October 23, 2018

Full Wort Boil vs Partial Wort Boil

Partial Volume Boil - Boiling a concentrated wort and diluting with water after the boil to reach full volume.

Pros:

  • Boils can easily be done on a stovetop
  • Can be done in 3-4 gallon kettle
  • Reduces the amount of time needed to bring to a boil
  • Wort chilling times reduced with less volume

Cons:

  • Concentrated wort reduces hop extraction efficiency, more hops are needed to reach bitterness levels of full wort boil (approx. 10-25%)
  • Boil overs can be more difficult to clean up
  • Increased wort darkening occurs in concentrated wort boils
  • All grain brewing requires a full wort boil

Full Volume Boil - Starting with 6 or more gallons and boiling down to a 5-gallon batch size.

Pros:

  • Increased hop utilization over partial volume boil
  • less wort darkening
  • Ability to brew all-grain batches

Cons

  • Can be difficult to boil 5+ gallons on stove
  • Requires 7.5+ gallon kettle
  • May require alternative heat source such as burners
  • Additional chill time or use of wort chiller needed
  • Increased time to bring to a boil