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The big one in the front looks like a holding tank/reservoir. The 3 filters on the right may well contain an RO element, can't tell what they are from here.
Do you have to backflush that system every 100 gallons or so? If so, that could indicate there's an RO membrane in use.
 
The big one in the front looks like a holding tank/reservoir. The 3 filters on the right may well contain an RO element, can't tell what they are from here.
Do you have to backflush that system every 100 gallons or so? If so, that could indicate there's an RO membrane in use.
So i took these of the three cylinders.
20190407_165837.jpeg
20190407_165830.jpeg
20190407_165815.jpeg
 
There you go. Congrats, you've got an RO system!
You're probably miles ahead on your water now.

Buy a (cheap) TDS meter to keep an eye on the RO quality. When the TDS readings become too high, it's time to backflush the system.

Depending on the set rejection rate, 90-95% is typical, only 10-5% of minerals will pass through. Any TDS reading under 40 is very acceptable for brewing, but lower is better. Under 20 is almost as good as distilled. You'd be pushed to tell the difference.

You can collect your RO water over several days. Now that big reservoir can probably hold several gallons, so once you tap that empty, let it fill up again (which is slow), then add to your brewing water stash until you have enough for a batch.
 
So I brewed my stout last night. Was shooting for an og of about 1.040. When I checked it I was at 1.1xx. Plugged that into my calculator to fix it. It came out to about 56 cups. I stopped when I got to 5 gal to check it, and wound up at 1.034. Definately gonna take it with a grain of salt next time.
 
So I brewed my stout last night. Was shooting for an og of about 1.040. When I checked it I was at 1.1xx. Plugged that into my calculator to fix it. It came out to about 56 cups. I stopped when I got to 5 gal to check it, and wound up at 1.034. Definately gonna take it with a grain of salt next time.
I trust you do, but I doubt there's anyone else here who has a clue of what you did and are talking about. :tank:
 
I trust you do, but I doubt there's anyone else here who has a clue of what you did and are talking about. :tank:
I tried using a calculator to figure out how much water to add to the wort to get my desired gravity. It gave me too high a number and I didn't catch it until I had already added too much.
 
I tried using a calculator to figure out how much water to add to the wort to get my desired gravity.
You're brewing extract, right?
Can you point us to the kit you're brewing?
Are you following their directions?

I can't see how you would get to 1.1xx gravity unless you only boil a gallon or so.

FWIW, most brewers don't use cups as a measure, it's mostly gallons (and sometimes quarts) when brewing. Or liters if you're in metric.
 
You're brewing extract, right?
Can you point us to the kit you're brewing?
Are you following their directions?

I can't see how you would get to 1.1xx gravity unless you only boil a gallon or so.

FWIW, most brewers don't use cups as a measure, it's mostly gallons (and sometimes quarts) when brewing. Or liters if you're in metric.
It's not a kit, I used 6lbs of lme. The 1.1xx was after a 2.5gal boil. It had boiled down to about 2gal. The calculator gave me qts and I converted to cups because that was the only size measuring cup I had lol, really made it a pain to measure out several gallons.
 
It's not a kit, I used 6lbs of lme. The 1.1xx was after a 2.5gal boil. It had boiled down to about 2gal. The calculator gave me qts and I converted to cups because that was the only size measuring cup I had lol, really made it a pain to measure out several gallons.
Process wise I copied the block party amber kit instructions, just changed the ingredients. I also used 1lb of roasted barley steeped for 20 minutes.
 
It's not a kit, I used 6lbs of lme. The 1.1xx was after a 2.5gal boil. It had boiled down to about 2gal. The calculator gave me qts and I converted to cups because that was the only size measuring cup I had lol, really made it a pain to measure out several gallons.
I bet measuring 3 gallons cups-wise was a chore and a half!

FWIW, milk and water jugs are a gallon (or half gallon). There are many containers that are around a gallon, half gallon, or quart you already have, look around. Cooking pots are handy for measuring larger volumes. Measure once, use often. I use a gallon plastic mayonnaise jar to measure brewing water. Close enough.

You really should read around a bit more on extract brewing. There is tons of wisdom, here and elsewhere, eagerly awaiting to be picked up. John Palmer's How to Brew (free online 1st edition) or his 4th edition in book form are a wonderful resource for homebrewing.

When you do partial boils, say boiling only half the volume, 2.5 gallon instead of the batches size of 5 gallon, the best is to boil only half the extract for the hour (or half hour), depending on the recipe and hops use. Then at flameout dissolve the other half of extract. Make sure all the wort been at least above 170F for 5-10 minutes so it's pasteurized. Then chill and pour into your fermenter filled with cold top up water. Add more water to the 5 or 5.5 gallon line. Done!
 
I bet measuring 3 gallons cups-wise was a chore and a half!

FWIW, milk and water jugs are a gallon (or half gallon). There are many containers that are around a gallon, half gallon, or quart you already have, look around. Cooking pots are handy for measuring larger volumes. Measure once, use often. I use a gallon plastic mayonnaise jar to measure brewing water. Close enough.

You really should read around a bit more on extract brewing. There is tons of wisdom, here and elsewhere, eagerly awaiting to be picked up. John Palmer's How to Brew (free online 1st edition) or his 4th edition in book form are a wonderful resource for homebrewing.

When you do partial boils, say boiling only half the volume, 2.5 gallon instead of the batches size of 5 gallon, the best is to boil only half the extract for the hour (or half hour), depending on the recipe and hops use. Then at flameout dissolve the other half of extract. Make sure all the wort been at least above 170F for 5-10 minutes so it's pasteurized. Then chill and pour into your fermenter filled with cold top up water. Add more water to the 5 or 5.5 gallon line. Done!
I can't believe I didn't think to use old containers lol. I actually have the 4th edition of how to brew. I went back through the extract section and some forums online. Now I think it was just not mixed well when I took the final reading. Based on what I've read it should actually have an og of 1.043 with the amount of extract that I used plus whatever comes from the specialty grains. Which palmer said he got about 27 ppg from a 30 minute boil from roasted barley. Whuch would come out to 5.4 gravity points for a 5gallon batch. Since I did a 20 minute boil probably more like 3ish? So I should have an actual og of probably about 1.046?
 
So I brewed my stout last night. Was shooting for an og of about 1.040. When I checked it I was at 1.1xx. Plugged that into my calculator to fix it. It came out to about 56 cups. I stopped when I got to 5 gal to check it, and wound up at 1.034. Definately gonna take it with a grain of salt next time.

After adding top-up water, it takes a lot of stirring to get it mixed thoroughly - more than most people would guess. You probably had about 1.040 for the whole batch but got a sample from near the top with more water. I stopped taking OG samples of partial boil extract batches many years ago to minimize handling of the wort, with possible contamination. I use the published ppg and calculate OG.
 
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