Boil Away

jbeauchamp · 01-05-2009, 05:11 PM

I did my first full boil this weekend. I started off with just over 6.5 gallons of water. I only had about a pound of grains to steep but when all was said and done, I only have 4 or so gallons of beer in my primary fermenter. Is it typical to loose that much in a full boil? I am assuming there was some loss to the grain when I was steeping and sparging, but holly cow. that is propablly two gallons of water gone. Unless I miss counted the amount of water I originally added. Any suggestions?

**BierMuncher** · 01-05-2009, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbeauchamp

I did my first full boil this weekend. I started off with just over 6.5 gallons of water. I only had about a pound of grains to steep but when all was said and done, I only have 4 or so gallons of beer in my primary fermenter. Is it typical to loose that much in a full boil? I am assuming there was some loss to the grain when I was steeping and sparging, but holly cow. that is propablly two gallons of water gone. Unless I miss counted the amount of water I originally added. Any suggestions?

I usually start with just over 7.5 gallons and end with just a tad under 5.5. I do all grain though so there is no grain absorption.

Benthic · 01-05-2009, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbeauchamp

I did my first full boil this weekend. I started off with just over 6.5 gallons of water. I only had about a pound of grains to steep but when all was said and done, I only have 4 or so gallons of beer in my primary fermenter. Is it typical to loose that much in a full boil? I am assuming there was some loss to the grain when I was steeping and sparging, but holly cow. that is propablly two gallons of water gone. Unless I miss counted the amount of water I originally added. Any suggestions?

Just because you're doing a 'full boil' doesn't mean that you can't top up the fermenter. If you boiled off to much and your OG is too high then you can still add water to get the parameters back in line. It's not the best way to go, but it will likely take a couple of batches to get a feel for your boil off rate.

Brian

Cyprus · 01-08-2009, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbeauchamp

I did my first full boil this weekend. I started off with just over 6.5 gallons of water. I only had about a pound of grains to steep but when all was said and done, I only have 4 or so gallons of beer in my primary fermenter. Is it typical to loose that much in a full boil? I am assuming there was some loss to the grain when I was steeping and sparging, but holly cow. that is propablly two gallons of water gone. Unless I miss counted the amount of water I originally added. Any suggestions?

I am about to do my first full boil and was wondering the same thing. I will be steeping about a pound of grains as well. How much water should I start with to end up with 5 - 5.5 gallons at the end of a 60 min boil?

**jdd12364** · 01-09-2009, 01:45 AM

You have to take into consideration the low temps & the lack of humidity this time of year in the north . I do full boils & have to increase my water up to 7.5 gallons to end up at 5 gallons with a 60 minute boil where as in the summer I only start out with 6 gallons . hope that helps .