Beersmith

So far I have brewed two extract batches and plan to continue to brew extract batches for at least another year or so. Both kits I have brewed so far have me boiling 2.5 gallons and then topping off. I would like to boil around 4 gallons but have heard about the hop utilization problem. I haven't been able to find type of formula (forgive me if there is one out there) that says if the recipe says to boil 2.5 gallons with so much hops, and you want to brew 4.0 gallons how much hops you should actually use. I guess my question is does Beersmith calculate this for you?

yes, BeerSmith will calculate this. Just make sure you enter all the relevant info - boil volume, batch size, etc.

does a larger boil mean you should use less or more hops?

BrewMoreBeers said:

does a larger boil mean you should use less or more hops?

Click to expand...

In general and oversimplified, you need less hops in a larger boil - or rather you need less hops for a larger proportioned boil. You get better utilization the closer you get to a full boil.

The difference in hop utilization between a 2.5 gallon partial and a full boil is in the ballpark of 10-15%. Use that to sanity check Beersmith's numbers as you figure out how to configure its settings for your setup. If it is giving you wildly different numbers, then you've got something set up wrong.

Thanks for the tip... I guess the IPA i just brewed is going to be very hoppy. i took the 2.5 gallon boil ingredients/instructions and just boiled everything.

Somewhere in the tutorials or on the beersmith website it talks about setting up your equiment and it says you should set your hop utilization to 100% and that there is very little variation at homebrewing levels. It says that bigger batch breweries actually start going up higher, to 200% and 300% levels. Check the beersmith guide on the website about setting up your equipment to see that discussion.