i have decided i'm willing (probably not prepared) to do my first AG batch. i wanted to do my first lager also, but i think i'll keep it at least somewhat familiar by doing the AHS southampton double white clone. my concerns are as follows:
since i'm pretty much limited to ordering from the interweb, i'll be ordering one of the AHS kits. from what i've read, i should expect around 70-75% efficiency w/ my 48qt ice cude and drilled copper manifold. since i cannot compensate for this with the grains in the kit, how much will it affect the final product? do i need to order some LME to compensate, or will i still be able to hit the right numbers? this my be a dumb question, so i'm sorry. i just don't want to end up with a watery 4% ABV beer.
secondly, i have prepared a keggle for a brewpot. after i put it together, i read about having too much boiloff when brewing only 5 gallon batches in the 15 gallon keggle. will this be a problem, or does beersmith actually calculate boiloff correctly. is there a fairly accurate rule of thumb for keggle boiloff rates that i could plug into beersmith to get the water volume right the first time?
finally, i tend to get the 1% alcohol boost with my AHS kits (because i'm a sucker for a quick buzz :rockin: ). can i use this when brewing an AG batch just the same as an extract batch? would i just add it in at the beginning of the boil?
thanks in advance (hopefuly someone will set me straight).
since i'm pretty much limited to ordering from the interweb, i'll be ordering one of the AHS kits. from what i've read, i should expect around 70-75% efficiency w/ my 48qt ice cude and drilled copper manifold. since i cannot compensate for this with the grains in the kit, how much will it affect the final product? do i need to order some LME to compensate, or will i still be able to hit the right numbers? this my be a dumb question, so i'm sorry. i just don't want to end up with a watery 4% ABV beer.
secondly, i have prepared a keggle for a brewpot. after i put it together, i read about having too much boiloff when brewing only 5 gallon batches in the 15 gallon keggle. will this be a problem, or does beersmith actually calculate boiloff correctly. is there a fairly accurate rule of thumb for keggle boiloff rates that i could plug into beersmith to get the water volume right the first time?
finally, i tend to get the 1% alcohol boost with my AHS kits (because i'm a sucker for a quick buzz :rockin: ). can i use this when brewing an AG batch just the same as an extract batch? would i just add it in at the beginning of the boil?
thanks in advance (hopefuly someone will set me straight).