Starting water amount for extract brew

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

I was playing around with beersmith and according to that, the amount of water you start off with can cause different bitterness/S.G. and etc. I have a 15 gal Blichmann Boilermaker. My first few batches I have been starting off with 5.5 gallons (account for .5 gal boiling off). Is this ok? Should I start off with less water? Any advise in this area?

 

[miguy96b]

I always choose my boil volume based on my target fermenter volume. Granted I do AG now but when I did extract I figured my boil volume the same way (taking into account the volume of LME added). I will say boil volume affects sg because you will have more or less wort when the boil is over. I can't speak to how water volume will affect hops utilization but I would recommend that you choose boil volume automatically based on desired fermenter volume and boil off rate and then adjust recipes to get the sg and IBUs you want.

 

[whoaru99]

I was playing around with beersmith and according to that, the amount of water you start off with can cause different bitterness/S.G. and etc. I have a 15 gal Blichmann Boilermaker. My first few batches I have been starting off with 5.5 gallons (account for .5 gal boiling off). Is this ok? Should I start off with less water? Any advise in this area?

Haven't looked into the exact details of full volume boils, but it seems to me the gauge is what you end up with.

If you're making 5 gal extract kits then you should end up with about 5 gallons at the end of the boil, typ. 1 hour. If you're short, start with more. If you're long start with less.

What you start with and end up with can vary depending on the rigor of the boil, kettle dimensions, weather, etc.

 

[CoastalEmpireBrewery]

Do you think it is a better idea to start with a concentrate and then fill to 5 gal or start off with 5 gal and adjust for evaporation? I did have a recent brew that was about .008 S.G. than the range on the instructions. Is that because of the full boil? I have the capabilities for a full boil.

 

[whoaru99]

For a full boil I've always understood that to mean you start out with more than your target final volume. So, a full boil for a 5 gal batch might be 6 to 7 gallons, or whatever, for starting depending on the boiloff rate. I think there is a target percent of boiloff but I don't recall it off hand.

That said, extract kits are based on the instructions which seem not usually for true full volume boils which means it may not come out as intended if you don't follow the instructions. Not at all to imply it will be bad outcome, just not exactly as intended.

I do what I call a partial full boil. It's more than what the kit usually says but less than what one might consider a true full volume boil. Typ. I start out with about 4.5 gallons of water and between boil off, extract additions, etc. end up around 4-4.5 gallons out of the boil. The remainder to get to 5 gallons or a bit more in the fermenter is the top off water.

 

[miguy96b]

Not sure I fully understand your question but always go with a full boil if you can. It will prevent over caramelization of the extract and it will give you a better use of your hops (you won't be diluting the hops with top up water).

For example this coming week I'm brewing an APA and my boil volume will be 6.97 gal with an anticipated fermenter volume of 5.25 gal. So figure out what you want to have in your fermenter and let your software auto calculate your boil volume.