• Welcome to the new forum! We upgraded our forum software with a host of new boards, capabilities and features. It is also more secure.
    Jump in and join the conversation! You can learn more about the upgrade and new features here.

Recommendations to get an accurate 5 gallons of beer in my fermentor?

worldzfree

Brewer
Joined
Jan 21, 2011
Messages
26
Reaction score
0
I have brewed about five all-grain batches on my setup.  Previously, I just created recipes for 6 gallons and winged the defaults in Beersmith for my equipment.  This time I went through the process of measuring my dead space in my MLT and in my Boil kettle.  I winged .5 gallon loss to pump and my Thermanator.  The numbers are:

5 gal final volume
6.98 starting boil volume
.32 gal lost to Lauter tun deadspace
1 gal Lost to Boil Trub and Chiller

I went through the whole process this past Saturday and came up short.  I didn't get an accurate measurement I only know the 5 gallon mark on my fermentor/carboy.  I assume it was about half a gallon.

My questions are:

-The brewsheet shows a starting boil volume required.  Even though I entered the loss to trub and chiller it says "add water (as needed) to achieve volume of 5 gal.  Shouldn't there be a number telling me post-boil but pre-sitting in fermentor volume?

-What is the best way to go about determining where the loss is?

-I see a lot of recipes mentioning 5.5 gallons.  Is that just a safety number they plan to take into consideration extraneous losses?

I am open to any input or ideas.

-Cheers
 
Following this thread -- I have a similar issue.  My "loss" numbers never seem to be consistant. For example; is grain absorbtion different for different type grains?

And what, exactly, is the "top up water for kettle" supposed to reflect?

That 5.5 you asked about? -- other folks claim thats for a half-gallon of trub stuff. That seems correct to me.
 
The best advice I can offer is to try walking through the water needed tool to understand the various water calculations - it mirrors very closely the system used in recipe view.

Until you have some batches under your belt it is difficult to accurately estimate losses for each stage.  I recommend keeping track of volumes as you brew so you can make adjustments to your equipment profile for future batches.

Brad
 
I will continue to log losses.  In the meantime, I am hesitant to top off along the way as that dilutes the end product.  Do you recommend I just scale my batch size to something larger so as to avoid top offs?  Is the "scale" option the only true way that will adjust ingredients versus just changing batch size?
 
I batch sparge.  Here is what I did to figure out my system. 

I added the calculated amount of water to the mash tun, say 5.5 gallons.  Stir in the grains and mash for an hour.  I then drain the mashtun into the kettle and measure the volume in the kettle.  Usually around 3 gallons.  So now I know I will leave behind 1.5 gallons.

I added the sparge water, say 6 gallons.  I know the grain is saturated so what ever is left behind is mash tun loss. I have about 7 in the kettle.  So I leave behind 1 gallon to the mash tun.  This is really both loss and what had not been drawn to the bottom.  If I wait long enough I can probably get another 1/2 gallon but this my "equipment loss". 

I adjust my boil to 1 gallon / hr which is about 15% and boil 1 hour.  On 90 minutes, I adjust my boil down to closer to 10%.

After chilling I have around 6 gallons in the kettle.  I xfer to the carboy and leave behind about .5 gallons.  It depends on the brew.  some have more gunk in the kettle than others.  I fill the carboy to 5.5 gallons.  This is my batch size.  Sometimes it is a bit less as mentioned above. 

When I screw  things up, I end up short.  I have added water to the kettle if I am short but only to lower the gravity and never more that 10%.
 
Back
Top