I wasn't paying attention I guess and I came up .5 gallons short in my primary. I brewed a couple days ago and thought I was seeing the wort line below the 5 gallon mark on the bucket, I shined a flashlight up against the side and see it is definitely half a gal short. I did a full boil starting out with 6.5 gallons and I end up with 4.5 in the primary? Do I really need to start out with a 7 gallon boil. Anyway, two questions. How will being .5 gallons short effect the final product, I brewed an Extra Pale Ale extract kit from Northern Brewer. Also, I didn't waste any wort when draining the brew kettle, so between the specialty grains soaking up wort and the 3 oz of hops plus evaporation does it seem reasonable to loose 2 gallons from start of boil to what you get in your primary?
Came up half gallon short in Primary
- Thread starter jhubert
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1) Ending up .5g lower will give you a higher OG, higher FG, more IBUs, darker color. And sadly, .5g less in your final yield.
2) I used to have a very vigorously rolling boil and had a lot of evaporation. You don't need a rip-roaring boil. Just beyond simmering is all you need. Typical evaporation rates are 8-15%. Next time scale back on your heat until you have a nice calm boil. If the surface is rolling at all, it's boiling just fine.
BTW, there's nothing wrong with your over-boiled beer. You likely created more melanoidins which will make it more malty, biscuity, or bready. It will still be tasty.
2) I used to have a very vigorously rolling boil and had a lot of evaporation. You don't need a rip-roaring boil. Just beyond simmering is all you need. Typical evaporation rates are 8-15%. Next time scale back on your heat until you have a nice calm boil. If the surface is rolling at all, it's boiling just fine.
BTW, there's nothing wrong with your over-boiled beer. You likely created more melanoidins which will make it more malty, biscuity, or bready. It will still be tasty.
