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Hop use
So I'm new to brewing I have only two batches under my belt and am curious, must I accomplish a full wort boil (meaning boiling all 5 gallons) to be able to add hops to my brew? Any feed back would be more than appreciated.
Boiling the entire volume is not necessary, but certainly helps. A partial boil results in lower utilization due to the higher gravity of the wort. This can be overcome by either adding extra bittering hops or reducing the gravity of the boil.
If you choose to just use more hops 10 t0 15% extra is pretty normal, depending on gravity of the wort. If you want to reduce the wort gravity, assuming that you are using extract, adjust it by only using part of the extract when you begin the boil and adding the remainder 10 to 15 minutes before the end. Your pre-boil gravity should be at, or very, near what it would be if you were doing a full boil..
With this said, one of the greatest improvements you will see in your beer will be when you start doing a full boil. Again assuming that you are using extract, you'll need the larger kettle when you switch to all grain brewing.
Hope this helps,
Bob
Bob thank you for the extra knowledge, and yes I'm sorry I forgot to add yes I am working with extract. Never the less your tips were more than sufficient in helping me become a better brewer.
I brewed for several years in a <3 gallon pot. You do experience less utilization, but its trivial. You just add more hops next time you brew if you want a hopper beer. Moving up to larger boils is a great step to improve the beer you make, but its not necessary right away.
Learning about yeast and fermentation is the most critical part to making great beer after you master the process of boiling and adding hops and then being confident in your sanitation and cleaning practices.
I find that doing extract batches actually utilizes the hops better, making them more pronounced. In my All grain batches, I notice that after a month or so, the hops bittering, flavor, and aroma actually mellow to much. in my extract batches I never have this problem. It's just somthing observed, but generally that's how I tell the difference between all grain and extract, the bitterness is there, but it's strong, doesn't flow throughout the beer seemlessly, but you can almost taste every hot addition in stages as you savor it.
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