10 Gallons (38 L) of Beer from a Stovetop Boil? (Part 1 of 2)

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You can make 5 gallons (19 L) of beer by boiling wort on your stovetop, but what about 10 gallons (38 L)?

Typical homebrewing practice for stovetop extract brewers is to boil a few gallons (perhaps 8–11 L) of wort and dilute it to 5.0 gallons (19 L) in the fermenter. But if what if you wanted more beer? Could you boil a thicker wort and dilute it to 10 gallons (38 L)? In some cases, this might be possible. To understand when this might be possible, let’s look at the numbers associated with attempting this. Specifically, let’s look at the wort densities, bitterness levels, and wort colors that would result for trying this.

 

This Could Work (in Limited Situations)

If you could dilute a few gallons (11 L) of wort to 10 gallons (38 L) and make good beer, wouldn’t everyone be doing it, at least every once in a while? The time spent making 5 gallons (19 L) of beer could yield 10 gallons (38 L). As we’ll see, there are good reasons why this would yield substandard beer for most beer styles. However, there are perhaps a few types of beer that could be brewed this way — and I’ll give away the punchline by saying that the beer would have to be low gravity, not very bitter, and amber or darker. Here’s why.

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