Luckylou
Member
I'm going to be having my first brew day tomorrow and did a test run on my kit today to check for my evaporation level, during my test I had a few questions I was hoping someone could answer kinda long so I apologize
1) I turned on my outdoor burner, put my 15gal stainless steel kettle on top and added 3 gallons to get a partial boil before adding the remainder 2 gallons. It took me roughly a little more than 30 min to get those 3 gals to a small boil before topping off to 5 gal. Once it got to a boil I started my timer for 60min and watched. At the remaining 10 min of the boil, I added my wort chiller to sanitize it (remember this is just a simulation haha to better prepare myself, so theres just water in the kettle for now).
I got my "wort" temp to below 80*F and then I measured to see how much water I lost. The result was a bit surprising, I had lost about 2 gallon and 1 quart. Does that seem right? Maybe I boiled too long? This would mean I would need to add about 7 and a half gallons preboil to have a good 5 gal batch of wort?
2) Another question I had was: I have a bazooka screen attached to the inside bottom of my kettle to a ball valve. I've read that, so far, I should add my 5 gal of water to my kettle, get it to a small boil, turn off the heat then add my liquid malt extract then turn it back up. Question is Would the malt get stuck to the Bazooka screen? Should I just pour it onto the side of the screen and stir?
3) And last but not least, my last questions: I plan on cleaning most of my equipment (not my SS kettle) with Oxiclean. I couldn't find the non sented but picked up a box of Oxiclean Versatile, is this ok?
4) And as far as a Star San solution, I get 5 gal of water and add an ounce of San to dilute right?
Thanks guys, again sorry for making such a wall of text but needed to get this stuff off my chest xD I feel like if I brew a terrible batch I would never forgive myself lol so again thanks and cheers!
1) I turned on my outdoor burner, put my 15gal stainless steel kettle on top and added 3 gallons to get a partial boil before adding the remainder 2 gallons. It took me roughly a little more than 30 min to get those 3 gals to a small boil before topping off to 5 gal. Once it got to a boil I started my timer for 60min and watched. At the remaining 10 min of the boil, I added my wort chiller to sanitize it (remember this is just a simulation haha to better prepare myself, so theres just water in the kettle for now).
I got my "wort" temp to below 80*F and then I measured to see how much water I lost. The result was a bit surprising, I had lost about 2 gallon and 1 quart. Does that seem right? Maybe I boiled too long? This would mean I would need to add about 7 and a half gallons preboil to have a good 5 gal batch of wort?
2) Another question I had was: I have a bazooka screen attached to the inside bottom of my kettle to a ball valve. I've read that, so far, I should add my 5 gal of water to my kettle, get it to a small boil, turn off the heat then add my liquid malt extract then turn it back up. Question is Would the malt get stuck to the Bazooka screen? Should I just pour it onto the side of the screen and stir?
3) And last but not least, my last questions: I plan on cleaning most of my equipment (not my SS kettle) with Oxiclean. I couldn't find the non sented but picked up a box of Oxiclean Versatile, is this ok?
4) And as far as a Star San solution, I get 5 gal of water and add an ounce of San to dilute right?
Thanks guys, again sorry for making such a wall of text but needed to get this stuff off my chest xD I feel like if I brew a terrible batch I would never forgive myself lol so again thanks and cheers!