Beersmith question

[jbhistory]

Hello all,

I have a question regarding Beersmith 2.0. I am building my first all grain recipe. The problem I am having is choosing my equipment. I am using a 10 gallon cooler as a mash tun and a 10 gallon brew pot. I am turning out 5 gallon batches. But this is not an option under equipment. I can choose 10 gallon cooler with 15 gallon brew pot or 5 gallon cooler with 7-9 gallon brew pot. Both cause my mash calculations to be completely different.

My second question is:
If I use the set up for 5 gallon cooler and 7-9 gallon brew pot it comes back saying I need to add 21.56 (5.39 gallons) and then fly Sparge 3.45 gallons. That leaves me with a grand total of 8.84 gallons.... its based on a 5 gallon batch. Granted it's a 90 minute boils but am I really going to lose 3.84 gallons in boiling or did I screw my numbers up somewhere?

Thanks for helping this noob out!

 

[planecrazy29]

You can set up your own equipment profile or edit what is there to match your equipment. Click on the "Profiles" tab and select "Equipment". From there either select add equipment or double-click the profile you want to edit. Easy peasy!

 

[fizgig]

Make a new equipment profile in the equipment section and the grain will hold a lot of that liquid, it won't all come out, and the dead space volumes add to it as well, you might want to knock those down for the kettle and mash tun.

 

[JeepDiver]

Also there are places to put deadspace (i.e. water left in the bottom of the cooler after you drain it). Check them against your equipment. Between 1-1.5 gallons of boil off, a few quarts to grain absorption, and gallon + to dead space and you are in the right neighborhood

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

Hello all,

My second question is:
If I use the set up for 5 gallon cooler and 7-9 gallon brew pot it comes back saying I need to add 21.56 (5.39 gallons) and then fly Sparge 3.45 gallons. That leaves me with a grand total of 8.84 gallons.... its based on a 5 gallon batch. Granted it's a 90 minute boils but am I really going to lose 3.84 gallons in boiling or did I screw my numbers up somewhere?

Thanks for helping this noob out!

You'll lose 1.x gallons from the boil, but you'll also lose volume from grain absorption ...something like .1-.125 gallons/pound of grain. Subtract some additional liquid from dead space in the mash tun, and you should end up with 6-6.5 gals to boil.
Hope that helps

 

[sherma]

You should create an equipment profile for your specific equipment.

You're best off checking the boil off for your pot by boiling a measured amount of water for an hour, then checking the volume when the boil is done and cooled down. You're going to lose somewhere around 0.5 gallons to trub/cold break while chilling, so you can figure out, based on your boil off amount, the pre-boil volume you need to shoot for in order to end up with 5.5 gallons post boil.

Boil off is a constant, so in your boil off test it doesn't matter if you boil 6 gallons or 3 gallons, just put the amount of boil off in the appropriate field in the equipment profile.

Once you've got the pre-boil volume set in your equipment profile, your mash water and sparge water volumes will adjust to get you to that volume.