Equipment Settings

I have had difficulty, "Dialing" my system in and gaining a decent efficiency.  I am attempting to redo my equipment settings and ask advice.

I use a converted key with a ball valve.  I have the following settings within my, "Equipment" settings in BeerSmith.  These are listed in the "Boiler" section.

Calculate boil volume automatically is checked

Evaporation rate = 15%
Lost to Boil or Trub = 1 gallon
Top up Water = 0
Final volume = 5.50 Gallons

Boil time = 60 minutes
Cooling Loss percent = 4%

Over time, I have changed the, "Lost to Boil or Trub" at times increasing and at other times decreasing it.  The last two beer I brewed I left about a gallon in the kettle.  This would impact my efficiency. 

(Also, I do not like to tip the boil kettle to reduce losses.  That may be my downfall.  What do you think?)

This is what I did today.

I measured eight gallons of water and added it in one gallon increments to the boiler.  I was then able to recalibrate my measuring stick.

I then opened the ball valve and drained the water out.  Once the water stopped draining, I tipped the boiler and measured the results.  I got 1Gallon, 3quarts and 1/2 cup out.

I then poured all that was left from the boiler into a measuring cup.  I got 3 cups out.  (3 cups = .19 gallons.)

So my new Lost to Boil or Trub should be .19 gallons, right?

Does my 15% boil off figure look reasonable for a converted keg?
Will a .19 gallon Lost to Boil and Trub hold up even when I begin measuring actual trub?

Thanks

Do you have a elbow going into the kettle?  This "siphon tube" should have a 90 degree bend and nearly touch the bottom of the keg.  With that, your amount lost to trub should be only .5G or so.

I have a full 15G keggle with:

Lauter Tun deadspace = 0.2G
Evap rate = 9%
Lost to trub = .5G
Boil volume = 12G
Final Volume = 10G

The evap is with a ROLLING boil with anti-foam for 10G batches.  So yeah, I think 15% evap is HUGE unless your width exceeds your height on your boil kettle...

I use a pump for a whirlpool chiller and angle the keggle towards the end and have figured out I leave only .4G  The whirlpool gets most of the trub to the center so when I angle it, it isn't an issue.

Henway said:

Do you have a elbow going into the kettle?  This "siphon tube" should have a 90 degree bend and nearly touch the bottom of the keg.  With that, your amount lost to trub should be only .5G or so.

I have a full 15G keggle with:

Lauter Tun deadspace = 0.2G
Evap rate = 9%
Lost to trub = .5G
Boil volume = 12G
Final Volume = 10G

The evap is with a ROLLING boil with anti-foam for 10G batches.  So yeah, I think 15% evap is HUGE unless your width exceeds your height on your boil kettle...

I use a pump for a whirlpool chiller and angle the keggle towards the end and have figured out I leave only .4G   The whirlpool gets most of the trub to the center so when I angle it, it isn't an issue.

Click to expand...

Yes, I do have a 90degree elbow.  I installed that and this is the reason for my redoing my settings.  The .19 gallon of boil & trub is a result of the elbow.

Boiling in the dry winter in WI has resulted in my 15%.  I may drop that a bit and try it out.

I have not been whirlpooling and will give that a try tomorrow as well.