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AleHole · 03-19-2007, 03:32 AM

I recently installed Beersmith on my computer and have been playing around with a bit and have a couple questions. First, how accurate is all the data in the My Equipment section? How do I figure out my lautertun deadspace, lost to boil trub, and evaporation rate? If I boil 7 gallons of water for an hour and measure my water volume after it cools will it be the same as if it were wort?

**Orfy** · 03-19-2007, 06:06 AM

Sorry if this answer sounds a bit blunt but.....

Measure it or guess it.

You'll need to measure what you can before your first run or guess figure and then adjust to be more accurate.
Fir the mash tun dead space. Measure some water into the mash tun, drain it and measure what comes out. Minus the second volume from the first and that's the dead space. The same for the kettle but you'll probably have addition wort loss due to hop soakage.
Boil rate, it's a guess for the first time and it depends on altitude, humidity but more on how vigorous the boil is. 10 - 20% is typical.

AleHole · 03-19-2007, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orfy

Fir the mash tun dead space. Measure some water into the mash tun, drain it and measure what comes out. Minus the second volume from the first and that's the dead space.

I have done this but figured the amount of water that did not get drained would be different than the amount of wort that did not get drained due to the grains being in the mash tun. I guess it would be the same though just was'nt sure.

**Bobby_M** · 03-19-2007, 02:23 PM

You basically have to guess the first time, then if you really care enough, measure it during your first batch. Keep in mind though that the difference between mash in water and first runnings volume is a combo of grain absorbtion (which is relatively constant) and deadspace. So, let smith figure the absorbtion and you just subtract that to figure deadspace. Now you know for all future batches. That being said, after two batches I haven't cared enough to measure. I just make up for boil volume by sparging more if necessary.