Outdoor brewing

[Plinythelderphan]

So I've noticed that when I brew outside, I experience phenomenal hop loss and the yields are shockingly low.

For example, a recent IPA yielded just 3 gallons of bottled beer after 8 gallons of wort was gathered.

I'm trying to keep the boil down, any attempt to cover results in boil overs. Am I missing something or doing something wrong? I never have this problem in stove top brewing.

Thanks in advance.

 

[cmoewes]

How long are you boiling for? 5 gallons loss seems like a whole heck of a lot. Your maybe boiling too hard to be losing that much.

You OG must be off the charts if you are boiling off 2 more gallons then your wanting.

 

[FiddlersGreen87]

Back off the heat? I can't imagine how you're boiling off 4-5 gallons. Are you brewing on the moon? :cross:

 

[Ian123]

If i collect 13 gallons it takes over an hr of hard boil to get down to 11.5-11 gallons. I brew outside too.

 

[cmoewes]

If i collect 13 gallons it takes over an hr of hard boil to get down to 11.5-11 gallons. I brew outside too.

2 gallons an hour isn't all that high a loss rate. I usually calculate (and hit) 1.5 gallon an hour.

But the OP is talking about 5 gallons of loss. If he's boiling for 2.5 hours that what you would expect. The OP doesn't say how long they are boiling for so I assume a typical 1 hour boil.

That's an incredible boil off rate if it is a 60 minute boil.

 

[metanoia]

I agree with the others, this is a strange anomaly. I typically collect 7 gallons and boil off 1.5 over an hour and a half so I get 5.5 in my fermenter and 5 gallons into bottles after trub, yeast, etc.

 

[Plinythelderphan]

How long are you boiling for? 5 gallons loss seems like a whole heck of a lot. Your maybe boiling too hard to be losing that much.

You OG must be off the charts if you are boiling off 2 more gallons then your wanting.

The beer in question is a 120 minute IPA…so 120 minutes.

I was completely shocked at the loss. I bottled and ended up with a pitiful yield. It will taste good, but jeez...

 

[Plinythelderphan]

2 gallons an hour isn't all that high a loss rate. I usually calculate (and hit) 1.5 gallon an hour.

But the OP is talking about 5 gallons of loss. If he's boiling for 2.5 hours that what you would expect. The OP doesn't say how long they are boiling for so I assume a typical 1 hour boil.

That's an incredible boil off rate if it is a 60 minute boil.

I started with 8 gallons of captured wort. I poured 3.5 gallons into the fermenter, there was a good .5 gallons worth of grub, maybe .75. And I bottled less than 3 gallons. I'm using a very, very old turkey fryer for my propane burner, I have found the heat is difficult to control. It's either rocket boil or seems to simmer and not reach rolling boil.

 

[chezhed]

I would think you would have to be on a mountain in the desert to get that kind of boil off.....
Not to be a wise a$$ but are you sure of the volume going in? How do you measure that?
I ask because for six months on a new pot I kept getting low volumes. I had some help marking the sight glass. I discovered the "helper" had marked the top of the meniscus and after 10 gallons this method was overstating my volume in the pot by almost a gallon or more....and they had made really thick marks for me So I was reading the wrong side to boot!

And yep, turkey fryers are made to boil....regardless of boil level it seems...it's just flat out burn, baby, burn!

 

[hunter_le five]

The beer in question is a 120 minute IPA…so 120 minutes.

I was completely shocked at the loss. I bottled and ended up with a pitiful yield. It will taste good, but jeez...

Are you hitting your gravity numbers correctly? With that kind of boil-off loss, I would expect your OG to be way too high. Perhaps you need to "top-off" with some water like an extract partial boil brew.

 

[rekoob]

I'm in agreement with the rest of the posts, for a 60 minute boil in my keggles I boil off right about 1.5 gallon's as a few others have stated. Doesn't seem to mater the time of year, sometimes its a little less, sometimes a little more.
So given that info for a 90 minute boil I would expect to see about 2.25 gallon loss.
I could maybe even agree with 3 gallons.
Double check your volume.
Turn down the gas to that burner. If the regulator is touchy maybe change it out. Cheap enough at places like tractor supply or the like. You can get a regulator/hose combo.

 

[thekraken]

What is your boil kettle? Whats the diameter or surface area? Like others have mentioned, I figure 1.5 gal/hr boil off and it works for me. I'm using a keggle, outdoors, and with a propane burner.

Here's some quick figuring:

Initial boil vol MEASURED HOT: 8 gallons
Initial boil vol COLD ADJUSTED: 7.8 gallons
Boil time: 2 hours
Boil off rate: 1.78 gallon/hour
Boil off: 3.56 gallons
Loss to hops/trub: 0.75 gallons
Vol into fermenter: 3.49 gallons

-- OR --

Boil off rate: 1.9 gallon/hour
Boil off: 3.8 gallons
Loss to hops/trub: 0.5 gallons
Vol into fermenter: 3.5 gallons

1.8 to 1.9 g/hr boil off rate, sounds high but I'm guessing not out of the realm of possibility.

 

[metanoia]

The beer in question is a 120 minute IPA…so 120 minutes.

I was completely shocked at the loss. I bottled and ended up with a pitiful yield. It will taste good, but jeez...

Are you adjusting your boil intensity? I typically find that I start my boils too vigorously and end up adjusting the burner down to a gentle, rolling boil so I don't end up with a lower-than-expected volume after the boil.

Also, how are you measuring your wort volume? Do you have a measuring stick or something? The only thing that seems reasonable is that if you're using 8 gallons of water pre-mash and ending up at 3 gallons post-boil.