Help! Too much liquid in 2nd AG & 1st 10gal Batch

[smeltz]

I followed the directions on BeerSmith(8.25gal strike water+9gal sparge for 23lbs of grain) but ended up with at least two extra gallons in the keg and a OG of only 1.040 that was supposed to be 1.060. This is the second time that gallons of extra water were to my wort and just about ruined my hopes for a %7ABV IPA. What can I do to make sure that this doesn't happen again?

Thanks in advance!

 

[b-boy]

You can boIl it off before you add hops.

Sounds like you have something setup incorrectly in BeerSmith. Can you copy the content of the water tab so we can see what's going on? Also, what is your equipment setup lIke in BeerSmith?

 

[b-boy]

Just for comparison I pulled up a Pale Ale that I did. It was a 10-gallon batch. ~22.5 lbs of grain and the expected OG was 1.058. Pretty close to what you're shooting for.

My water requirements were:
7.72 gals mash (5.06 recovered, 2.66 lost, 0.8 deadspace in mash tun)
8.30 gals sparge

I end up with about 12.5 gallons pre-boil. I boil off about 1.5 gallons and end up with ~11 galllons. Remove trub loss and I end up with about 10.5 gallons in the fermenters.

is this close to what you're seeing? What is your boil-off rate set to?

 

[Yooper]

I followed the directions on BeerSmith(8.25gal strike water+9gal sparge for 23lbs of grain) but ended up with at least two extra gallons in the keg and a OG of only 1.040 that was supposed to be 1.060. This is the second time that gallons of extra water were to my wort and just about ruined my hopes for a %7ABV IPA. What can I do to make sure that this doesn't happen again?

Thanks in advance!

Don't forget that YOU set up the profiles in Beersmith, as it doesn't "know" your desired preboil volume. You have to set up your boil off, etc. Using 17 gallons of water for a 10 gallon (?) batch is obviously a lot, but not so much if you're making a 15 gallon sized batch. So, what is the batch size?

I boil off almost 2 gallons per hour in my keg, so I start with 12 gallons in the boil kettle to finish with 10.25 gallons going into the fermenter.

 

[smeltz]

Im at work right now, but I'll paste my BeerSmith settings in a couple of hours. I guess Im confused about the whole standard of "1.3qt~ of strike per lb of grain + that I keep seeing. It seemed weird that even though I was attempting a 10gal batch, my 15.5gal keggle was almost over flowing after draining my sparge.

 

[smeltz]

Ok, below is my "volume" profile (this is literally the second time that I've open up my BeerSmith trial version. I have a few questions about the sheet.
1. Is my MLT deadspace really 1 gal? (I didn't see this column when entering my numbers, BeerSmith must have defaulted to it. I think THIS was my huge mistake)
2. How do I actually calculate the trub loss myself? Is the sediment in my kettle post-boil also the trub?
3. What is the Meas pre-volume boil?
4. What is the "measured batch size" next to my "batch size" column?
5. Does the "measured bottling volume" affect my calculations for this brewing step?

I've never heard of these terms before. I think that if I mistakenly entered in 1.00 gal of tun deadspace, than my strike water and sparge volumes would each be an extra 1 gal, approximately?

 

[Yooper]

1. No probably not. You could measure it. I have none to speak of in my MLT.

2. However much you are throwing away after the boil, that isn't making it into the fermenter. Most of mine goes into the fermenter, all but maybe a quart.

3. The measured preboil volume is, um, the measured volume of the wort before you boil it. Mark your keggle at 10, 11, 12, 13, etc gallons or mark a dowel with those volumes (and the halfs, too), so you know your EXACT volume preboil. I want 12 gallons preboil, for a 10.25 gallon batch in my system.

4. It's your batch size. You measure it, usually by marks on your fermenter.

5. No.

Next time, measure your runnings from the MLT (I think you're batch sparging? I can't see the graphic as I reply), and sparge up to your desired boil volume.

 

[b-boy]

I'd test your boil-off rate and your mash tun deadspace. Those 2 numbers can probably account for a gallon or two.

 

[surffisher2a]

A gallon loss to trub and your dead space seem high.

Now for the bigger problem of not hitting your numbers, Beersmith should be compensating the grainbill for those losses so you would still hit your numbers. I would think you should be overshooting your OG instead of being way under.

If I were you, I would be double checking how i am measuring the water during the brewing process and making sure your hydrometer / refracotmeter are accurate. make sure your wort is well mixed before taking the reading.