Wort boiling

[rocket ronnie]

Could I boil the wort for 90 minutes in a 19 litre pot and then after straining off and cooling could I make up the volume to 23 litres. Would the method make a satisfactory beer

 

[puravida]

I do this on a smaller scale. I boil about 10L of wort with all the hops etc floating around it in. I pour through a strainer into the fermenter once the pot has cooled and then top up to 15L with tapwater. I do this becasue my pot is only 13L.

I've read that really you should use sterile boiled water or bottle water really so I'm just being lazy

I'm interested to read the replies you get as I wonder if there is a better way to do this too.

 

[WelshPaul]

Yes you can. Just ensure that the water has been boiled and cooled and has also been treated to remove chloromine, calcium, etc. It's prefectly fine to treat and measure out all of your water prior to mashing and boiling and setting some aside to add to the cooled wort prior to pitching the yeast.

 

[rocket ronnie]

Yes you can. Just ensure that the water has been boiled and cooled and has also been treated to remove chloromine, calcium, etc. It's prefectly fine to treat and measure out all of your water prior to mashing and boiling and setting some aside to add to the cooled wort prior to pitching the yeast.

Thanks
does this require the full amout of hops and sugar in the initial boil or should vthe hops be increased or decreased

 

[puravida]

Yes you can. Just ensure that the water has been boiled and cooled .

I presume this is to avoid risk of bugs etc?

 

[WelshPaul]

does this require the full amout of hops and sugar in the initial boil or should vthe hops be increased or decreased

Yes, add the amount you would add if you were boiling the whole lot since they will not be evaporating or going anywhere. Don't decrease them or you'll end up with weak, bland beer.

I presume this is to avoid risk of bugs etc?

Again, yes. Trouble is, you will most likely have to run your chiller coil through the water while the wort is boiling in order to get it down to a suitable temperature - which means sterilising your chiller!

 

[Runwell-Steve]

You don't have to pre boil the water you are going to use to top up with. You may prefer to of course. It is worth treating with a campden tablet though to remove chlorine and chloramines.

When topping up with cold water you are only essentially doing the same as what kit brewers do when they mix tap water with the kit. They don't usually pre boil the water, and don't end up with infected beer.