Brewing my first batch this weekend...

I would. It reduces the risk of infection.

If you have a pot big enough to boil it all, that's even better, and is known as a full wort boil. The reason it's not in many/most kit instructions is that beginners usually don't have a pot big enough. (In fact, if your pot is big enough, boil more than 5 gallons, to account for boiloff losses.)

Edit: If you haven't read this yet, I highly recommend it...

http://www.howtobrew.com/

 

Yeah read howtobrew.com and everything else. but mostly just have a beer and relax.

Brewing takes time and you will have successes and failures. I'm pretty new and I've already had both. Best advice is to brew another before the first one is done. I'd suggest an IPA or hoppy pale ale because they are very forgiving when you're doing extract. I'm still extract and my best batches are IPAs and pale ales with lots of hops.

Either way, cheers, you're brewing man!

 

As mentioned before, it's better to boil any water you add beforehand, but you can get away without it (I have). Doing a full boil will improve the flavor of your beer as you'll get better hops utilization. Not sure what water you get in Castle Rock, but if you have Denver Water you might want to treat it for chloramine, which can cause some off-flavors. Either run it through an activated charcoal filter and/or use Campden tablets.

 

Yes. I do 6.5 gallon boils in my 30 quart pot. As mentioned, you might want to do 5.5 - 6 gallons to account for boiling off. Don't walk away from it and keep an eye on it.

 

A fully wort boil will add a ton to the quality of your brew. But it all depends on what you are brewing on. If you have a propane burner you will be fine but if you are trying to bring 6 gallons up to a boil on your stove you probably won't have much luck.

Also I have added store bought bottled gallon water to my cooled wort at least 10 times and have had no problems. Not that everyone else isn't partially correct, I've just never had an issue.

 

This is what did also. I also put those gallons in the frig which will help you cool your wort faster.

 

When I brewed extract I never did a full boil and I always added ice at the end to adjust the gravity and cool off the wort and I never had a problem with infection or taste really. Not saying that a full boil isn't better, but if you don't have the capacity for it in your pot then it's definitely not a good idea to boil another 2-3 gallons alone and then add it to your wort.

 

Why not?

 

That's a long time to let your wort just sit there.

 

Ah. I didn't realize your assumption that the top off water would be boiled after the wort. If I were doing partial boils, I would sanitize the extra water by boiling before I boiled the wort, or while the wort was boiling, in a second pot.

 

I find that I usually lose between 15 and 20% of my wort during the boil. I would start off with 6 gallons and see how close that gets you to 5 gallons when your boil is done. Relax and have a beer.

 

Brewing the first batch without a wort chiller is a rite of passage. You won't want to do it for very long though.

 

Give the yeast starter at least a day. I've had great results doing it this way.