Can anyone look at this and tell me if my calculation is correct?

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Elysium

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I am planning my 1st all-grain for this weekend and the attachment of calculation on brew365.com can be found below.

Can anyone be kind enough and have a look if my numbers are okay for a 4 gallon, all-grain (mash tun+boil) brew?

I think 7.38 gallons of water is a lot for a 4 gallon batch. Maybe the numbers on water loss are high...dunno.

Thanks

Screenshot-1.png
 
The "trub loss" of .5 gallon seems like a lot to me- I have very little that gets left behind in the end, but if you're throwing away .5 gallon of wort instead of putting it in the kettle, that would mean using more water.

Grain should absorb about .125 gallon per pound, so with a 9 pound grainbill you should lose about 1-1.25 gallon there.

I like to work backwards, and start with what I need in the boil kettle and then decide on my other volumes.

What I mean is this- I boil off about 1.25 gallons per hour, so I want 6.5 gallons in the boil kettle. I don't think 10% is a reasonable boil off- I think a gallon or so an hour is more reasonable.

So, if you're boiling off a gallon an hour (and you really should, at least that much), loosing 1 gallon to grain absorption, and leaving .5 gallon behind in the boil kettle, you can see that you'd need to start with more water!
 
Yooper said:
The "trub loss" of .5 gallon seems like a lot to me- I have very little that gets left behind in the end, but if you're throwing away .5 gallon of wort instead of putting it in the kettle, that would mean using more water.

Grain should absorb about .125 gallon per pound, so with a 9 pound grainbill you should lose about 1-1.25 gallon there.

I like to work backwards, and start with what I need in the boil kettle and then decide on my other volumes.

What I mean is this- I boil off about 1.25 gallons per hour, so I want 6.5 gallons in the boil kettle. I don't think 10% is a reasonable boil off- I think a gallon or so an hour is more reasonable.

So, if you're boiling off a gallon an hour (and you really should, at least that much), loosing 1 gallon to grain absorption, and leaving .5 gallon behind in the boil kettle, you can see that you'd need to start with more water!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the answer.

Well....what would you put instead of the current trub loss then? I am really clueless.

The grain absorb is set to 0.13 gal/lb. I can change it to 0.125 but it wont make such a big difference. What do you think?

The boil off should be reasonable at 10%...right? The pre-boiled wort is 5.21 gallon...if 1.21 gallon of water evaporates...then I have just the batch size I want...4 gallons. You mentioned 1.25 gallon of wort....so I think it is really close to your idea, isnt it?

I just simply find 7.33 gallons of water a lot for a 4 gallon batch. That is why I started this thread...but most of the numbers seem to be decent.
 
Elysium said:
Thanks for the answer.

Well....what would you put instead of the current trub loss then? I am really clueless.

The grain absorb is set to 0.13 gal/lb. I can change it to 0.125 but it wont make such a big difference. What do you think?

The boil off should be reasonable at 10%...right? The pre-boiled wort is 5.21 gallon...if 1.21 gallon of water evaporates...then I have just the batch size I want...4 gallons. You mentioned 1.25 gallon of wort....so I think it is really close to your idea, isnt it?

I just simply find 7.33 gallons of water a lot for a 4 gallon batch. That is why I started this thread...but most of the numbers seem to be decent.
Click to expand...

It may take you a few batches on your system to dial in the correct numbers so on your first brew day take careful measurements to dial in your set up and go from there. Tweak as necessary with each batch.

No two systems or set ups are the same. Software takes averages into each measurement but each brewery's set up will really experience different losses so start with what you have and give it a try.
 
You have equipment loss set at 1 gal. Equipment loss is volume lost in the lines of a CFC or pumps. So if you have either of those items, try and figure out how much water they hold. If you are just cooling with an immersion chiller or ice bath, and dumping your boil kettle into the fermentor, than equipment loss is 0.
 
Elysium said:
The boil off should be reasonable at 10%...right? The pre-boiled wort is 5.21 gallon...if 1.21 gallon of water evaporates...then I have just the batch size I want...4 gallons. You mentioned 1.25 gallon of wort....so I think it is really close to your idea, isnt it?
Click to expand...

Well, yes. But 10% is .52 gallon, NOT 1.21. You may have far less volume (or far more) than you planned if you don't make the guestimates fairly close.

I can't imagine .5 gallon of equipment losses, so that could give you more wort if you don't have loss there, but if you plan on boiling off of 10%, that's only .52 gallons and probably not even half of what you'll actually boil off.
 
jesserizzo said:
You have equipment loss set at 1 gal. Equipment loss is volume lost in the lines of a CFC or pumps. So if you have either of those items, try and figure out how much water they hold. If you are just cooling with an immersion chiller or ice bath, and dumping your boil kettle into the fermentor, than equipment loss is 0.
Click to expand...

I am planning to use a water bath...so the only loss here will be the little liquid left in the pot at the end of the transfer. I'll use an autosiphon....so I guess a little bit of wort stays in that too...maybe.....but that is insignificant for sure.
By the way...what does CFC stand for?
 
Elysium said:
I am planning to use a water bath...so the only loss here will be the little liquid left in the pot at the end of the transfer. I'll use an autosiphon....so I guess a little bit of wort stays in that too...maybe.....but that is insignificant for sure.
By the way...what does CFC stand for?
Click to expand...

Yeah, so equipment loss should be 0. The little bit of liquid left in the pot is part of trub loss. And as far as figuring boil off rate, you can just test it with water.
 

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