Boy, every time I think I'm ahead of the curve on this homebrewing thing, I learn something new. I stumbled across the Brewsmith software yesterday (very, very neat tool - check it out if you haven't already). I was playing around with it and entering my next recipe and settings.

I did not realize that doing a partial boil vs. a full boil really affects your IBUs. I am pretty certain that I did a partial boil on my first two batches. My pale ale is about ready and I have a brown ale that has about 2 more weeks of aging.

I need to strangle the perfectionist in me, but I expect all will be well. I guess worse things could happen.

Anyone have any experience/thoughts on this aspect of brewing?

I am sure your beer will be good. But yes a full boil will get more from the hops because you can only get so much from them with smaller amounts of water. Its kinda like a big towel will absorb more water than a smaller towel.

Great analogy! Thanks.

I've only done partial boils so far. But the concentration of the boil affects a number of things related to the taste of the final brew. The consensus is pretty much that a full boil is better if possible. But great beer is still possible with a partial by making certain adjustments etc.

Are you doing late extract additions for your partial boils? That will tend to help with hop utilization as well as flavor change from concentrated boils.

If you don't like the beer you just brewed, you are welcome to send it my way.

I have only done 3 batches up to this point and I have only had 1 recipe that called for a late extract addition. So, I wasn't even aware that the method existed. My second batch was better than my first and I hope that trend continues with my third. I will continue to use a full boil until I get comfortable playing around with partials.