same rigs, just added some other nice gear too

Anyway, I will look into some software. I will not be able to at the present time, so it is going to be a bit of an experiment! Yes, us Hams do tend to think differently at times. We try to make things more efficient , and in the process engineer shit! Sometimes it works, and sometimes it flops, but at least we have fun doing it! LOL

Thanks for the advice Ozwald

[Ozwald]

Yes, do a full boil. Those instructions will make beer, but they're not very good instructions for someone like yourself (judging from your QRZ pic; I'm a Yaesu guy too & I know how we tend to think - nice rig btw)


I just helped my mechanic brew his first batch a few weeks ago (who also happens to be a Yaesu guy) & we were talking about the exact same things.

YEAH!!! Yaesu all the way! I need to update that QRZ pic....I have the same rigs, just added some other nice gear too

Anyway, I will look into some software. I will not be able to at the present time, so it is going to be a bit of an experiment! Yes, us Hams do tend to think differently at times. We try to make things more efficient , and in the process engineer shit! Sometimes it works, and sometimes it flops, but at least we have fun doing it! LOL

Thanks for the advice Ozwald

You usually can't tell too much from the Icom & Kenwood guys, but 99.9% of the Yaesu guys fall under the same basic stereotype. They're just a more technical radio & from what I've seen you love em or hate em. But anyone who spends the dough on an FT2000 obviously looked at other rigs & bought the Yaesu for a reason. It's just a certain mindset... and the sadistic love of learning/memorizing their menu structure. I found it pretty easy, but there's a ton of experienced ops out there who just can't figure it out.

And if you think Hams are the inventive/engineering types, wait til you get a little more into brewing. Don't get me wrong, Hams are, but they don't hold a candle to the crazy shit brewers come up with.

BTW, my rigs are: FT897D, FT7900, VX-7R & VX-6R. If I was a little more active I'd love to have that 2000 (or the 5000), but I just like to tinker with them from time to time so I can't justify that kind of money. Those first 3 can handle anything & everything I'll ever need to do & the 6R is my loaner.

Back to the original topic, those included recipes are for the weekend warrior. Technically they'll make beer, but you can improve upon nearly every step. It would just be too long and complicated for a quick sheet to throw in with the kit. At that point they'd save time by just throwing in a copy of How To Brew.

[TheHamNerd]

Yes, do a full boil. Those instructions will make beer, but they're not very good instructions for someone like yourself (judging from your QRZ pic; I'm a Yaesu guy too & I know how we tend to think - nice rig btw)


I just helped my mechanic brew his first batch a few weeks ago (who also happens to be a Yaesu guy) & we were talking about the exact same things.

YEAH!!! Yaesu all the way! I need to update that QRZ pic....I have the same rigs, just added some other nice gear too

Anyway, I will look into some software. I will not be able to at the present time, so it is going to be a bit of an experiment! Yes, us Hams do tend to think differently at times. We try to make things more efficient , and in the process engineer shit! Sometimes it works, and sometimes it flops, but at least we have fun doing it! LOL

Thanks for the advice Ozwald

You usually can't tell too much from the Icom & Kenwood guys, but 99.9% of the Yaesu guys fall under the same basic stereotype. They're just a more technical radio & from what I've seen you love em or hate em. But anyone who spends the dough on an FT2000 obviously looked at other rigs & bought the Yaesu for a reason. It's just a certain mindset... and the sadistic love of learning/memorizing their menu structure. I found it pretty easy, but there's a ton of experienced ops out there who just can't figure it out.

And if you think Hams are the inventive/engineering types, wait til you get a little more into brewing. Don't get me wrong, Hams are, but they don't hold a candle to the crazy shit brewers come up with.

BTW, my rigs are: FT897D, FT7900, VX-7R & VX-6R. If I was a little more active I'd love to have that 2000 (or the 5000), but I just like to tinker with them from time to time so I can't justify that kind of money. Those first 3 can handle anything & everything I'll ever need to do & the 6R is my loaner.

Back to the original topic, those included recipes are for the weekend warrior. Technically they'll make beer, but you can improve upon nearly every step. It would just be too long and complicated for a quick sheet to throw in with the kit. At that point they'd save time by just throwing in a copy of How To Brew.

The Yaesu HF rig I have is an FT950 and it is nice, bought it about 2 years ago when they were around $1,500. Actually my ole lady got it for me...hehehe sugar momma! I could go on about radios, I will PM you and we can chat about radios.

Anyway, the kit I have has some specialty grans in it for steeping. Now I was reading that you do not want to steep those grains in a full 5 gallons of water and its better to do it in around about a gallon per pound of grains. The kit says to use 3 gallons of water then add water once cooled in fermenter. Can I steep in the 3 gallons, then once done steeping and grains removed, add water for a full boil? It is going to be around 6.5 to almost 7 gallons for a 75 minute boil. Again my kit is for stove top guys, and I am trying to take it a step farther and do a full boil in my 10.5 gallon kettle. It seems like it has something to do with the PH in steeping the grains in more than 3 gallons of water. Since I only have one kettle, I would have to add cold water to bring it up to the 6.5 gallons after steeping for a full boil. Hope I havent made this too complicated. LOL

[spiderwrangler]

You'll also want to keep in mind that 5 gal is going to be harder to cool down than 3 gal, most folks will have some sort of wort chilling device in order to do a full 5.

[Ozwald]

You'll also want to keep in mind that 5 gal is going to be harder to cool down than 3 gal, most folks will have some sort of wort chilling device in order to do a full 5.

Excellent point that completely slipped my mind. My mechanic friend is borrowing my Sankey kettle so he built an immersion chiller a couple days before brew day. IIRC HamNerd has also built an immersion chiller that we were talking about in another thread.

Anyway, the kit I have has some specialty grans in it for steeping. Now I was reading that you do not want to steep those grains in a full 5 gallons of water and its better to do it in around about a gallon per pound of grains. The kit says to use 3 gallons of water then add water once cooled in fermenter. Can I steep in the 3 gallons, then once done steeping and grains removed, add water for a full boil? It is going to be around 6.5 to almost 7 gallons for a 75 minute boil. Again my kit is for stove top guys, and I am trying to take it a step farther and do a full boil in my 10.5 gallon kettle. It seems like it has something to do with the PH in steeping the grains in more than 3 gallons of water. Since I only have one kettle, I would have to add cold water to bring it up to the 6.5 gallons after steeping for a full boil. Hope I havent made this too complicated. LOL

What I would suggest is to put all of your water in the kettle, raise temperature to your steeping strike temperature, then transfer some of that water to another vessel (1, if your kettle doesn't have a spigot, use something heat safe to scoop it out, like a large ladle or Pyrex measuring cup... don't try to pour it, it can get pretty dangerous, 2, a small cooler is great for this but especially if you're going to use metal be sure to account for the heat loss by over heating by a few degrees), steep & transfer it back into the main kettle. You can also take advantage of continuing to warm your main kettle to just below boiling while you're steeping to save some time when the cooler steeping water is added back & you can also add in the extract just before you return the steeping liquid.

In our case we cheated. Since I do all grain starters I have a 2 gallon MLT that worked fantastic in lieu of the steeping bag.

[TheHamNerd]

You'll also want to keep in mind that 5 gal is going to be harder to cool down than 3 gal, most folks will have some sort of wort chilling device in order to do a full 5.

I made my own 50' copper immersion chiller for this purpose. I plan to be in for the long haul. Check out my video I made this evening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD-YtjAuUmE

I plan to do this in a full boil, I also have a 10.5 gallon ss kettle, and it has a SS ball valve for discharge to! I already have the tubing. I tried to plan ahead.