Hello from Kansas City, MO

[NWMOBrewer]

I'm a wheat drinker, but am getting ready to bottle my second batch which is a holiday ale. I made it to B&B today before the snow and liked it, the people were more helpful than homebrew pro shoppe. I had to buy some 22 oz bottles because I realized I only had 35 12 oz bottles

 

[jiggs_casey]

I found B&B to be a bit cheaper than HBPS too. And, they're open on Sunday!

Welcome aboard!

Before I forget, there's another place in Independence, I've never been there...

http://www.eckraus.com/

 

[KCBrewer]

Before I forget, there's another place in Independence, I've never been there...

http://www.eckraus.com/

I go there pretty often. They are only 5 miles from me and open on Saturday until 1:00.

Their prices are much cheaper in store than what they say online. I think this is because they offer free shipping online if you spend over $25. Like the 6 gallon glass carboys say $52.40 online, but if you go there they are only $35+tax, I think it was $38.45 total.

Also, I believe they give another 10% off in store if you spend over $25. They have been cheaper than Homebrew Pro Shoppe on everything I've needed.

 

[NWMOBrewer]

I'll need to check out the Independence store because I like going with the SWMBO to Independence Center when we got the cash. She wants to get me a carboy for christmas and told her not to spend over $50 which is what B&B was asking. She got mad at me for suggesting to find one on Craigslist

 

[HoppedIPA]

If you get the Bacchus card it ends up being 10% off everything.. so then theirs is only $45 which is cheap enough for me with out shippping and i can take it home that moment plus B&B is only about 10 minutes away from me..

 

[NWMOBrewer]

being 2 hours, its no difference to go to either, I'll check out E.C.Krause but I did like B&B.

 

[CountryRootsBrew]

Matter of fact, I might check out B&B tonight. Just recently tried my hand at an all grain batch. Didn't go to well. Overestimated my water levels and turned out very diluted. Need to give it another try. Glad to see some good reviews about it.

 

[mightynintendo]

Sorry to hear your all grain attempt didn't go so well. Calculating the sparge water volume can be a bit tricky but is primarily a function of your boil off rate, grain absorption, and dead space loss.

Generally speaking I find that the coefficient of water absorption is 0.6364 (when measuring in gallons) at a water/grain ratio of 1.6 quarts water / 1 lb grain.

My formula is long but it has never failed me:

Post boil volume + (boil-off rate * length of boil) - (0.6364 * Mash water volume) + (0.0288*(Post boil volume + (boil-off rate * length of boil)) - 0.6364 * Mash water volume)

So you're adding your target post-boil volume to how much water you will boil off, minus the water you collected during the mash and finally adding back in your dead space losses. Works like a charm!

 

[CountryRootsBrew]

Thanks for the info Mighty. I will give it a whirl. Somehow I ended up with about 9 gallons of wort pre-boil. I knew it wasn't right but I wanted to go by the directions that came with the kit. Unfortunately I got a little antsy and messed up both on my own account. Thanks again for your input. Greatly appreciated.

 

[mightynintendo]

Just remember that this only applies if your mash water/grain ratio is 1.6qts water/1lb grain.

Your boil-off rate is important and will probably be most affected by the diameter of the pot you boil in. Atmospheric conditions, the BTU output of your burner, and your methodology (like, do you pre-heat your mash water while sparging?) will also apply. With 9 gallons of collected wort (i'm assuming your target was 6), that's actually not too far off. A two hour boil would have taken that down pretty close to 6.

Also, don't shy too far away from overshooting your collected wort volume. It's always better to overshoot your pre-boil volume and have a longer boil than to undershoot your volume and have either a too-high gravity or (god fobid) have to add water at the end.

 

[KCBrewer]

If it happens again you can always boil it off. Just don't start adding hops until you get to your target preboil volume.

 

[HoppedIPA]

I really dont like to have to add water.. last time for my first 10gal full boil i started with 13 gallons and ended up having to add back about 1.5 gallons.. on a grain steep extract brew.. should be racking to secondary on Christmas.

 

[CountryRootsBrew]

HoppedIPA: Does that mean you boiled off 4.5 gallons? Seems like my boil-off ratio is a lot lower than that.

KCBrewer: Guess that is anther thing I did wrong. I added the hops right when I started my boil.

 

[HoppedIPA]

It would mean that then.. I have a 15 gallon pot and i did a 90 min boil

HoppedIPA: Does that mean you boiled off 4.5 gallons? Seems like my boil-off ratio is a lot lower than that.

KCBrewer: Guess that is anther thing I did wrong. I added the hops right when I started my boil.