if you're doing it for a high pressure gig - you may be better just sticking to what you know works - even if it means putting some hours in
outside of beer - I would never push something new procedure out on a critical date
It's not rocket science, it's EXACTLY what ever extract homebrewer does everyday, EXCEPT,
we're making the concentrated extract.
It's not some big complicated thing, the people who think it is, honestly have never tried it- they're just repeated the same old chestnuts they've heard repeated by other people who have never tried it. It's typical armchair quarterbacking by people who just might be afraid that something they've believed in may be wrong.
My god... I'm a total idiot, especially where math is concerned and by simply observing and understanding what extract brewers do, and punching a bunch of numbers into beersmith, and then testing it proved it was right and was easy.
It's basically just bothering to understand basic brewing.
For example on here there are quite a few panic new brewer threads because they read the gravity and ibus of, for example of a single can of coopers extract, the numbers are extremely high... but those are the numbers of the soupcan sized of extremely concentrated extract... just like if you cook and boil down gravy til it's really thick... everything is CONCENTRATED.... but then when you do the math, which you can do EASILY by plugging the numbers into the same dillution tool on beersmith, and dillute those 12 ounces and whatever the million OG and IBUS whatever 5 gallons - 12 ounces is... and MAGICALLY through science the OG and IBUS of the beer now becomes what it should be.
The principle is simple... Boil down volume and concentrate the wort, the gravity shoots up by exactly the amount that if you then added the missing volume of water boiled away back, in the gravity goes back to.
Miscalculate you final boil volume by too much and maybe end up with 5.5 gallons of your ag recipe your gravity will be lower whatever the dillution ratio is.... so then if you boil the wort carefully and concentrate the wort that tiny amount by evaporating away that half gallon of water... and the gravity is then what it should be.
So then understanding this principle and doing what I showed in my post I linked to you just let beersmith do the recipe math for you. Telling you what your recipe need to hit your numbers....
Seriously it's not hard... there's hundreds of thread on here where people do it all the time....
It's not something that "someone under pressure shouldn't do because the world will come to an end." It's EXACTLY what someone who's trying to make twice as much beer because he's pinched SHOULD do.. because it's not hard..... and for those who bother to try it, instead of just "opinionating" without ever having done it, they find out it works.
Hell, I'm even overcomplicating it by punching numbers and explaining things... All he needs to do is double his recipe, and toss a few extra hop pellets or cones in his additions, top off his fermenter after with 5 gallons more of water... and bob's your uncle.. and I know from experience from entering contests with beer judges and having commercial brewing buddies who drink my beers all the time, no one's going to be able to tell the difference.
