Boiling in small pots

[CaptainArgo]

Being a beginner, I'm still collecting equipment. One of those things I have yet to collect is a proper large pot for boiling.

For my first batch I borrowed a large stock pot from a friend, but I don't necessarily have easy access to it at all times. One thing I wondered is, how difficult is it to brew in smaller pots? I have a pair of standard 2-gallon pots in the kitchen -- should I simply boil 1.5 gallons of wort in each of these and then add some top-up water to get to a full batch size? What would be the best way to utilize smaller boiling vessels?

Also, if anyone knows the best way to set BeerSmith up for such a thing, some pointers would be helpful

 

[estricklin]

With 2 pots you'll likely get more evaporation, but since your going to add top off water anyway, I don't suspect it will make any difference. So ya, I'd say go for it. I used 2 pots before somewhere back in my extract days because I was having some head retention problems and didn't have a large enough pot.

 

[CaptainArgo]

Is there anything I need to watch out for vis-a-vis hop utilization or caramelization of malt?

Since I'm probably going to have to add top-up water afterwards to keep the boil volume down and guard against boil-overs, I'm imagining that my boil gravity is going to be pretty high -- or at least higher than it would otherwise be. I'd like to avoid adding caramel flavors if at all possible, at least when they are not intended. How long can I boil a high gravity wort before this starts to become noticable?

I should note that I am generally doing partial mash brewing and plan to do so for a while, so my boils can be pretty short if needed and I can do late extract additions. I guess I just need to figure out how to manage the wort gravity during the boil.

 

[thrashandburn]

I hate to be the skeptic but I don't think is gonna work out like you're hoping. When I do high gravity brews I typically sparge a little extra and boil about 2 gallons on the stove while my main boil goes outside on the turkey fryer. The first time I did this, the stove boil got away from me for a bit and it boiled down to a syrup which was basically just caramelized wort. I added it to the main boil and the beer (a robust porter) was actually pretty awesome, but because caramelized sugars can't break down, it messed up my gravity. I was like 12 points high.

The point is, I think that you'll have too much evaporation and caramelize your wort if you boil for a full hour. But I could be wrong. If you shorten the boil length then it will mess with your hops, but 'm not an expert on hop utilization so I really don't know what you can and can't get away with there.

Maybe you can boil as you plan but add water to each pot as it boils to keep the wort from caramelizing over the hour. Then you can add your hops as usual and when it's done, top up to your final volume.

 

[estricklin]

I think if you fill your 2 pots up with as much water as possible your going to be fine. I've made some pretty high gravity beers and only boiled 2.5 gallons or so in my old pot.

Generally speaking, boiling wort doesn't get hot enough to perform any carmelization, because those reactions happens at higher temperatures. Now if you boiled for so long that the sugars became highly concentrated, then the boiling point of the wort would be raised and you could see some of those reactions occur. So just keep an eye on it, but seriously I think your going to be fine.

If you want to do shorter boils, say 30 mins, and some people do, you can add more bittering hops to make up the IBU difference.

OP, I'll give you some sources of information here. A couple of great books, one called "The Joy of Homebrewing" and another called "How to Brew" are both wonderful. "Homebrewing for Dummies" is decent too. There is a free podcast recorded in my home state coincidentally, called "Basic Brewing Radio". There is a whole network of brewing podcasts called "The Brewing Network". At both of those websites you'll find tons of free archives that go back years, they really helped me, of coarse this forum did too. Anyway you probably already know about e'm but thought I would put a plug in anyway.

 

[CaptainArgo]

Thanks everyone, lots of great advice and information And I have heard of those books, but that podcast I didn't know about. Sounds awesome, I'll check it out!

So it sounds like this should be do-able as long as I keep a close eye on my boils. Maybe I'll keep a small 3rd pot of hot water to do top-offs if I need to and just treat it like two identical small batches. It's encouraging to know that caramelizing the wort isn't an issue at normal boiling temps. Thanks again, all!

 

[IvanTheTerribrew]

Why not just invest into at least a 5 gal pot so that you can do it all in one pot? If price is the issue, then why not consider starting with a aluminum pot? I'm a big advocate for SS equipment but if right now it's not an option I'd still say that one big alum pot would work better for you than 2-3 small ones. I have an email from beersmith about alum vs SS pots which is pretty informative if you want it just pm me and I'll either copy and paste it or email it to you if you send my your email. Good luck either way!


- ISM NRP

 

[BugDude]

Hey captian. Like you I am new to brewing and ran into the problem of the pot.

It seemed like there's really only a couple options. Either get a cheap-o pot with horrible reviews on like amazon or dive in, spend significant cash and get the delux pot that seems like its for a master brewer. Lol.

I ended up getting a 5 gal SS from more beer http://morebeer.com/products/5-gallon-stainless-steel-kettle.html Moore beer is my local store so that's why I bought from them. I'm sure any of the brew sites would suffice. This pot worked just fine for my partial brew.

I figured if I got into brewing I'd look at the bigger pot later which down the road I will invest in once I feel like I'm ready for it

 

[Barley_Bob]

I bought an 8gal aluminum pot off of a website that supplies industrial cookware for cafeterias in hospitals and schools (etc). Even better, I bought it on cyber Monday so there wasn't a shipping fee. All together, it was $45, although I didn't buy a lid (which I regret). I have had no problems with it at all. Would I prefer stainless steel? Sure. Am I going to trade up anytime in the foreseeable future? Absolutely not.