Water levels

[rusty274]

Hey guys,

Gonna pop my BIAB cherry tomorrow. I'm making Dr Smurto's Golden ale. I have a concern about the water level to start with. I'm using a keg with a 3 ring burner. I understand that there will be some loss in the boil and the grains will suck up a lot as well. Beersmith tells me to start with 39ltrs. Seems like a lot. I'm all for following the recipe but should i start with less water as i can top it up at the end if the gravity is to high right?

Thanks guys.

 

[thedragon]

This isn't the answer that you're looking for, however, it really depends on your system and process. What volume are you aiming for In the FV? How will you sparge? How long will you boil for?

Using my system, to get 20L in the fermenter I have a 26L strike volume, sparge with 4 L.

Check that the variables that you've put in BS feel ok. Of it does, give it a crack and see how you go. You can adjust as you become more familiar with your brewery.

 

[verysupple]

I first have to say that I don't do full volume mash BIAB, so you probably want advice from someone who does BIAB in a similar setup as well. But 39 L seems slightly too high, but not rediculous.

If you assume 0.65 L / kg absorption and 20 % boil off that would give you ~28.5 L final volume. But as pointed out by thedragon, every system is different. You might get more or less abosrption from the grain and you might get more or less boil off.

Unless you get better advice, I'd try it as is, record everything (volumes and gravity at every step), and then adjust your settings in Beersmith to match your system. You'll probably need to tweek the settings over a few brews before it's really reliable. Remember that if your volume is too high and your gravity is too low at the end of the boil that you can just boil longer.

EDIT: I just ran thedragon's numbers and it works out with 1 L/kg absorption and 20% boil off. JFYI

 

[Westo]

As thedragon said above it really depends on your system and process. What volume are you aiming for In the FV? How will you sparge? How long will you boil for?

I use a 40ltr urn and start with 32ltrs i always aim for 20 - 21ltrs in the fermenter just because i dont bottle and kegs only hold 19ltrs....

as each setup is different unfortunately you will have to play around with the settings to find what works,,, may just stick with what beer smith suggests this time and see how it pans out.. then alter it next brew

On the positive you will get to have more beer

 

[thedragon]

Sorry, I missed the top up part of your question.

Yes, you can dilute your beer before you pitch your yeast (and after too, but there's things to consider such as hop utilisation).

Give it a go, see how your beer turns out, and you can adjust your approach as you go forward.

 

[verysupple]

Oh yeah, I forgot the first part too. I always brew under volume - over gravity and dilute in the FV. Only slightly, but it gives me the wiggle room for not quite hitting efficiency etc and can still hit desired OG (I prioritise OG over volume).

 

[rusty274]

Thanks guys.

I think I might be missing something on beersmith? Not great with computers. I want to prioritise OG but i'll need at least 20ltr to put in the cube. I'd prefer to have "water down" my beer than have it go the other way.

 

[marksy]

Thanks guys.

I think I might be missing something on beersmith? Not great with computers. I want to prioritise OG but i'll need at least 20ltr to put in the cube. I'd prefer to have "water down" my beer than have it go the other way.

Beersmith is easy you just need to take the time to set it up. You need to know your dead spaces, boil off rate, final volume into fermenter etc. There is a equipment profile wizard. Are you sparging not sparging etc?


You know you want 20L in the cube so work backwards from that.

20L + kettle dead space + evaporation over 1hr.

Say 2L dead space and 6L evap.

28L into the kettle pre boil.

I don't know how big your pot is for boiling or mashing. But say you have a big pot and you can add all your mash water to it.

Using 5kg of grain, and saying your biab will absorb 1L per kilo of grain. You'll need 28L plus 5L for grain absorption. So 33L all up. I would go with 33L into mash.

Thats a basic way to think of it.

Tell us about your gear and we can look further at it.

 

[barabool]

I brewed a Dortmunder on the weekend looking to finish with 23 lts. BeerSmith also suggested a 38ltr boil.
I ended up with 32ltrs - I think my main problem was that I couldn't get a fast rolling boil with my gas burner.

It was just not strong enough to keep a strong rolling boil.
I think my solution is either what you suggested and lower amount boil or look for a higher BTU/KJ burner.

Cheers

 

[rusty274]

So I ended up using 35 litres of water, this turned out to be both a good and bad thing.

A good thing because the gravity was spot on after my mash.

A bad thing because I was using a 21litre cube and had to pour a lot of trub in to fill it.

 

[apples2910]

Just my 5c but I allow 4lt wastage in bottom of kettle to avoid sucking the trub into cube, costs f.all in extra grain and I always get clear wort into cube