Dialing In My Process

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Brew_G

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
835
Reaction score
192
Location
Fairfax County
As some of you regular readers of this sub-forum may already know, I'm very new to the brewing game, and bottled my first AG/BIAB batch a little over a week ago. I brewed my second batch this past Sunday (a hoppy brown ale with harvested Bell's yeast), and I can already start to see that some similarities exist over this small sample size. As many of the rest of you, I'm a kitchen brewer.

  1. I hit my OG almost dead on with my first batch, but my second came in .002-.003 low for an expected 5.5-gallon batch. However, I realized after transferring my wort that I had almost a half gallon more wort than I expected, so I can attribute some of it to that. So, based on the numbers I'm using in Brewer's Friend, it looks like I'm getting ~75% with my "system."

  2. This comes from #1. When I added my water to the kettle for my brown ale, I added enough to account for absorption and eventual boil-off - basically trying to do a full-volume mash. But when I pulled the bag I put it on a strainer on a different pot and sparged. Then I added about 1/4 gallon or so of the sparged wort to my boil because I was concerned I would boil off too much and be left with too little wort after the boil. That would certainly account for the large amount of wort in the fermenter! :smack:

  3. This follows on from #2. For my brown ale mash, I came perilously close to the top of my kettle, but because of the amount of wort I ended with, I realize I probably had a bit too much strike water to start. So I now know that I can do a full-volume mash on beers up to ~1.059-1.060! Anything above that (which would be very rare for me) can be accomplished by sparging to get to full volume. Easy peasy.

  4. Mash temps. On both my mashes, I've lost 3F during a 60-minute mash. I cut the heat and wrap an insulated jacket around the kettle, then check the temp and stir every 20 minutes. It's a nice feeling to know that I've got consistent (and relatively minimal) heat loss during my mash. I don't know quite what it means to lose that amount of heat during my mash, but the consistency is key for a beginner like me because I can adjust if/how necessary.

  5. Hop bag! I didn't realize how much gunk a few ounces of hop pellets can create, but in comparing side-by-side pictures of my first two batches, I can see it plain as day. BIAB already produces enough trub, so eliminating hop gunk with an easy solution makes sense to me.

  6. Ice bath. In my "First BIAB" thread, I documented the chilling problems I had with that first BIAB session. This time, I prepared myself with much more ice by freezing gallon jugs and 4-cup containers to use in the ice bath. I also decided to use a sanitized spoon to swirl the wort occasionally. For some reason, I thought swirling was a bad idea, but after reading more it seems like a pretty common practice. It took a little over an hour, but I got my wort down to a consistent 67F for pitching.

Finally, I bit the bullet and invested in a Barley Crusher. I decided to buy 55 lbs of Maris Otter at my LHBS last week (at a *massive* discount from their 10 lb bag price) and needed to have a way to mill on my own, so the Barley Crusher went in my cart. I have to say...it was really nice to be able to crush the grains at home. I used my drill as the crank and powered through 11.25 lbs of grain in about 5 minutes! I may tighten up the rollers just a little to get a finer crush, but it seems like the factory setting was alright. Perhaps if I re-set it, it might help get me above that 75% efficiency. No more double-crushing with a hand crank at the LHBS...

I've said it before, but I am loving this whole brewing thing! :rockin: :mug:
 
Hey, out of curiosity, where are you in VA? I visit my parents for the Holidays and they live in Haymarket. Ever since I started brewing, I check a bag with a case of 24 different beers I;ve made for my Dad and neighbor to try out. "It's like a box of chocolates!" they always say. Last time, I got a bit greedy and tried to pack 30. My bag was over the 50lb limit for the TSA. You should've seen the look on their faces when they told me to lighten my bag and I pulled out a 6pack and asked if anyone liked good beer...

Anyway, are you are close to Haymarket/Gainesville? I will be flying in the week before Xmas and I might be interested in meeting up to swap a few beers or something. I've done about 80 all-grain batches and would be happy to answer any new brewer questions or advice over a few beers. I'm kitchen BIAB just like you so I'm pretty dialed in on my process by now
 
'Good, isn't it! Are you going to get an immersion chiller? Definitely recommended :)

Yup...it's awesome!

