Calculating my E-Biab rig

[Garrett]

Hey guys been brewing on this rig for about 8 months now and have done well over 20+ batches and have had all great brews. But my major problem is figuring out the right efficiency boiloff rate of my rig so I can design recipes better.

I need some suggestions on the best way to figure these factors out.

 

[theknub]

honestly, start with a predetermined amount of water. bring the water to a boil and operate just like it is a brew day. let it rip for an hour and then measure. whatever is missing is your boiloff

for example, i know in my kettle (including dead space) 6 inches is 5 gallons, 7 and an eighth is 6 gallons, etc (i have a SS yard stick). so for me, i may start my boil with 7 and an eighth and and finish a 60 minute with 6 inches of liquid. thus boiloff is 1 g/hr (my actual rate is slightly more, but for the purposes of illustration you get the idea).

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

Exactly - the only way to really know is to put in whatever amount of liquid you normally put in (say 6.5 gallons) at whatever temp you normally sparge out at, then run the boil for 1 hour. Important part here - let it cool - hot liquid can expand by an appreciable volume and throw off some of your calculations. Once it cools back down, measure the volume, do a little math, and you have the % boiloff per hour, AKA the boiloff rate. Throw that value into BeerSmith 2.0 and you're golden.

 

[Garrett]

honestly, start with a predetermined amount of water. bring the water to a boil and operate just like it is a brew day. let it rip for an hour and then measure. whatever is missing is your boiloff

for example, i know in my kettle (including dead space) 6 inches is 5 gallons, 7 and an eighth is 6 gallons, etc (i have a SS yard stick). so for me, i may start my boil with 7 and an eighth and and finish a 60 minute with 6 inches of liquid. thus boiloff is 1 g/hr (my actual rate is slightly more, but for the purposes of illustration you get the idea).

Exactly - the only way to really know is to put in whatever amount of liquid you normally put in (say 6.5 gallons) at whatever temp you normally sparge out at, then run the boil for 1 hour. Important part here - let it cool - hot liquid can expand by an appreciable volume and throw off some of your calculations. Once it cools back down, measure the volume, do a little math, and you have the % boiloff per hour, AKA the boiloff rate. Throw that value into BeerSmith 2.0 and you're golden.

Sounds good thanks guys.