Losing water during the boil

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jarrodaden

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Knowing full well that I am going to continue to lose water during boils, does anyone put a little extra water in the brew pot before the boil rather than adding it (cold) into the fermenter?
 
Yes. Anyone doing a "Full Boil" does just that. Typically, in a 5 gallon boil, you'll lose a gallon+ in an hour. It really depends on your system though. I start off with 6.5 gallons of wort.
 
If you're doing partial boils and still have to top-up with water either way I'd say why bother. Otherwise just do full boil and account for boil off by starting with the right amount of liquid. Example, if you're making 5 gallons of beer then start with 6 gallons of pre-boil wort.
 
A lot more water than I would of expected boils off in an hour. As has been already said, it depends on your equipment and it also depends on the vigor of your boil.

Best to do a few test runs. Boil 5 gallons of water for an hour and see how much you lose. And remember check the water volume after it has cooled off because when it is hot the volume expands by around 4%.

Once you come up with an average loss quantity that is how much more you need to start out with.

Also try to boil at the same vigor each time. The harder you boil the more water is lost.
 
A lot more water than I would of expected boils off in an hour. As has been already said, it depends on your equipment and it also depends on the vigor of your boil.

Best to do a few test runs. Boil 5 gallons of water for an hour and see how much you lose. And remember check the water volume after it has cooled off because when it is hot the volume expands by around 4%.

Once you come up with an average loss quantity that is how much more you need to start out with.

Also try to boil at the same vigor each time. The harder you boil the more water is lost.

Wise words from a wise man! It took me a few trials before I figured out the 4% expansion thing....
 
I cheated. BeerSmith predicted that and it's pretty accurate. ;)

Yeah, I'm one of the few that doesn't use BeerSmith. I tried the free trial, but I let it expire. Now I just use free calculators and what not...
 
I'm an extract brewer, so I do partial boils, then add slushy top-off water. I used to use frozen 1gal distilled water jugs, cutting away the jug and dropping in the 8lb ice cube, but I found if I don't let it freeze solid, the slush has a much greater surface area and melts in 30-40 sec, compared to 15min with the huge ice cube.
 

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