I've been thinking about an immersion chiller. I'd likely just build one if I were to go there though. It's just a matter of figuring out where I'd do the chilling without embarrassing the little lady by standing around outside looking like Cousin Eddie emptying the sh**ter... :cross:
 
Hey, out of curiosity, where are you in VA? I visit my parents for the Holidays and they live in Haymarket. Ever since I started brewing, I check a bag with a case of 24 different beers I;ve made for my Dad and neighbor to try out. "It's like a box of chocolates!" they always say. Last time, I got a bit greedy and tried to pack 30. My bag was over the 50lb limit for the TSA. You should've seen the look on their faces when they told me to lighten my bag and I pulled out a 6pack and asked if anyone liked good beer...

Anyway, are you are close to Haymarket/Gainesville? I will be flying in the week before Xmas and I might be interested in meeting up to swap a few beers or something. I've done about 80 all-grain batches and would be happy to answer any new brewer questions or advice over a few beers. I'm kitchen BIAB just like you so I'm pretty dialed in on my process by now

Nice. This most recent batch is one I'm brewing for my daughter's birthday party, so I'm hoping I can proudly have a case on hand for folks to drink!

I'm about 40 minutes or so from Haymarket (I have friends who live there). I'd love to get together, but it's likely we'll be out of town to visit the in-laws. If not, I'll hit you up and maybe we can swing something.
 
As some of you regular readers of this sub-forum may already know, I'm very new to the brewing game, and bottled my first AG/BIAB batch a little over a week ago. I brewed my second batch this past Sunday (a hoppy brown ale with harvested Bell's yeast), and I can already start to see that some similarities exist over this small sample size. As many of the rest of you, I'm a kitchen brewer.

  1. I hit my OG almost dead on with my first batch, but my second came in .002-.003 low for an expected 5.5-gallon batch. However, I realized after transferring my wort that I had almost a half gallon more wort than I expected, so I can attribute some of it to that. So, based on the numbers I'm using in Brewer's Friend, it looks like I'm getting ~75% with my "system."
  2. This comes from #1. When I added my water to the kettle for my brown ale, I added enough to account for absorption and eventual boil-off - basically trying to do a full-volume mash. But when I pulled the bag I put it on a strainer on a different pot and sparged. Then I added about 1/4 gallon or so of the sparged wort to my boil because I was concerned I would boil off too much and be left with too little wort after the boil. That would certainly account for the large amount of wort in the fermenter! :smack:

  3. This follows on from #2. For my brown ale mash, I came perilously close to the top of my kettle, but because of the amount of wort I ended with, I realize I probably had a bit too much strike water to start. So I now know that I can do a full-volume mash on beers up to ~1.059-1.060! Anything above that (which would be very rare for me) can be accomplished by sparging to get to full volume. Easy peasy.

  4. Mash temps. On both my mashes, I've lost 3F during a 60-minute mash. I cut the heat and wrap an insulated jacket around the kettle, then check the temp and stir every 20 minutes. It's a nice feeling to know that I've got consistent (and relatively minimal) heat loss during my mash. I don't know quite what it means to lose that amount of heat during my mash, but the consistency is key for a beginner like me because I can adjust if/how necessary.

  5. Hop bag! I didn't realize how much gunk a few ounces of hop pellets can create, but in comparing side-by-side pictures of my first two batches, I can see it plain as day. BIAB already produces enough trub, so eliminating hop gunk with an easy solution makes sense to me.

  6. Ice bath. In my "First BIAB" thread, I documented the chilling problems I had with that first BIAB session. This time, I prepared myself with much more ice by freezing gallon jugs and 4-cup containers to use in the ice bath. I also decided to use a sanitized spoon to swirl the wort occasionally. For some reason, I thought swirling was a bad idea, but after reading more it seems like a pretty common practice. It took a little over an hour, but I got my wort down to a consistent 67F for pitching.

