Too much Boil Off with new BCS system

[CTolino]

I just got my new BCS panel setup from EBrew Supply, and just ran my first test batch. We had a few hiccups, as to be expected with a first run on a new system, but the one I'm most concerned with was the amount of boil off I had. The pre boil volume was 20 gallons, and the post boil was 17. 3 gallons of boil off seems awfully high for a 60 minute boil. The kettle I have is a mega pot 30 gallons kettle, and when we used burners we never had more than 1.5-2 gallons of boil off. For some reason during the boil the temp probes kept reading 209.9F, so I would assume that the elements remained on full for the entire boil. Would that have caused this? I am new to electric brewing so I am just curious if anyone else has had this problem.

 

[microbusbrewery]

Is it the same kettle you used to use with a burner? You will see different boil off rates with different sized and shaped kettles (e.g tall and skinny versus short and wide). What did you have the target temp set at? I'm assuming something below 209.9.

 

[jeffmeh]

I don't have any BCS experience, but generally speaking you mash by setting a set temp, but boil by setting a power percentage. With that, you should be able to dial in your boil vigor as desired.

 

[CTolino]

The kettle is the same as I used with the burner. I had the boiling temp set at 212F. I'm not sure if my program has a power percentage, it has a duty cycle option. I'm not sure if they are the same thing.

 

[jeffmeh]

The kettle is the same as I used with the burner. I had the boiling temp set at 212F. I'm not sure if my program has a power percentage, it has a duty cycle option. I'm not sure if they are the same thing.

Duty cycle is likely the same.

 

[JonW]

Yes, duty cycle is an output percentage.

On gas, my boil off rate is the same as yours - about 3 gallons per hour. Nothing wrong with a good vigorous boil. You can turn the duty cycle down a bit if needed, but I would only do that if the boil was crazy vigorous. As long as you account for the proper boil off rate in your recipe, there's nothing wrong with the rate you're at.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I run my bcs at about 75% for that size batch. I preboil about 20 gal and boil off 1.5 gallons at 75%. I use stout kettles and 5500w brewhardware elements. The boil off rate you experienced is approximately what 100% duty cycle would give you.

 

[BrunDog]

Change the boil mode from temperature to duty cycle, then control boil intensity using that percentage.

 

[dmcman73]

Yup, as others have stated, lower the duty cycle to bring the boil down if you want to, it's similar to lower the flame on your burner.

I generally leave it at 100% until is begins to boil. If I see that the boil is just raging, I will lower it down to about 75%.

Also, You stated you ran tests on a test batch. Did you boil with Wort or just plain water? Plain water will have a higher boil off rate than Wort.

 

[CTolino]

I did my test batch with wort. I'm going to give the duty cycle a try at 75%.

 

[dmcman73]

I did my test batch with wort. I'm going to give the duty cycle a try at 75%.

Yours may vary, you may need to only drop it to 80% or maybe even go lower than 75%. Just drop it until you see a nice steady boil, not a torrential one.

 

[BrunDog]

Mine is set for 65% for 10 gals in a 15gal kettle, 5500W from 250V feed, 75+ degree ambient.

 

[CTolino]

I'm using 30 gallon kettles and aiming for 17 gallons going into the fermenter. I think I'm going to try setting it for 212, and once it boils, I'm going to dial it back to 80%

 

[jcav]

I have an electric system with a pid controlling a 5500 w ripple element. I have the boil pid set to 75% power at 212 degrees. I usually boil 13.5 gallons in my keggle and achieve a steady rolling boil, and only boil off 1 gallon an hour when set to 75%.

 

[CTolino]

I ran another test batch today with the elements set at 75% and got a 1.5gal boil off rate

 

[jcav]

The 1/2 gallon more boil off rate is probably due to the size and shape of your boil kettle. My keg is more narrow and tall compared to some shorter and wider styled kettles so this could be the reason. You could see if you get a good boil at 70% also. Your doing a larger batch size than me in a much larger boil kettle. I boil 13 to 14 gallons (depending on recipe) to end up with 11 gallons going into the fermenter, after boil off and all the losses in the tubing, chiller, trub in the kettle, etc..

John

 

[JonW]

Just make sure you're not doing a simmering boil. You want a good active rolling boil to help with hot break and to minimize DMS.