Original Gravity - Pre-Boil/Post Boil?

[Incredible_Bulk]

Hey all,

I've searched the forums for the answer to this question, as well as consulted google, and have had a hard time answering the question.

I had a situation occur last night boiling an Oatmeal Stout where I came nowhere close to hitting my Original Gravity (taken post-boil). The recipe gave me an estimated gravity of 1.050, and I was sitting at 1.041 prior to pitching the yeast.

I use Beersmith as my brewing software, and as far as I am aware, their Original Gravity estimates are post-boil -- but in that world, then I'm stuck having to add DME to top off the wort which at the 68 degree yeast pitching temperature means I'm overly handling what should be sterilized wort... (Ultimately I did. I had to top it up or face the reality of a 3% Stout... yeah... No.)

As I went through the process and worried about adding this after the yeast had been pitched (not ideal), I came to the conclusion that there has to be a better way to do this - say topping up prior to the boil. But as the specific gravity is a measure of the amount of sugar / volume, how do you calculate an accurate pre-boil gravity and extrapolate it out to the post boil volume?

Is there a button in Beersmith that gives you a pre-boil target to shoot for that once the boil is done will yield your post-boil gravity?

The good news is - With the DME top up, the beer hit 1.052, which is good enough for me, that'll give 5% if it fully ferments.

(My next step is figure out what in the world went wrong and why I got nowhere close...)

Cheers,
Bulk

 

[mcbaumannerb]

If you click on the mash profile tab it should show you the estimated pre-boil gravity there.

 

[duboman]

When you view the brew sheet it should tell you the pre boil estimated gravity as my sheets always do!

That being said, there are a lot for factors in play from quality of crush, duration of mash, Ph of mash and hitting all your volumes properly to ensure you get both the correct pre boil volume and post boil volume as each will play into the readings you get.

It takes a couple/few sessions to tweak all the equipment settings in your selected/created profile. It is important to take good notes throughout your brew process and be sure to place the proper values in the appropriate locations so the software handles all the calculations properly.

IME your pre boil gravity will be +/- 8-10 points below your post boil OG and be sure you are temperature correcting your readings!

 

[Incredible_Bulk]

Color me sheepish.

It's sitting right in front of me on the Brewsheet. Male rhynoglaucoma anyone? Apparently in my excitement and brewday chaos, I skipped right over it.

I'm actually new to Beersmith, in fact, I just realized on this batch that I can even print a brewsheet. I used to use QBrew to plan out the beers, then just a single process for everything.

It's hard for me to let go of the old processes, and trust the software. Need to get it set up for my equipment and just follow the recipe.


Just out of curiousity - does most everyone top up pre-boil?

 

[duboman]

Color me sheepish.

It's sitting right in front of me on the Brewsheet. Male rhynoglaucoma anyone? Apparently in my excitement and brewday chaos, I skipped right over it.

I'm actually new to Beersmith, in fact, I just realized on this batch that I can even print a brewsheet. I used to use QBrew to plan out the beers, then just a single process for everything.

It's hard for me to let go of the old processes, and trust the software. Need to get it set up for my equipment and just follow the recipe.

Just out of curiousity - does most everyone top up pre-boil?

If you set everything up properly and calculate your volumes from mash to sparge you should not have to top off at all