Grrrrr

[Gonefishing]

The second batch on my electric brewery and up until a few minutes ago, it went pretty well... then the boil started, I got the hops in a bag in there and came in to eat. I had set a timer on my phone, which I left plugged in in the garage where the brewery is. Went back out to find the phone dead and the timer stopped! The first batch I forgot to set a timer so I had no idea how long the boil went on before I remembered...and now this time I can only guess how long it had boiled. This time I do have a better idea at least, but I'm going to get a different timer soon!

 

[balrog]

Very annoying, I hear ya. I've taken to writing down "Start Boil Time" as well as "Start Boil Timer Time". Sounds over-specified, to be sure, but there is time between "Boil Reached" which is "Start Boil Time" then the frantic fight with the possible boilover, before I actually add the first hops, which then should be the "Start Boil Timer Time".

 

[jcav]

That can be so frustrating. I also have learned over the years to write down the time. It has saved me a few times! Hope your batch comes out great anyway!

John

 

[Gonefishing]

This one is a puzzler. I think I was within maybe 5 minutes of the correct time... but, by the time I got in the garage, there had been a boil over, and that tripped the GFCI (which was a real test of it, glad to be 100% sure it works!). When I turned everything back on, the boil came back in about a minute. I turned the power down until I had just a nice rolling boil (40% power). The puzzler is, what happened to all my water. I started with 7 gallons total in the mash...after boiling I have 2.33 gallons. The grain bill was only 11 pounds, it couldn't possibly absorb that much, but I may take a scale out and weigh the spent grain to see how much water is still in it. I measured the gunk left in the bottom of the kettle and it's about 1/2 gallon. When I tested the system (once) for boil off I got 1.75 gallons in one hour. Even assuming that I boiled off 2 gallons tonight, and add in the 1/2 gallon left in the kettle, that would mean I boiled off 2 whole gallons. Hmmm...maybe it's not such a puzzle, especially considering the boil over. Thanks for talking me through it, guys and gals!

 

[Gonefishing]

Oh,and except for volume, it's not far off the numbers... expected 1.050 and got 1.054. I guess I made another short, probably too hoppy, batch.

 

[Gonefishing]

I just ran some numbers in a brewing water calculator...I did start at least 1.8 gallons too low.

 

[jcav]

What kind of beer did you brew? Was it the Sierra Nevada clone?

John

 

[Gonefishing]

No, this one is a Vienna/Cascade Smash. Just went out and checked the OG again now that I know the wort is cool... it's at 1.062. Thinking about adding some boiled water to it. However, I have no clue how much I could add. I'm thinking maybe a gallon?

 

[madscientist451]

Use a dilution calculator to figure how much water to add:

https://www.brewersfriend.com/dilution-and-boiloff-gravity-calculator/

 

[Gonefishing]

Very annoying, I hear ya. I've taken to writing down "Start Boil Time" as well as "Start Boil Timer Time". Sounds over-specified, to be sure, but there is time between "Boil Reached" which is "Start Boil Time" then the frantic fight with the possible boilover, before I actually add the first hops, which then should be the "Start Boil Timer Time".

I like that idea, so I did exactly that tonight. Managed to avoid a boilover, but it was getting scary. Then I started the timer and added the hops.

 

[seatazzz]

I don't always use it, but Wintimer is a free app for your PC/laptop that works well. Kind of a PITA to set up, but it works. I like it because I can make it say stupid sh*t at the end of a timer (SMS function). If you have bluetooth capability in your laptop, and bluetooth headphones, you can walk away whenever you want, it will alert you through the headphones.