What's the volume for a 4lb. can of LME?

How much volume can I expect to be added to my boil from one 4 lb. can of LME? I plan on doing a late extract addition & want to plan my water level.

Sounds like an experiment in the making to me. Put the can with enough water to cover in a bucket. Mark the water level. Pull out the can. Add more water, (making sure you keep track of how much) to fill back to your original line. Then you'll know how much volume is in the can.

Spoken like Archimedes!

I'm not sure it's quite that easy - as the sugars, etc. dissolve, they'll take up some of the space between water molecules, so the final volume will be less than just adding the volume of water, plus volume of the can/non-dissolved LME. Think 1+1=1.5.

Then again, maybe I'm wrong. That neuron hasn't fired in a while...

.... or for the mathamatically inclined.......

D= diameter of the can in inches
L= length of the can in inches
Pi=3.14 (close enough for guvmnt work)
V= volume

V= Pi X (D X D)/4 X L (in cubic inches)

1 quart=57.75 cubic inches

For a mass that is similar to water it would be:

4 Pounds = 0.4793138 Gallons [US]

From this site:

http://www.onlineconversion.com/waterweight.htm

Last, but not least, the obvious solution..... pour it into a measuring cup.

If you want to account for "taking up space between molecules" it's easy to do.

Essentially, when the sugars dissolve, they increase the volume of solution but they also raise its density (measured in specific gravity). It's an easy relation:

(Volume of water + volume of sugar) / estimated gravity = volume of boil


3 pounds of LME will raise the gravity of one gallon of water by appoximately 0.1 SG. 4 pounds would raise one gallon by about 0.13. We'll ballpark the volume of 4 pounds of LME at about half a gallon, as above.

So, say you've got 1.5 gallons of water and 4lb (appx. 1/2 gal) of LME. Estimated SG of the boil will be about 1.13.

(1.5 + .5) / 1.13 = ~1.75 gallons (or 7 quarts)


This doesn't mean that you can use a 7-quart pot, though. You've got to have room to stir and account for bubbling/foaming. You *might* be able to get away with an 8-quart pot but if you can use a 12-quart, do it.

anoldur said:

For a mass that is similar to water it would be:

4 Pounds = 0.4793138 Gallons [US]

From this site:

http://www.onlineconversion.com/waterweight.htm

Click to expand...

The mass of LME is far greater than water, however.

I have never gotten this scientific about adding LME late... I just eyeball it and pour it in

Wow...holy scientists!

A quart of LME weighs about 3 lbs. Therefore 4 lbs. of lme should be around 1 1/3quarts. Say 42-45 fl. oz.

I'm not buyin the sugar water molecule theory as it is already in solution.