Missing water with beersmith

[Beerbuck]

Im doing 6 gallons batches, Putting my grain in it says adding 4.06 gallons for mash, and 4.37 gallons for batch sparge but if im doing this I dont get my final 6 gallons
So Im adding 1 more gallons to my mash and sparge and I have to do a very little boil cauz i wont get my 6 gallons

How can I resolve this and add the water beersmith says?!

 

[Hammy71]

I don't use any calculators for my sparge water. If after my first runnings I have 3 gallons and I want 6 in the pot, then just batch sparge with 1.5 gallons twice. No worries about too much wort again....Beersmith is making a 'guesstimate' on the absorption rate of your grains. As well as any loss to deadspace in the MLT. The strike water will be right everytime, but I find it easier just do figure out my own sparge amounts.

 

[DeNomad]

Getting your equipment settings dialed in is the trick. I actually find Beersmith's sparging volumes to be right on once I got my boil off amount figured out. I still double check it's numbers though, sometimes it can be .25 gallons out for me.

 

[Greyhound]

Getting your equipment settings dialed in is the trick. I actually find Beersmith's sparging volumes to be right on once I got my boil off amount figured out. I still double check it's numbers though, sometimes it can be .25 gallons out for me.

+1 Check the box that says "Set boil volume based on equipment" and click on the Equipment Details button to check your settings.

 

[Beerbuck]

Getting your equipment settings dialed in is the trick. I actually find Beersmith's sparging volumes to be right on once I got my boil off amount figured out. I still double check it's numbers though, sometimes it can be .25 gallons out for me.

I actualy did this. The problem isnt the boil off cauz sometimes I see in my pot that Ill not have enough water after the boil.

How to know exactly how much water is missing in my pot, only take mesure of how much an inch in the pot worth?

 

[HiGravShawn]

I used to have this problem, then I measured loss in all equipment and updated the mash equipment details. I had to up the trub loss and deadspaces to account for what was left in the mashtun and kettles. I also have adjust my boil off rate based off the ambient temp. It's like 20% in summer and maybe 8% in winter. Also when there are over 4 oz of hops (I use whole) I add a qt per oz to account for absorption.

The best measuring I have found is getting a metal yard stick and marking off gallions or half gallons with a sharpie and then put clear tape over it.

 

[jldc]

Dead space loss is probably the explanation. If you don't get all the water out of your mash tun, the calculations will be wrong. A full gallon seems like a lot, but it depends on the design. The amount should be constant from batch to batch, so once you get it dialed in, you should be fine.

 

[maida7]

Im doing 6 gallons batches, Putting my grain in it says adding 4.06 gallons for mash, and 4.37 gallons for batch sparge but if im doing this I dont get my final 6 gallons
So Im adding 1 more gallons to my mash and sparge and I have to do a very little boil cauz i wont get my 6 gallons

How can I resolve this and add the water beersmith says?!

You either have not accounted for dead space in the cooler. Or you have a stuck run off.

I have just the opposite problem with beer smith. I use the water that they recommend and end up with an extra gallon of runnings from the batch sparge.

 

[Beerbuck]

u got more evaporation during the summer than the winter? With the cold time water dosent evaporate more?

update : did a batch again, added 1 gallons more and missing a liter! hehe dunno if dead space in my mash tun dosent help... hmmm

 

[HiGravShawn]

u got more evaporation during the summer than the winter? With the cold time water dosent evaporate more?

Heat=more energy=more evaporation (think boiling)

However, this is south Louisiana where it gets hot. Humidity also affects it. You just kind of learn for your area with practice. If we brew in the sun, around noon in the summer on a dry, breezy day here... we can see as high as 25%-30% evap.