Need help fast! boil volume?

Ok I have been making extract beer for a few months now and thought I would try using unhoped LME and some steeping grains. I have a recipe I have came up with using the program beer-smith. When using that program I set my equipment to what I have 5 gal. brew pot and set boil volume to 2 gal. to formula this recipe. I will be using 2 pounds of grains that i will steep 30 min. and 7 1/2 pounds of dark LME. So my question is, is boil volume just the amount of water added to the pot or does that include the LME to? If it includes the LME I will have to adjust the hops amount and stuff to get the IBU's right. And does any one know how much 7 1/2 pound of LME will displace the water?I plan on steeping the grains in 1 gal. of water if that helps. so please some one help!

Hmm you think too much. Have a beer!

I would steep the grains in 1.5-2 gallons. Just make sure your grains are completely covered in water and not too squeezed in the bag. Add 1/2 the LME or maybe less (say 3 lbs) off the heat, bring to boil and add water to get your boil volume. Why 2 vs 3 gallons? Maybe too small a pot? Anyway don't sweat it. Once you are boiling start your count down and add your hops.

I take the pot off the heat and dissolve the rest of the extract at 0 mins. You could add yours sometime before if you are worried about pasteurizing the extract.

stevedasleeve said:

Hmm you think too much. Have a beer!

I would steep the grains in 1.5-2 gallons. Just make sure your grains are completely covered in water and not too squeezed in the bag. Add 1/2 the LME or maybe less (say 3 lbs) off the heat, bring to boil and add water to get your boil volume. Why 2 vs 3 gallons? Maybe too small a pot? Anyway don't sweat it. Once you are boiling start your count down and add your hops.

I take the pot off the heat and dissolve the rest of the extract at 0 mins. You could add yours sometime before if you are worried about pasteurizing the extract.

Click to expand...

well I asked this question because if i do what you said my IBU's change from 40.3 to 79.2 base on what beer smith program says. and I have a 5 gal. pot. so i could use 2 gal. for steeping I just dont know exactly what the definition of boil volume is- whether or not the LME is included in that or if it just means amount of water?

Ok I think I figured it out 4 pound of LME = 1 quart of volume so if I steep my grains in 2 gals of water then add 7.5 # of LME witch is a little under 2 quarts It will be about 2 quarts shy of 3 gal. boil volume so I just add more water to bring it up to the 3 gal mark for pre boil volume. does this sound right. It makes my head hurt thinking about this I just dont want to end up with a stout thats way to bitter.

Yeah that's fine. Boil volume is what it sounds like: the total volume you are boiling. Hops boiled in the whole shebang will bitter and aroma the whole shebang (more.) Hops boiled in a little bit of the shebang will bitter/aroma only that (less) since it gets diluted when you add water. Make sense?

FWIW bitterness is quite subjective - as is all this stuff. Make the recipe, drink it in 6 weeks or whatever and adjust from there is my advice/opinion/experience

Steve da sleeve & most of another & a chest peice

If you're steeping grains you should use light malt extract and steep specialty grains to make it the same as the dark malt extract. I know it is off topic but it is a good practice and will give you a better understanding of building recipes.