Boil size and pail dump

[Happydad1689]

Getting ready to brew my second batch. My first batch was a kit (Holiday Ale)

My pot only holds 4 gal so I boiled three and added 2 gal in the pail. I think I am slightly short in the carboy. The wort foamed up so much I couldn't see where I was in the pail.

I realize now I had some boiled off. My question is: how much do you figure you boil away in a 60 min boil?

 

[Ranman481]

Boiling 3 gallons for a five gallon batch is over-kill. You should be able to steep your grains / boil your wort in only 1 1/2 gallons of water. It cuts down the cooling time as well. You could always measure 5 gallons of plain water into your carboy and mark a line on it with tape or marker so you will know when have hit the 5 gallon mark with your wort.

I'm sure that someone on this forum will be able to answer your question about evaporation loss but it's not me.

 

[brewkinger]

Boiling 3 gallons for a five gallon batch is over-kill. You should be able to steep your grains / boil your wort in only 1 1/2 gallons of water. It cuts down the cooling time as well. You could always measure 5 gallons of plain water into your carboy and mark a line on it with tape or marker so you will know when have hit the 5 gallon mark with your wort.



I'm sure that someone on this forum will be able to answer your question about evaporation loss but it's not me.

I disagree with the overkill comment.
The closer to full volume boil that you get, the better. Better hop utilization.
Cooling time would be longer if you are using an ice bath in the sink, but with an IC or plate chiller, we are talking about a matter of minutes.

I agree with pre marking all my ferment vessels with gallon and half gal volume marks. I learned long ago not to trust the marks from the factory.

As far as boil off rates, there are several factors that play a role. Ambient air temp, humidity and kettle dimensions.
Best way to figure it out: measure out 3 gallons of water in your kettle and boil for an hour. Measure what is left.
Easy peezy.

 

[flars]

I would say, don't worry about the boil off rate. Starting with three gallons, to avoid boil overs, just make up the difference for five gallons in the fermentor.

Have your fermentor marked for the five gallon level as Ranman481 and brewkinger said and no worries.

edit: Start off with two gallons in the fermentor, then top off to the five gallon mark.

 

[mrgrimm101]

I use a 5 gallon kettle and steep in about 3 gallons of water, then add my extract, then add extra water so that my pre-boil volume is at 4 gallons. I have also heard that you want as close to a full volume boil as possible. I would boil more if I had a bigger kettle. It seems to boil off about a gallon at the most. I chill with an ice bath, and it does take some extra time to cool it all. The biggest problem that I have is that my sink doesn't quite go as high as the wort in the kettle, so I have surface wort that is hotter than the wort on the bottom of the kettle. However, it all equals out when I transfer to primary and add the top-up water to get it up to 5 gallons.

 

[stevehardt]

Take this for what its worth, but in some kit directions (Adventures in Home Brewing) they tell you to anticipate a 15% volume loss in a 5 gallon batch over 6o minutes

 

[Conan]

Boil off is really variable and 1 gallon per hour is reasonable. For example my system loses 1.5 gallons an hour at worst (windy winter day) or 1.25 gallons at best...a calm summer day. Stovetop typically boils off less than outdoor burners. It'd be good for you to measure out 3 gallons of water and boil it for an hour. Let it cool and measure that volume...you'll be able to predict top up water much better going forward. Kyle