Low post boil amount

I recently started brewing and went all grain to start out. I just finished my fourth batch and 3 out of the four I am coming in low on my host boil amount. My equipment are keggles, gravity fed and with a moveable burner. I have made two of the batches with BeerSmith and still am coming in a low. For the most part my OG and final gravity have been on the mark or very close. This last batch I came in low OG but I believe it from the store over grinding my malt and having a good stuck sparge. I needed up having to add about three or four liters before the boil.

Sorry for the long post, if someone can help me find where to edit my system to try to even out this problem.

Thanks!

Hi ChileBrewer,

Is it the amount of liquid in your boil kettle that is low, or the amount you get into the fermenter?  If it the amount that is in the boil kettle check to see what you have for a boil off rate in your equipment profile.  Chances are you are boiling vigorously and boiling off more than what you have set.  A little bit of experimentation will help you figure out what's best for you system.  Also, remember that boil off does fluctuate with environmental conditions (unless you are brewing indoors and your temp/humidity is constant)...you will tend to boil off more on a hot humid summer day, than you will on a crisp - dry winters day.

If the post boil volume is fine, but you are not transferring enough into your fermenter, check to see what you have set for loss to trub/chiller.  You may have it set too low. 


It takes a bit to dial your system in, but it is worth the effort.

-Dan

There's an excellent discussion about setting up your equipment profile pinned to the top of the All Grain/Advanced section of this forum. It may help.

Thanks for the help. I did go through the sticky about setting up your equipment and made two new profiles, one for 90 and one for 60 minutes. Updating a recipe I made last weekend my total water went up 3 or 4 liters.

I think another part of it is the weather. Here I brew outside and have brewed when it is hot and dry during the day and also cold and humid at night. Do you have any recommendations of how to adjust for large temperature changes or humidity changes?

There is a discussion on Home Brew Talk forum:  http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/cold-weather-boil-off-86028/

-Dan