Scaling an extract recipe with Beersmith

[schtev]

Hi guys, for my third brew I decided to have a go at Brewer's Choice Pacific Ale recipe. The recipe itself seems pretty straightforward, but I'm running into trouble cos I am using a smaller 15L fermenter (due to space constraints in a small apartment). I figure I can fit around 13L in the fermenter comfortably without risk of any blow off (correct me if I'm wrong here).

I downloaded Beersmith to try and scale the recipe but it's a lot more complicated than I expected. My main question is: how important is the boil volume in the calculations? The recipe calls for a small boil volume of around 4.5L. If I am scaling my batch size down ~35%, should I scale the boil volume accordingly? Keep it the same? Or am I just over-thinking this...

Thanks for any help

 

[damoninja]

Scaling in beersmith = click the scale button, type number of litres
Brewmate is free and simpler solution, perfectly fine for extract recipes lacking a little for all grain.

Scale the boil volume accordingly bearing in mind you can top it up. Don't forget aerate the wort

And I wouldn't personally brew 13L in a 15L fermenter, some beers I brew get 8-10" of krausen on them. You might be alright though maybe there's more room than just 2 litres.
Don't the 15 litre ones have the same footprint as the 30L ones anyway? Or is height your concern?

 

[schtev]

Thanks for the response. Maybe I'll give Brewmate a go instead. Yes, height is my main size constraint - I've got the fermenter tucked away in a small cupboard.

 

[damoninja]

Blow off tube might be your best bet then.