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