TripelThreat
Member
I've been running my electric brewery for a few months now... maybe a half dozen batches. One thing I've noticed is that I always end with with about 1 gallon short on wort volume. I'm accounting for dead-space in my tun, loss to my counter-flow chiller, etc. Regardless of the type of beer, it's always right around 1 gallon in a 5.5gal batch.
My brew kettle is running a 5500w element. The element is hard-wired to the outlet, so it's running full blast for the duration of the boil. My kettle is an uncovered 15gal SS pot, about 16" diameter and 18" tall. I used some online calculators to estimate my boil off rate and use that when planning my brew... yet I'm always short!
My theory is that my element is too strong and the surplus heat energy converting the water to vapor at a faster rate. Would ti be beneficial to lower the duty cycle of the boil element after the hot break has occurred such that you maintain a boil but don't over do it? Im not physicist, so I don't know if that's how things work, but I figure that energy has to go somewhere, right? Anyone else experience this? If that's not the problem, any other tips as to what the problem may be?
Thanks!
My brew kettle is running a 5500w element. The element is hard-wired to the outlet, so it's running full blast for the duration of the boil. My kettle is an uncovered 15gal SS pot, about 16" diameter and 18" tall. I used some online calculators to estimate my boil off rate and use that when planning my brew... yet I'm always short!
My theory is that my element is too strong and the surplus heat energy converting the water to vapor at a faster rate. Would ti be beneficial to lower the duty cycle of the boil element after the hot break has occurred such that you maintain a boil but don't over do it? Im not physicist, so I don't know if that's how things work, but I figure that energy has to go somewhere, right? Anyone else experience this? If that's not the problem, any other tips as to what the problem may be?
Thanks!