Full Boil vs Partial Boil - Questions

[ClemsonDV]

I have been brewing for a little over a year with buddies, and now I am on my own. We've bought DME packages from our LBS and read the directions following them to a T.
However I have been researching and saw that doing an actual full boil is better than diluting the 2 or so gallon boil with fresh water. Does anyone have suggestions or tips about this. Has anyone found that doing one way or the other is better/creates better beer? Thanks.

 

[ElyIrishBrew]

I'm interested in this, too. About to brew my first batch using a Muntons export pilsner kit and DME, and the directions don't call for a full boil, but to actually add the LME to boiling water, stir it in, add more water and stir in the DME, with no additional boiling but just cooling after that until it's the right temp to pitch the yeast. In another thread someone still recommended a full boil but didn't give a reason.

 

[Xantus954]

Full boils produce more flavorful beers and better hop utilization.

You can still make good beer with partial boils, but most people seem to agree that full boils are the way to go if you have the gear and the space to pull it off. Partials are easier, and faster especially if your using an electric burner. Boiling 5 gallons on one of those is nearly impossible.

There's a ton of threads on here about it. Heres one:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/if-full-boil-possible-do-89826/

 

[AMonkey]

It does depends somewhat on your set up. If using an electric stove in the kitchen, a full boil might not be possible. I tried on mine and started getting a weird smell so it will be partial boils for a while. Still works. If you have a turkey fryer or a gas stove you can do full boils if your pot is big enough.

 

[ElyIrishBrew]

Thanks guys.

 

[Captain Damage]

A full boil gives you less caramelization, so your beer will be closer to the expected color, where partial boils are pretty much always darker than expected. Of course there will also be less of the off flavors sometimes associated with caramelized or burnt extract.

A full boil also gets you better "hop utilization," which means that more of the alpha acid is extracted from a given amount of hops. A lot of people make a bigger deal about this than necessary, IMO. For most low-to-moderately hopped beers the difference will be below the human threshold of perception, which is about 5-6 IBU. When you figure in just a few of the hard-to-control variables inherent in homebrewing, (such as how much alpha was extracted between the end of the boil and the end of chilling; how accurate is the AA rating on the hops - it only goes to 1 decimal place; is your volume exactly 5 gallons or is it 4.9? 5.1?) you see that it's an unnecessary headache to adjust your hops by tenths of a gram to hit an IBU target precisely. If you're making very hoppy beers, like IPAs, the difference can be noticeable and brewing software will help you adjust your hop schedule. BTW rather than reducing the amount of hops, I'd recommend moving your bittering addition later in the boil, e.g., at 45 minutes instead of 60. This will reduce the AA extracted, while preserving a little more of the flavor compounds.

 

[PatDunkel]

Awesome thread, albeit a couple months old. I have a 10 gallon pot and a favorite extract kit (hefeweizen from NB). The hop schedule is the same as their AG recipe so I am going to do a full boil to see if I can improve on excellent. I plan to start with 6 gal as I have a wide, fat kettle (16x12ish). It calls for a late addition on the LME. Shall i forget that as Im doing full boil? Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Pat

 

[Giggliato]

I think it depends on what you are trying to drink.

For my next few batches I am not going to boil my malt, it's already been boiled by the maltster.

I am going to boil my hops in a small pot with a bit of malt, some water, some sugar, some spices, some more sugar.

It's a hell of a lot easier than trying to boil 5-10 gallons on a stove.

 

[PatDunkel]

I ended up doing the full boil without waiting for the late addition. It seemed to go pretty well. The fermenter is bubbling away so we'll see I guess.
Pat

 

[BassBeer]

I do full boils and always do a late LME addition. I didn't on my first batch (an IPA) and it came out way too dark plus had the extract "twang" we hear about. The resultant beer was less than pleasant to sip on, and compared to what im producing now, was actually pretty bad. There were other factors involved for sure but the 60 minute extract boil was definitely a big player. The extract has already been boiled so there's really no reason to boil it again, unless of course you desire the caramelized flavors. My method now is to add about 1/3 of my LME or DME at 60 min. then add the rest about 2 minutes before flameout. Since I've been doing this my beers have improved immensely! Worth trying if you haven't yet IMO.

 

[DurtyChemist]

Buy the exact same kit and brew it twice. Oe day after the next. Make one a partial and one a full. Make that the only difference and you'll be able tote,l if it makes a difference. Same fermentation, yeast, ingredients, temperatures, etc. you should be consistent with you're brewing technique by now and you can check the gravities of each both starting and finishing. If you use the same everything and only vary partial vs full you can determine if YOU can tell a difference instead of just saying you read it makes a difference. Better reasoning behind the process you choose.

 

[CarnieBrew]

Well said Durty. More often than not brewers start at no boil pre-hopped kits, then move on to partial boils, then partial boils with unhopped extract, and again on to full boil with extract, and eventually AG brewing. At the end of their journey they spout on about "my AG brews are so superior to any extract brew I ever made", and "no more extract twang".

When in fact what really happened was they got better at brewing as they went along, learning heaps more about sanitation, temperature control, yeast selection, racking/clearing their beer, late extract addition, hop intervals and the like. I'd be willing to bet London to a brick that if an experienced AG brewer went back and did a partial boil/full extract brew there wouldn't be a twang in sight.