Batch volume

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

Hi all, I'm about to brew my 2nd batch, an oatmeal stout. I'm going to do a smaller batch, about 3.5 gallons. There's a recipe I'm basically using from Brewing Classic Styles, and it's 7 gallons so it's easy to scale down. What I'm wondering is, should my boil volume actually be 3.5 gallons or a bit more, as some will be lost to the boil, trub in kettle, trub in fermenter, etc. Jamil seems to use a 7 gallon boil size with the hopes of actually bottlign 5 gallons, but that seems like a large loss to me.

Any input is appreciated!

 

[GrogNerd]

I don't lose any trub in the kettle, I dump everything into my fermenter, but that calculation sounds about right.

If you don't have brewing software, get some. It helps tremendously with these calculations. You can try BeerSmith free for a couple weeks.

 

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

I'm just wondering if I cut all of Jamil's ingredients in half for a 3.5 gallon batch size, but boil 4 gallons of water, it'll screw up my abv, IBUs, OG/FG etc. too much. Sure it wouldn't make it catastrophic or anything.

 

[GrogNerd]

You would still make beer!

It's really a matter if figuring out what your equipment is doing in your process.

You'll need to estimate at first, but the more you do it, the more you will nail down how much you'll have at each step

No reason you have to follow Jamil's process to the letter, as long as you document what changes you're making, you're that much closer to consistency & repeatability.

But remember, Jamil has won awards with most of his recipes. Maybe stick with his instructions until you've got your system dialed in

 

[Nokie]

That's about what I do. I boil just over 4 gallons and end up with almost 3.5. I run any recipes thru a calculator and it's only off by a few points.
I wouldn't worry to much about it.
Like grog said, it's mostly about your process and efficiency. I only run mine thru a calculator to keep track of the recipes. Last weekend I split a hefe and was only about 65% yesterday I brewed again and hit almost 90%.
I run them through just so I know exactly what's going on.
But a split batch isn't always divided in half. It's a few points off here and there. But if you're just in it to brew and make some beer you'll be fine

 

[pursuit0fhoppiness]

Thanks guys, that's what I figured. I don't care if my numbers aren't identical to my recipe's, I just want a drinkable beer. I can always calculate my own ABV and IBUs. I think I will boil just over 4 gallons and hope to bottle ~3.5