Finally, I bit the bullet and invested in a Barley Crusher. I decided to buy 55 lbs of Maris Otter at my LHBS last week (at a *massive* discount from their 10 lb bag price) and needed to have a way to mill on my own, so the Barley Crusher went in my cart. I have to say...it was really nice to be able to crush the grains at home. I used my drill as the crank and powered through 11.25 lbs of grain in about 5 minutes! I may tighten up the rollers just a little to get a finer crush, but it seems like the factory setting was alright. Perhaps if I re-set it, it might help get me above that 75% efficiency. No more double-crushing with a hand crank at the LHBS...

I've said it before, but I am loving this whole brewing thing! :rockin: :mug:

A very clear synopsis of your brew-day. Thanks for sharing. It's great having a grain mill for BIAB. Gets you the control you need. Definitely aggree with you on the hops. I use a spider but bags before that. i think the extra trub with BIAb is the only real downside to the approach. It all settles out but clearer wort into the fermenter cant be a bad thing.

Good Job
 
A very clear synopsis of your brew-day. Thanks for sharing. It's great having a grain mill for BIAB. Gets you the control you need. Definitely aggree with you on the hops. I use a spider but bags before that. i think the extra trub with BIAb is the only real downside to the approach. It all settles out but clearer wort into the fermenter cant be a bad thing.

Good Job

Thanks, Gavin. Yup...having a mill is actually pretty liberating. No more buying a 10-lb bag of base malt and specialty malts and hoping that there's no one else using the mills. I can now do it at the time of my choosing, and it only takes 10-15 minutes with setup and breakdown!

The hop bags made a huge difference for this latest batch. It's obviously a huge deal to have the hop sludge in there, but I would rather keep it out than just add to the large amounts of trub already in there. It's nasty to clean it out of the carboy, too.

I just created an Excel spreadsheet that I'm hoping will assist me in getting my pre-boil water volumes squared away. I've got grain absorption and displacement rates in there to help me figure out how much strike water I should start with and what my mash volumes would be with given grain bills. For now, I'm just going on pretty basic assumptions of those rates (0.12 gals/lb absorption and 0.08 gals/lb displacement), and also assuming a boil-off rate of around 1.25 gals/hr. I also have what I call the "hang rate," which is how much wort I can collect from putting the bag on a colander and letting it "hang" for 15-20 minutes or so. That's also a guess based on some reading I've been doing, but it wouldn't surprise if it's a little bit off. I should be able to come up with a more precise number for that as I brew more.

I'm all ears to anyone who wants to give some feedback what they see here.

Mash Calc Image.png
 
I just use Beersmith and tweak it each batch. It does all the calculations for me. You might want to invest. If your a numbers guy like me it is a great addition to your brewery and helps improve the accuracy. I'm still a rookie in my first year of brewing and it has helped me. Brewersfriend is good too.
 
I just use Beersmith and tweak it each batch. It does all the calculations for me. You might want to invest. If your a numbers guy like me it is a great addition to your brewery and helps improve the accuracy. I'm still a rookie in my first year of brewing and it has helped me. Brewersfriend is good too.

I use the Brewers Friend free version to mess around with recipes and run some calculations, and have been debating upgrading. Problem is that you can get the yearly, two-year, or lifetime membership, but from what I can tell it doesn't have compatibility with their mobile app. That makes absolutely no sense to me.

I've heard a lot about Beersmith, too. Is that only a desktop version, or does it include phone/tablet functionality?
 
I use the Brewers Friend free version to mess around with recipes and run some calculations, and have been debating upgrading. Problem is that you can get the yearly, two-year, or lifetime membership, but from what I can tell it doesn't have compatibility with their mobile app. That makes absolutely no sense to me.

I've heard a lot about Beersmith, too. Is that only a desktop version, or does it include phone/tablet functionality?

I've got the desktop version. There was a special deal through HBT. Look for it in the vendor's section. There is a mobile app but I don't have it. I'm always home when I brew so I don't need anything more for now.
 
I use the Brewers Friend free version to mess around with recipes and run some calculations, and have been debating upgrading. Problem is that you can get the yearly, two-year, or lifetime membership, but from what I can tell it doesn't have compatibility with their mobile app. That makes absolutely no sense to me.

I've heard a lot about Beersmith, too. Is that only a desktop version, or does it include phone/tablet functionality?

