Reducing boil loss

[KrausenCrazedCanuck]

Hello Guys!
Did my second all grain batch yesterday an american amber. and I noticed a huge loss from my pre boil vol of 6.5 gal down to a post boil of 4 gal. my first batch I didn't lose very much volume perhaps about 1 gallon at most. do you guys know what I did wrong?
Thanks

 

[passedpawn]

More propane = more boiloff. Just turn down your flame I guess.

There's no reason you can't just add water back at the end. I'd suggest boiling/cooling the water first.

 

[Johow]

As I see it the things that affect boil loss are probably the intensity of the boil, the surface area (how wide is your kettle) and the length of the boil. My kettle is about 13.5 inches and I just get a gentle rolling boil for an hour and I lose a little over a gallon in that time. How did your OG come out? If your OG was high, you boiled off too much but could add it back in.

 

[KrausenCrazedCanuck]

my kettle is 14" even. and my OG was 1052 where the recipe called for 1057
is there any room for adding water or should i just accept a small second batch
much thanks

 

[bucketnative]

my kettle is 14" even. and my OG was 1052 where the recipe called for 1057
is there any room for adding water or should i just accept a small second batch
much thanks

I think you also need to look at your efficiency then. It seems you are running into two separate issues... 1) volume loss during boil-off, and 2) missing your OG on the low side.

 

[McKnuckle]

Exactly, since the more you boil off, the higher your OG will actually be given the same pre-boil gravity.