Scaling Hops To Match Biab Sparge

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Truman42

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Is there an easy way to scale your hops up to allow for sparging when doing BIAB?

If I add a 60 min addition then add another 2-4 litres from my sparge wont this dilute the hop addition and its IBU it would add to the brew?

So is there some sort of rule of thumb to calculate the extra hops required?

I assume this wouldnt effect any additions after 20 mins?
 
Why aren't you including your "sparge" water in your final volume?
 
I use brewmate and as far as I can see you cant do that in brewmate.
 
Is there an easy way to scale your hops up to allow for sparging when doing BIAB?

If I add a 60 min addition then add another 2-4 litres from my sparge wont this dilute the hop addition and its IBU it would add to the brew?

So is there some sort of rule of thumb to calculate the extra hops required?

I assume this wouldnt effect any additions after 20 mins?

You do know that 60min hops go into the kettle once all your wort is in the kettle and is boiling and there is only 60min left of boiling? If your throwing them in before its boiling its FWHing. IMHO the amount your adding wont affect the IBU calculations as much as no chilling.

Cheers
 
Is there an easy way to scale your hops up to allow for sparging when doing BIAB?

If I add a 60 min addition then add another 2-4 litres from my sparge wont this dilute the hop addition and its IBU it would add to the brew?

So is there some sort of rule of thumb to calculate the extra hops required?

I assume this wouldnt effect any additions after 20 mins?


are you thinking ...


start boiling with 20 litres, and then after boiling for say 20 mins, i've dropped to 18 litres, so you now top up the boil with sparge water so its back to 20 litres again ... and so on ?
 
I use brewmate and as far as I can see you cant do that in brewmate.
You needn't have it as a separate amount (in fact, I can't even work out why you'd want to). Just increase your pre-boil volume to include however much you intend to "sparge" with and Bob is your mother's brother.

[EDIT: unless Don is on the money, in which case I'll not have a bar of this.]
 
After mash out I might have 15 litres. I sparge and add this before the boil has started. I always do 90 min boils.

At 60 mins I add my hops.

But after the second sparge I add this back slowly as a top up to keep evap loss down so I end up with as close to max volume as possible. I always make sure I add the sparge water back with at least 20 mins to go so it sanitises.

But usually it takes me a fair while to add the second sparge as I dash it in so as not to stall the boil. Im going to nuke it this time so I can add it quicker but will still wait until there is 20 mins left to go before adding most of it.
 
I think the hop calcs go off your end of boil volume, if so, you don't have to do any extra calculations.
 
After mash out I might have 15 litres. I sparge and add this before the boil has started. I always do 90 min boils.

At 60 mins I add my hops.

But after the second sparge I add this back slowly as a top up to keep evap loss down so I end up with as close to max volume as possible. I always make sure I add the sparge water back with at least 20 mins to go so it sanitises.

But usually it takes me a fair while to add the second sparge as I dash it in so as not to stall the boil. Im going to nuke it this time so I can add it quicker but will still wait until there is 20 mins left to go before adding most of it.

How much liquid are we talking?

If it's a small amount, don't worry. If it's a large amount, it should be boiled longer anyway.

Can you fit the whole lot in your kettle without it boiling over at the beginning? Over 90 minutes, you will lose the same amount of liquid to evaporation whether you start with 20 L or 30 L* so you may not be achieving anything with this method

* all else being equal of course - same temp/heat/boil rate, atmospheric pressure, same vessel etc.
 
If you have the means to boil it separately, that could be an alternative.
 
I think the hop calcs go off your end of boil volume, if so, you don't have to do any extra calculations.

beersmith uses start volume to calculate utilisation,



if you change evaporation rate, it doesnt change the ibu's


although there will be some affect doing what truman does, i doubt it would be much, and i doubt i could distinguish the difference between a 35 ibu beer vs a 36 ibu one
 
why are you not adding the full volume?? I start the burner when the first runnings go in and are above the tap height, by the time I have finished sparging it is close to the boil so you wait till it boils for 10 mins then add your first hops.

Only other thing I can think you are doing but did not point out is trying to brew in a pot that will not take your full volume boil. If this is the fact then thats alright. But its best to boil off 10% of the full volume but I would suggest to have the full volume in the kettle first as if you are adding it at say 10 mins to go the volatiles that need to be boiled off from a 60min boil will not boil off the later additions of the boil.

seems alot different to the way every one else is doing it. Or maybe I have missed something that others are doing and I dont do lol
 
why are you not adding the full volume?? I start the burner when the first runnings go in and are above the tap height, by the time I have finished sparging it is close to the boil so you wait till it boils for 10 mins then add your first hops.

Only other thing I can think you are doing but did not point out is trying to brew in a pot that will not take your full volume boil. If this is the fact then thats alright. But its best to boil off 10% of the full volume but I would suggest to have the full volume in the kettle first as if you are adding it at say 10 mins to go the volatiles that need to be boiled off from a 60min boil will not boil off the later additions of the boil.

seems alot different to the way every one else is doing it. Or maybe I have missed something that others are doing and I dont do lol


i think its limitations of the kettle in this case


important note about the volatiles not boiling off in the subsequent additions of the sparge water


solution is simple, buy a bigger kettle or brew batches to suit your kettle size
 
yeah thought as much but couldnt see that in the first post lol I only breezed threw the rest. I would be trying to save up for a bigger kettle truman, maybe try to get a 50lt keg legal locally you will be surprised how cheap they can be if you ask around, As you dont want one for kegging so seals and spurs gone are not a factor.

Edit: Oh yeah then you got a good HLT when you upgrade to 3v
 
I have an 18 litre urn and if I work to my volume limits I will only get around 10 litres at EOB. I am using the Maxi Biab method and the spreadsheet I use does allow for an increase in hops but I dont fully understand it so not sure if its correct.

I just did a sparge then and took my mashout volume of 12 litres to 16 so 4 litres. I will sparge again whilst waiting for the boil to start and add another 4 litres during the boil to compensate for evap loss.

Don't really want to spend anymore money on brewing right now so just trying to make the most of what I have.
 
What do you keep the sparged liquor in before it goes into the kettle?

i just keep it in the sparge bucket, but tonight am going to pour it into a 1 litre container, nuke it and add it 1 litre at a time so I dont stall the boil.
 
Do you have a large stockpot anywhere? Is it an option to boil some of it side by side and split the hop additions accordingly?

Boiling your wort for a decent length of time at a good temp is at least as important as the extra hop additions.

Also worth considering that your final volume, boil vigour and your boil gravity are what will affect hop utilisation the most so the calcs probably won't be far off.
 
Do you have a large stockpot anywhere? Is it an option to boil some of it side by side and split the hop additions accordingly?

Boiling your wort for a decent length of time at a good temp is at least as important as the extra hop additions.

Also worth considering that your final volume, boil vigour and your boil gravity are what will affect hop utilisation the most so the calcs probably won't be far off.

I have another 18 litre urn and was looking at the option of doing split batches but thought it might be too much to handle. Today at work I tested it and the plug got really hot and melted. The sparky at work is going to take a look at it.

Ive just added 6 litres of sparge before my 60 min hop addition. So only have a ten minute and 5 minute to go and will probably only get a further 2 litres in before 20 mins left to boil.
 
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