I use Brewer's Friend. Not sure what you're talking about when you say it doesn't have compatibility with their mobile app. Are you referring to how the app links to the web application? If so, that's no biggie for me. I open the app and it has direct links to my recipes, brew sessions, etc.
 
I use Brewer's Friend. Not sure what you're talking about when you say it doesn't have compatibility with their mobile app. Are you referring to how the app links to the web application? If so, that's no biggie for me. I open the app and it has direct links to my recipes, brew sessions, etc.


Yeah...I'm talking about how the mobile app and the web-based (desktop) version are basically separate. It would be nice if they were fully compatible - you make changes in one and they are mirrored in the other. If I'm mistaken, then I'm much more interested in it.
 
Brewed a Centennial APA a couple days ago, and much of my process flowed closely with what happened with my first two BIAB brews. My main issue is figuring out exactly how much liquid I have in the brew kettle at any given time, as the only marks I have are ones I made on the outside of the pot and aren't exact measurements.

For this last beer, I planned to do a one-gallon sparge and was expecting an OG of 1.057 at 75% efficiency. I ended up at 1.060, but I was definitely a little short in the water department, as I ended up with maybe .5 gallons less wort than I expected when I transferred it to the carboy.

Besides the water measurement issues, my mash temps proceeded just as expected, and my ice bath chill is getting more efficient. I've got a really strong fermentation going on right now, so I've got my fingers crossed for a good beer at the end of it all!
 
Brewed a Centennial APA a couple days ago, and much of my process flowed closely with what happened with my first two BIAB brews. My main issue is figuring out exactly how much liquid I have in the brew kettle at any given time, as the only marks I have are ones I made on the outside of the pot and aren't exact measurements.

For this last beer, I planned to do a one-gallon sparge and was expecting an OG of 1.057 at 75% efficiency. I ended up at 1.060, but I was definitely a little short in the water department, as I ended up with maybe .5 gallons less wort than I expected when I transferred it to the carboy.

Besides the water measurement issues, my mash temps proceeded just as expected, and my ice bath chill is getting more efficient. I've got a really strong fermentation going on right now, so I've got my fingers crossed for a good beer at the end of it all!

You can mark your pot internally if it is stainless steel. This post shows how (you will need more salt than it says).https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f257/how-add-permanent-volume-markings-kettle-illustrated-463099/

Below is my pot. I already had 1 gallon markings but 1/4 markings are better. Very easy to do. I used electrical tape to prepare the area to be etched.

Volume Marks.jpg
 
Thanks, Gavin. I'd heard about that, but didn't know how easy it is to do. Are there any concerns about the etched area corroding in some way?
 
Thanks, Gavin. I'd heard about that, but didn't know how easy it is to do. Are there any concerns about the etched area corroding in some way?

Apparently there is no downside to the etching. The steel won't corrode. I'm sure there are probably negligible amounts of metal that might leach out over time. The consensus appears to be that no problems arise and that for purposes of home brewing there are no adverse consequences.
 
Apparently there is no downside to the etching. The steel won't corrode. I'm sure there are probably negligible amounts of metal that might leach out over time. The consensus appears to be that no problems arise and that for purposes of home brewing there are no adverse consequences.


I finally got around to etching my pot over this past weekend. Looks great, and I can't wait to brew again!

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1422583436.777888.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1422583450.668159.jpg
 
Beaut! Nicely done. Looks like it came out of the factory that way.

Thanks! I guess that's what being a bit anal can do for you. :cross:

Once I figured out how I wanted to tape off everything and then center up the numbers with the notches, it went really smoothly. Very cool...
 
This worked great for me yesterday when I brewed my Cascade Pale Ale. I was able to fill my brewpot directly from the tap rather than filling gallons and then pouring those into the pot. I filled to 8 gallons and then treated with campden and let it sit overnight. On brew day, after figuring out how much strike water I needed, I simply transferred the extra/sparge water out of the brewpot and into my sparge water pot. It was also really nice to know how much wort I had left at the end of the boil.

So much easier than what I was doing before. It just helped me breathe a little easier as things were taking place.
 
