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final volume help seek

Post #1 made 15 years ago
by konuas
So I've been using BIAB for a few months now, have 2 dozen batches under my belt with it. very comfortable with the process, but this has all been small batches (2.5gal) boiling on my stove top. i now have a 10gal kettle and burner for outdoor use..

i had been boiling 2gal to end up with 1.5g and top off w/ a gallon of R0 in the fermenter, which worked great as I had no wort chiller so I'd end up around 65F and pitch. has worked this way for me wonderfully, extract, PM, or AG [biab].

i've been trying to reconfigure Beersmith to adjust to doing full volume 5gal boils in the new kettle and keep ending up surprisingly short on my final volume.

i've done 2 'outdoor' batches now, the first one was another 2.5gal.. ended up with 1gallon of wort and topped off to 2.5gal, which surprised me because i had calculated the water:grist ratio to end up with 4gal pre-boil and before i pulled the grain bag. was shooting to end up with post-boil 3g, lose some to trub and chiller tubing - end up with 2.5 in the fermenter.. the second one had 6.75gal of water pre-grain, and I'd say i ended up with a good 6gal preboil, again shooting for nearly 5gal post boil.. i got maybe 3.

i'm looking for some more experienced help in what the heck I am doing wrong to end up SO short on these volumes. i just got this kettle, and both of those brews are still in the FV so they have not been tasted/tested - cannot comment on their quality.

is it common for a propane burner to increase boil-off evaporation THAT much over a stove-top? what sort of numbers should i be adjusting in beersmith to accomodate for BIAB volumes?? sorry for the long ranty post, appreciate any replies :headhit:

Post #2 made 15 years ago
by PistolPatch
Hi there konuas and welcome to the forum :salute:

I'm a bit short on time at the moment so can only write you some shorthand tips. With the current version of BeerSmith...

1. Your grain absorption ratio is fixed and cannot be edited so this will throw all the starting and pre-boil volume calcs out.
2. Evaporation volume per hour does not change with your boil volume size. In other words, whether you are boiling 5 gallons or 2 gallons in the same kettle, you still boil off the same volume whereas the current version of Beersmith only works on an evaporation percentage. So you need to fiddle around with this.
3. Trub losses are not percentage based. You will get more trub in a larger batch than a smaller batch so once again this will need fiddling with.

The above can mean a lot of playing around and 'fudging' to get things right on every different batch size. Beersmith2 will definitely fix some or all of the above.

I think maybe for now, plug your figures intoThe Calculator. This will give you a very good idea of what figures you should be getting. Use Beersmith more as a recipe designer for now.

Best of luck,
PP
Last edited by PistolPatch on 31 Mar 2011, 03:17, edited 5 times in total.
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Post #3 made 15 years ago
by housecat
konuas wrote:So I've been using BIAB for a few months now, have 2 dozen batches under my belt with it. very comfortable with the process, but this has all been small batches (2.5gal) boiling on my stove top. i now have a 10gal kettle and burner for outdoor use..
If your new kettle has a bigger diameter than your old one, you will get higher evaporation rates during your boil. Also if you are getting a better rolling boiling as opposed to a 'simmering' boil because your heat source has improved, evaporation rates will also increase there too.

It's a matter of getting to know your equipment and making adjustments along the way

hope this helps out a bit

HC
Last edited by housecat on 31 Mar 2011, 04:53, edited 5 times in total.
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Post #4 made 15 years ago
by stux
I would also suggest taking a look at the Maxi-BIAB calculator.

Plug your figures into kettle dimensions into it, and it will give you a pretty good idea of your volumes at various stages.

Most volumes are essentially milestones and you can top up at each milestone to stay on target.

With a 10 galon pot, you can easily produce your 5/6/6.5 or whatever amount of finished wort.

I've never used BeerSmith, but once you have a handle on your volumes, it doesn't really matter what you do, just plugin the amount of grain and into fermenter volume and everything else should work out
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