how much water to use ?

[huckstep]

After reading and learning as much as I can about home brewing I am about to brew my first batch tomorrow. However there is one thing im not sure about. im going to do a 5 gallon batch but unsure how much water to start with since this is my first batch. So should I start with 5 1/2, 6 gallons or just do 5 and add water post boil to make up for what I've lost ? I want to do a full boil but at the same time don't want to have more water then I need and have diluted beer.

I'm using a propane burner 54,000 btu and a 10 gallon brew pot if that helps guessing the evaporation rate any. thanks

 

[BigTuna]

Evaporation will be about 1.25-1.5/hr. It sounds like you don't need to make concentrated wort so I say mash/boil with about 6.5 gallons. Good luck!

 

[Chant124]

I like to do 5.5 gal then I will lose 1 gal during boil. I like to top off with .5 cooled water to make sure I can hit a good pitching temp.

 

[kh54s10]

It really depends on what you are using for a start. If it is a kit designed for a specific amount in the boil then topped up I would follow the recipe. If not your hop utilization will be off.

If you are using an recipe designer you will need to figure out your boil off. I have a 10 gallon pot and need just over 7 gallons to end up with about 5.25 gallons. Height and diameter of your pot will effect the boil off rate. A google search might get you close but you will have to fine tune results based on a few brew sessions,

 

[tmm786]

Is this an extract batch?

If so you can do it either way - full boil volume or use water at the end and top off. My first extract kits were partial boils, about 3 gallons, then topped off to 5 in the bucket. Sounds like you have the ability to do a full boil so I would start with 6 to 7 gallons and see where you end up. If you are a little under 5 gallons top off if you want to, it won't throw much off for your first batch.


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[huckstep]

I'm using the caribou slobber extract kit from northern brewer and the directions say 2.5 gallons to boil in at least 3.5 gallon pot. the kit is for a 5 gallon batch so if I start with 5 gallons and just add water at the end of the boil to bring it back up to 5 gallons like the directions say will that be alright or will that through the hop utilization off too ?

 

[tmm786]

Topping off is how I have done all my extract kits before going to All-Grain. Since you have the room to boil over 5 gallons I would, that way all of your water is boiled and you get those benefits (sanitation, etc.).

If you end up topping off, some of your your utilization may be slightly off, but that's a number I still don't track.


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[wanders]

Your evaporation rate is something you need to determine through experimentation. In my experience a good rolling boil will definitely lose you at least a gallon per hour, but if you are really concerned about it go with 5.5 gallons to start with.