It's been a long, long time since I've posted in here, but figured a quick update might be worthwhile.

I've pretty much figured his whole deal out...well, at least in terms of my efficiency and process. I've made some pretty good beers recently after fixing an infection in my bottling gear (i.e. throwing away all plastic), the best of which was my Half Nelson IPA:

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441673098.094223.jpg

I've started fining with gelatin, so my beers are coming out incredibly clear if I condition bottles in the fridge for about 10 days. It's really pretty cool to have crystal clear beer that brewed myself. Here's a not-so-great picture of a blonde I brewed in early July...

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1441673186.091121.jpg

However, a co-worker is going to give me a corny keg, so I think that's going to begin the slow descent into kegging. :D I've also just started brewing with RO water and am fermenting in a 30L Speidel that resides in a rope-handled tub and water for temp control. It's really a nice upgrade to my setup. The Speidel is fantastic. An STC/fridge fermentation chamber is definitely in the offing in the future.

Overall, I'm really happy with how far I've come, and I know that I've got a ton more to learn and experience. My October batch (what I'm calling a "Winter Brown") will mark my one-year anniversary of homebrewing. Here's to many more!
 
The STC/fridge is a bit like a smart-phone or a TV remote. Once you get one you'll wonder how you ever managed without.

Cool update to your thread.
 
That's what I'm thinking, Gavin. I'll get there, but we need to seriously reorganize the basement before I add to the clutter. My current setup definitely works because of the relatively stable temps in the basement - they run from about 65F at their peak in summer and 58F at their lowest in the winter

Same clutter issue goes for the kegerator/keezer...though budget isn't quite there for that yet anyways. I'll probably just slowly accumulate the things I need (I'd like to have two or three beers on tap) and will put everything together when I've got what I need.

I've updated the pictures above - seems they didn't come through at first. That Half Nelson IPA was phenomenal! :mug:
 
Thanks, Gavin. The IPA was a resounding success. After it cleared it lost some of that redness, but it's still a pretty beer, if I do say so myself. It was surprisingly grapefruity on the nose, but had a really pretty flavor to go along with it - almost like Fresh Squeezed IPA. The Nelson was the big player in this one, for sure. The hops faded at around week 8 or so in the bottle, but it still drinks just fine because I only hopped it to about 55 IBUs for an OG of about 1.065.

The blonde is good, but i knew nothing about the hops. I thought a combo of Rakau and Summer sounded good, but I think they both got a little muddled. Beautiful pale golden color though. Excellent thirst quencher....but not as pretty as that Helles!
 
:off:IPA's and the wide array of hops folks use for flavor and aroma is an area where I have a great deal to learn. It's been ages since I made an IPA.

Is that Nelson Sauvin hops you're talking about. I was chatting with @Psylocide (a bit of a hop head I think he would agree) about hops for an APA with Cascade already used during the boil (already kegged it).

I thought I had decided on Columbus for a bit of keg hopping but your description of Nelson hops sounds great. The picture has me imagining all sorts of flavors.
Wonder would they work for dry hopping in the keg. What do you think?
 
:off:IPA's and the wide array of hops folks use for flavor and aroma is an area where I have a great deal to learn. It's been ages since I made an IPA.



Is that Nelson Sauvin hops you're talking about. I was chatting with @Psylocide (a bit of a hop head I think he would agree) about hops for an APA with Cascade already used during the boil (already kegged it).



I thought I had decided on Columbus for a bit of keg hopping but your description of Nelson hops sounds great. The picture has me imagining all sorts of flavors.

Wonder would they work for dry hopping in the keg. What do you think?


Anything will work for keg hopping... May take just a bit longer at cool temps to extract the flavor/aroma.

I want to try it eventually, but the thought of the debris makes me cringe. I'll have to get some more voile and make a hop sock. I don't know that I'd trust a coarser weave. Muslin might be ok though.

As for choosing a hop variety, the hop wheel at hopunion is very helpful for a jumping off point.

https://www.hopunion.com/aroma-wheel/

Nelson would also be great for a cascade hopped brew, all depends on what you want.
 
