First BIAB - More wort than expected

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Monkfish

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Hey guys,

I'm doing my first AG using BIAB. I used 7.8 gallons of strike water and mashed #15 for an hour. This is for a 5 gallon recipe calling for a 60 minute boil.

After pulling the bag I squeezed 1+ gallons out of the spent grains - so now I have 7 gallons of wort, pre-boil.

How should I handle this - should I start my hopping as soon as I reach a rolling boil, or should I boil off to 6 gallons and then start hopping for the 60 minute boil?

I'm on new equipment so I'm assuming 1 gal/hr boil off/evaporation.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
MF
 
Boil down until you hit the volume of wort that the hop schedule is calculated too. If not your utilization will be off because of the increased volume of wort being boiled and the length of time the hops are exposed to the boil.

Boil until you hit your target volume, and begin the 60 minute schedule.
 
VOlume aside, do you have the desired pre-boil gravity? If so, then boiling it down may affect the eventual post-boil OG, and thus the final product.

If your at your intended gravity, why not just enjoy more beer?
 
I sort of agree.
If you've hit your pre-boil gravity, I'd dump the extra wort to be honest. Then boil as scheduled.

If your pre-boil gravity is low, then boil longer, and start your hops additions at their normal times.

Boiling down to volume without gravity checks can get you a different beer if you're not careful.
 
Thanks guys. I did take a pre boil reading and it was definitely low. I found a calculator online and played with a few numbers and it looks like boiling down to 6 gallons before the official 60 minute boil would put me exactly at my target OG.

I appreciate the quick responses.
 
If by 5 gallon recipe, you mean 5 gallons into bottles, then you'll need around 5.4 gallons into the fermenter (to allow for fermenter loss) and around 6.3 gallons at the end of boil (at ambient) to allow for kettle loss. If you boil for an hour at a 1 gal/hour evaporation rate, you'd want around 7.3 gallons pre-boil.

I'm not sure you have a problem.
 
A whole gallon for trub loss? Seems extreme.

That's what comes from blindly using numbers without thinking about them. I missed this comment that came with the sample recipe I scaled: "The above assumes loose pellet hops and only clear, chilled wort transferred from the kettle using no trub management techniques. Experienced brewers should adjust 'Loss to Trub and Chiller' and 'Brewhouse Efficiency' accordingly to suit their trub management techniques."

Sorry.
 
smyrnaquince said:
if by 5 gallon recipe, you mean 5 gallons into bottles, then you'll need around 5.4 gallons into the fermenter (to allow for fermenter loss) and around 6.3 gallons at the end of boil (at ambient) to allow for kettle loss. If you boil for an hour at a 1 gal/hour evaporation rate, you'd want around 7.3 gallons pre-boil.

I'm not sure you have a problem.

+1
 
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