Extract - Is it worth boiling the lot?

[ScottM]

Taking into account that boiling 23+L of water will cost a fair whack in electricity etc, is it worth boiling the whole batch for an extract brew as opposed to using 10-15L for the boil? Obviously by holding back a little more hops need to be used, but is this the only downfall?

I'm trying to weigh it up in my mind and I can't help but think it's not worth the extra money. Jumping in without considering the costs I would be looking at....

New Suitable FV
2x Kettles for heater elements
Stainless tap
Hop strainer
Wort chiller

Plus a multitude of other things I won't have thought of.

I have no plans to step into the dark side (extract is fine for the lager styles that I'm fond of) so is there something I am not thinking of that will make it all really worthwhile?

Thanks :)

 

[alawlor66430]

I boil 10 to 15 lites and then top up in the fv with water

 

[Duxuk]

I don't boil the whole lot for a partial mash or an extract. I find the extract creates a lot of foam when dissolving so I tend to just dissolve it and do the hops as a hop tea. For a partial mash today I dissolved the extract but boiled the wart sparged from 1kg of Maris Otter with the hops. Pevious experience tells me it will all work out nicely

 

[wilsoa1111]

i read (looking into doing this more as looks easier for high abv's) u can certainly do it that way low scale and that but like u said hop utililsation is low it also risks caramlising the wort making it darker etc,

mind u it is pretty minor and dont think there are any real issues with slow chilling etc, i always chill fast and still get plenty of cloudy beers,

simples best imho- unless ur a perfectionist

seemas i already have the AG kit i might as well do full boils but i dont think its so important im lending my boiler out to my mate if he does a few extract brews-still not got my bucket fv back :nono: (he was going to brew in a sink or something, worse yet a beer cube, in his hands this would be a truely deadly weapon :lol: )

 

[alawlor66430]

I chilled my last partial in the bath and it's a bit cloudier but not to bad, but it still tastes amazing and the mouth feel is spot on its really Moreish lol.

 

[ScottM]

Cheers guys, think I'll just stick with what I have then :)

Caramelisation doesn't worry me, most of my lagers are really pale so a bit more dark will just add character

I've had to use a fair whack more hops in the past, but given that they are relatively cheap from some suppliers it doesn't go wrong :)