:off:IPA's and the wide array of hops folks use for flavor and aroma is an area where I have a great deal to learn. It's been ages since I made an IPA.

Is that Nelson Sauvin hops you're talking about. I was chatting with @Psylocide (a bit of a hop head I think he would agree) about hops for an APA with Cascade already used during the boil (already kegged it).

I thought I had decided on Columbus for a bit of keg hopping but your description of Nelson hops sounds great. The picture has me imagining all sorts of flavors.
Wonder would they work for dry hopping in the keg. What do you think?

Yup...it's Nelson Sauvin. I picked up 12 oz late last year and still have plenty to use. I have my brewing schedule set up for basically the next year (subject to change, of course), and Nelson figures prominently in it.

I dry hopped this with Nelson (see recipe below), so I think a light touch of Nelson dry hops in a Cascade APA would be really nice. Columbus would obviously work, but the Nelson would help to pump up the tropical fruit/citrus. I didn't want to go too heavy on the dry hops in mine because all I'd read about Nelson was that they're pretty potent. I'd have to agree with that, but what they bring to the table is pretty impressive.


Brew G's Half-Nelson IPA


Recipe Type
: All Grain BIAB
Yeast: Harvested Bell's House Ale Yeast
Batch Size: 5.25 gallons
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.012
IBU: 56.8
SRM: 6.98
Water: Fairfax County local with 1/2 crushed campden tablet added

Grain Bill
5.25 lbs 2-row - Briess [43.8%]
5.00 lbs Maris Otter - Crisp [41.7%]
1.00 lbs White Wheat [8.3%]
6 oz Crystal 20L [3.1%]
6 oz Crystal 30L [3.1%]

Mash Schedule
60-minute mash at 150F
1-gallon "pour-over sparge" at 170F
60-minute boil

Hop Schedule
0.70 oz Magnum (12.1) - 60 min
0.67 oz Nelson Sauvin (11.6) - 10 min
0.67 oz Centennial (9) - 10 min
0.67 oz Nelson Sauvin - 5 min
0.67 oz Cascade (7.8) - 5 min
0.67 oz Nelson Sauvin - 0 min
0.67 oz Centennial - 0 min
1.50 oz Nelson Sauvin - Dry hop (5 days)
0.75 oz Centennial - Dry hop (5 days)
0.75 oz Cascade - Dry hop (5 days)

I pitched the yeast at around 65F and let it rise on its own as fermentation started, with it reaching 69F at its highest. I dry hopped, then crashed (two days) and fined with gelatin (two days) before bottling and carbing to about 2.4 units.

As I mentioned above, this came out with a really nice grapefruit aroma and a full fruity flavor. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it wasn't exactly this...though I have no complaints! It's gone over really well with everyone who's tried it - even my wife who's not huge on overly hopped beers. I think the Centennial played just enough of a role to round out the aroma and flavor, otherwise it may have been a little much.
 
Good looking beers you have there. The Half Nelson I brew often, it is a really nice recipe and great to have on tap!

Thanks! I should have taken the pictures outside so you can get the true effect of the clarity. It might not make any difference to the final product, but I'm definitely partial to drinking a nice, clear beer.

Is there another Half Nelson out there? Mine is a play on words both in terms of family names and the hop bill. I'd be curious to see another Half Nelson recipe!
 
Yup...it's Nelson Sauvin.....Great Looking Recipe

Thanks for that. Recipe looks really good.

Those Nelson Sauvin look to be pretty potent at 11+AA%. I suppose for a dry hop the AA% is not as critical as it's more the aroma I'm looking for.

Thanks for the helpful advice.
 
I brewed an IPA on Saturday morning that is happily bubbling away right now. Everything went fairly smoothly. The only issue I had was that my OG was a little low. The reason for this was fairly obvious: too much volume.

My calculations were done with the Brewers Friend mobile app, set for a 77% efficiency, with 5.25 gallons going into the fermenter. I dump everything into the fermenter, so I figure on about an average of a half gallon of loss to trub, making for 4.75 gallons of beer into bottles.

