I wonder why partial boillers don't do it this way....

[J187]

Forgive me if there is something I'm missing, I haven't slept well lately and I'm not thinking clearly.

Why is it common practice for partial boilers to cool their wort, add top up water to an exact volume, and then check gravity? Why not cool, check gravity, then add water to top up to a specific gravity. That way, if your gravity is off, you'll fix it and end up with a little less beer - but a little less beer of what you intended it to be recipe wise.

 

[Hello]

Well, I used to check my gravity before adding water when I brewed that way so I can't say everyone doesn't do it this way. It's a strong assumption that they do not. However, often people who are starting to brew just follow the kit and add top off water like the kit says to do. So that could be why.

One thing I typically do see is that extract brewers, unless their boil off was outrageous, will always hit their OG within a very reasonable tolerance. I found it took effort to screw that up.

 

[gr8shandini]

. . .
One thing I typically do see is that extract brewers, unless their boil off was outrageous, will always hit their OG within a very reasonable tolerance. I found it took effort to screw that up.

If you're topping off to the same volume each time, the boil off wouldn't matter at all. You'll still have same amount of sugars diluted in the same final volume of water. If you're topping off with a fixed quantity of water and lost some of the original wort volume to boil off, then it would make a difference.

There's really no reason to check OG at all for an extract batch. Once you start mashing something, that's when it gets important.

 

[J187]

Well, I used to check my gravity before adding water when I brewed that way so I can't say everyone doesn't do it this way. It's a strong assumption that they do not. However, often people who are starting to brew just follow the kit and add top off water like the kit says to do. So that could be why.

One thing I typically do see is that extract brewers, unless their boil off was outrageous, will always hit their OG within a very reasonable tolerance. I found it took effort to screw that up.

I hear you, I didn't assume that everyone doesn't do it that way, I just said it is common practice - which I certainly believe it to be. If i were to go back to partial boils, I'd be doing it the way I outlined above. I just think it's a superior method, don't you?

If you're topping off to the same volume each time, the boil off wouldn't matter at all. You'll still have same amount of sugars diluted in the same final volume of water. If you're topping off with a fixed quantity of water and lost some of the original wort volume to boil off, then it would make a difference.

There's really no reason to check OG at all for an extract batch. Once you start mashing something, that's when it gets important.

Well, we are talking partial boilers, not necessarily extract brewers - there are plenty of partial mash and AG brewers who still partial boil. Also, I know you are referring to the reliability of extract, but that's assuming there weren't mistakes of any kind along the way - I think lots of partial boilers have trouble with volumes. I bet this would help them. As well as being good practice for AG!

 

[FrozenOcean]

I did it that way when I was doing partial boils. That guarantees your OG is spot on, but my only concern was that then you have to ask yourself if you got your IBUs (and other hop-related issues) correct... If you're putting in a certain amount of hops assuming you will end with 6 gallons of wort, but then you only end up with 5 gallons to hit your OG properly, I would suspect that your IBUs would be higher, and your hop flavour balance might be off a bit.

 

[Hello]

IBUs won't be right for sure.

It is always important to get in the practice of checking OG. I would never tell anyone to skip it, extract or otherwise.

 

[J187]

Agree... and the IBUs prob wouldn't be too far off if you aren't talking about really big variances in volumes. And yes, check FG. I check my gravity after my first runnings, and again after the sparge. Good practice.

 

[flars]

When you ask about partial boilers are you referring to extract brewers or all grain brewers?

 

[J187]

When you ask about partial boilers are you referring to extract brewers or all grain brewers?

My guess is that most partial boilers are extract, but not all.

 

[unionrdr]

I partial boil everything, since I have a 5 gallon SS kettle & biab besides. I also pb/pm biab most of the time & have no trouble clobbering OG's for recipes or kits. I also dunk sparge the grain bag & crush my own grains. I typically-with boil off-top off about 2 gallons or a bit less. My OG's are always at leas a couple points higher than listed. And this is after some 5 minutes of vigorous stirring. So I have no problems whatsoever with topping off as related to OG.