MannyEdwards
Well-Known Member
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the difference between a batch target set to "kettle" vs. setting it to "fermentor." Can anyone get me started in the right direction?
Trying to Figure Out "Batch Target"
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When going from the kettle to the fermentor you will have some loss. So your batch target for your kettle would be your post boil volume and your batch target for your fermentor would be the volume that actually makes it into the fermentor after that kettle loss. I set my batch volume to 5.5 gallons into the fermentor so that I get 5 gallons to bottle or keg. Hope that helps.
Some people focus on hitting the right volume for the batch (often what's packaged). As indicated above, that's often a batch sized to leave enough after yeast loss to exactly fill a keg (or whatever container).
Others, like myself, worry less about the batch volume and more about the gravity.
The way I look at it, losses to trub, yeast, and hop matter are all recipe dependent. An Imperial IPA with 1.5 lbs of hops is going to lose a lot more wort/beer (including with dry hops) than a Doppelbock will. And there I just prefer to let experience be my guide rather than letting software muck with it, because software never gets it right, and usually throws off my gravity as a result. So for me, batch size is the post-chill volume. As in, what's left in my kettle after chilling with my immersion chiller. This way, I'm able to dial in my gravity to a point of being exactly on every time. If I lose an extra bit to trub, no worries. I'll just account for that later.
Point is, decide what's right for you.
Others, like myself, worry less about the batch volume and more about the gravity.
The way I look at it, losses to trub, yeast, and hop matter are all recipe dependent. An Imperial IPA with 1.5 lbs of hops is going to lose a lot more wort/beer (including with dry hops) than a Doppelbock will. And there I just prefer to let experience be my guide rather than letting software muck with it, because software never gets it right, and usually throws off my gravity as a result. So for me, batch size is the post-chill volume. As in, what's left in my kettle after chilling with my immersion chiller. This way, I'm able to dial in my gravity to a point of being exactly on every time. If I lose an extra bit to trub, no worries. I'll just account for that later.
Point is, decide what's right for you.
OP
OP
MannyEdwards
Well-Known Member
Thanks to both of you for your help.
Do you take a post-chill gravity reading, before you drain the kettle? And how do you raise your gravity after chilling? Or do you prefer to do it before chilling?
Do you take a post-chill gravity reading, before you drain the kettle? And how do you raise your gravity after chilling? Or do you prefer to do it before chilling?
Depends on your process. Are you brewing all-grain or extract? Generally you can't raise your gravity post-chill unless you're adding honey or candi syrup or something- if you're brewing all-grain without using sugar adjuncts, it all needs to be done prior to the boil. If you're brewing extract, then what you do depends on the extract. Some pre-hopped extract doesn't even need to be boiled and you could theoretically add that straight to the fermenter which would probably screw up the recipe pretty badly (or there are plenty of super-simple kits like Mr. Beer based off of pre-hopped no-boil extract, but that takes all the fun and creativity out. But to each their own their).
I take a number of gravity readings. I read the gravity of my first runnings, my last runnings, my preboil gravity, my gravity post-chill (which can be done any time after chilling- it will not change at that point), and then gravity post-fermentation. If I'm doing an extra-long boil (when I'm doing a Lamebic or Scottish Ale where I'm boiling 3+ hours) I'll monitor the gravity as I'm going to adjust boil time as needed to hit my target gravity.
I take a number of gravity readings. I read the gravity of my first runnings, my last runnings, my preboil gravity, my gravity post-chill (which can be done any time after chilling- it will not change at that point), and then gravity post-fermentation. If I'm doing an extra-long boil (when I'm doing a Lamebic or Scottish Ale where I'm boiling 3+ hours) I'll monitor the gravity as I'm going to adjust boil time as needed to hit my target gravity.
