Help! Boil Rate Too High

[Cake]

Greetings fellow brewers,

I am having issues with a very high boil off rate. I am using a 15 gallon MegaPot (not the 1.2 version) and a Blichmann burner. I did a boil test and found that my boil off rate is 31.5%. I know this is extremely high (I believe typical boil off rates are around 8%, or at least ideal). Does anyone else use the same equipment, and have a suggestion? (Yes I know to turn it down, but I am looking for more exact answers in order to not mess up my volumes of water needed). Will answer any questions for more detail

Thanks all.

 

[JonM]

Most of us figure gallons per hour instead of %. If I have six gallons or three, I still boil off a gallon per hour. How did you figure out your boiloff rate?

 

[Gixxer]

I am the same too, about one gallon an hour, regardless of batch size with the vessel I use.

 

[Bensiff]

Turn it down to a low rolling boil and maintain that. If you want you can put a mark on the valve so you know where that point is; but, different weather conditions will impact the boiling point so unless you are controlling the ambient temperature and humidity you ultimately need to adjust things visually.

 

[Cake]

Most of us figure gallons per hour instead of %. If I have six gallons or three, I still boil off a gallon per hour. How did you figure out your boiloff rate?

I took 6 or 7 gallons of water (can't remember which) and then just boiled for an hour using my system. I then looked at how much I had left and then figured it out from there.

 

[acidrain]

You need to know the amount of boil-off as volume per hour.
Are you using brewing software like Beersmith? If so, enter your boil off volume into your equipment profile.

 

[Yooper]

I took 6 or 7 gallons of water (can't remember which) and then just boiled for an hour using my system. I then looked at how much I had left and then figured it out from there.

Instead of a %, figure out the actual volume.

If you start with 10 gallons, or 3 gallons, you will still boil off the same amount of volume per hour- so % is not a good way to measure it.

For example, if you start with 3 gallons, and boil off 2 gallons, your boil off rate is 67%. But if you start with 10 gallons, you'll still boil off 2 gallons, so your boil rate is 20%. It doesn't matter, as you still boil off 2 gallons per hour.

I'd do another test. Carefully measure the starting volume, and boil for an hour. Then cool, and carefully measure the ending volume. That will be your boil off rate for all batches, assuming you keep the flame and rate the same.