I don't have my notes in front of me, but I believe the BG was 1.052, compared to the expected BG of 1.050. Works for me. I started measuring BG three batches ago, and I've come in .002-.003 over the expected each time. However, my OG hasn't come in at that same ratio for any of these batches. In fact, my OG for this one was 1.064 instead of the expected 1.069. *However*, I ended up with a little over 5.5 gallons in the fermenter, so my volume was obviously high. Thinking back on it, I realize now that I dumped too much sparge water into my kettle. I started at around 7.75 gallons in the kettle, which would have meant that I was expecting around 2.5 gallons of boil off. That's just dumb on my part. Instead, I boiled off slightly more than 2 gallons.

Is there a calculation to figure out how much a given volume of water would reduce the SG of a given volume of wort? I'd be curious to give it a whirl and see where my numbers would have ended up had I ended up with my expected volume in to the fermenter.
 
Is there a calculation to figure out how much a given volume of water would reduce the SG of a given volume of wort? I'd be curious to give it a whirl and see where my numbers would have ended up had I ended up with my expected volume in to the fermenter.

If you're using brewers friend, they have a dilution and boil off calculator. Put your numbers into it and you'll have your answer.
 
If you're using brewers friend, they have a dilution and boil off calculator. Put your numbers into it and you'll have your answer.

Ah...didn't even notice that calculator. Thanks!

Looks like I'm 0.4-0.5 gallons high, which makes perfect sense. Now, to figure out why I keep coming in a little high on my BG, but not on my OG...
 
Ah...didn't even notice that calculator. Thanks!

Looks like I'm 0.4-0.5 gallons high, which makes perfect sense. Now, to figure out why I keep coming in a little high on my BG, but not on my OG...

It typically means your not boiling off as much as you think.

Your getting volume losses elsewhere.

Trub loss
kettle/hose/chiller dead space
hop absorption
gravity samples
Shrinkage of wort (4% from boiling to 60F, 2.5%from preboil temps (~170F to 60F)

Just some things to look at. Not applicable to all setups.
 
It typically means your not boiling off as much as you think.

Your getting volume losses elsewhere.

Trub loss
kettle/hose/chiller dead space
hop absorption
gravity samples
Shrinkage of wort (4% from boiling to 60F, 2.5%from preboil temps (~170F to 60F)

Just some things to look at. Not applicable to all setups.

Thanks, Gavin.

Reading that list, something else popped into my head. I generally have maybe a half gallon of wort-y sparge water left over after either dunking or pouring over (I pour over a separate kettle and then pour that into my boil kettle). That means that there are some sugars left behind when I start the boil. Of course, I haven't done anything to remedy that situation. :cross: Not sure what effect this might have on OG v BG.

I wonder if it could be a simple case of my not inputting the info into my app correctly.

It's not of major importance to me - in practical terms - as long as I constantly hit my OG, but it's going to eat at me until I figure out why it's happening!
 
Thanks, Gavin.

Reading that list, something else popped into my head. I generally have maybe a half gallon of wort-y sparge water left over after either dunking or pouring over (I pour over a separate kettle and then pour that into my boil kettle). That means that there are some sugars left behind when I start the boil. Of course, I haven't done anything to remedy that situation. :cross: Not sure what effect this might have on OG v BG.

I wonder if it could be a simple case of my not inputting the info into my app correctly.

It's not of major importance to me - in practical terms - as long as I constantly hit my OG, but it's going to eat at me until I figure out why it's happening!

That lost volume and sugars will impact the mash efficiency as you are losing sugars that never see the kettle. The volume in the kettle with your great etchings should still be a good data point.

The lost sugars in the bucket could be just as easily lost by not squeezing the bag as much. Either way it is the preboil volume that will be affected reducing the mash efficiency. Shouldn't be contributing to your issue from my understanding of things in your description.

If incorporating any kind of a sparge be sure that all runnings are completely mixed before taking a preboil gravity reading.

You're not taking the preboil gravity before adding the sparge runnings are you?
 
Just realized that Gavin responded in detail to my last post. Sorry, mate, I missed it!

Quick answer to the last question...I measure after sparge runnings are added, with all wort vigorously mixed (and one time about a minute after vigorous boil had started).
 
Back
Top