batch boiled down to three gallons

[hoppapatamus]

This is my second batch in a row that's boiled down from six to three gallons. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm doing a full boil on a top tier burner. I know I'm losing some wort to the strainer but I ended up at exactly three twice.. what am I messing up here ?

 

[unionrdr]

You're heat is too high,you're boiling off too much.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

unionrdr is right, you want a full rolling boil, but you shouldn't be boiling off that much unless you're brewing in super low humidity conditions.

You can always add back water to hit your OG and volume, but you're needlessly wasting fuel during the boil. Or even just put a lid partially covering (to reduce evaporation but avoid DMS).

 

[unionrdr]

I've been trying to keep the heat on high after the mash,till a couple minutes after the boil starts. Then turn the heat down to where it'll just maintain a nice rolling boil,but notso violent tthat it has bubble like bits bursting up out of the surface as well.
To my understanding,you want a good hot break for clarity later. But turning it down afterthe boil starts & the hot break disipates will reduce boil off as well.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

Unions got it...If you see enormous craters with a rolling boil its to hot. Turn it down to where you see the surface moving, still rolling and youll get less boil off.

Question...Is your SG way high?
Also are you guessing at 6gallons that your pulling out of your MT, or do you have a sight gauge?

 

[Jayhem]

You are definitely boiling too hot. I only get 12% boil off per hour and I have a good rolling boil when I brew.

 

[hillbillyjones]

I'm also trying to figure that out with my natural gas Top Tier burner. That burner is just awesome and can put out some heat. Since I just have a needle valve, it's hard for me to reset to a proven flow rate. Would be nice if the gas valve was like on a grill or oven and I can do the initial boil at 11 and the rest at 6. I did what the other posters said the first time and it didn't boil of enough. The 2nd time, it was too hot and too much boiled off.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I'm also trying to figure that out with my natural gas Top Tier burner. That burner is just awesome and can put out some heat. Since I just have a needle valve, it's hard for me to reset to a proven flow rate. Would be nice if the gas valve was like on a grill or oven and I can do the initial boil at 11 and the rest at 6. I did what the other posters said the first time and it didn't boil of enough. The 2nd time, it was too hot and too much boiled off.

Do this

Take your mash paddle, or a long wooden spoon or something...whatever will reach the bottom of the pot when full.

Use a measuring cup or bucket with markings or something and put 1 gallon of water in, stick your spoon in and mark it at the water line.

Repeat this all the way up to 7 gallons. Whala you now have a dipstick that will tell you at any given time approximately how many gallons you have. It might not be a bad idea to do half gallon increments from 5-7 gallons.

For me to speed up this process i actually used my home (person) scale...since each gallon of water is like 8.35lbs, weigh a bucket or carboy to get your start, and keep pumping water in until it hits the weight, then dump it into your pot and mark.

If your 30 mins in and not half way to your target, bump it up for a few minutes. Of course the issue with this method instead of a site glass is that you need to lower your heat so its not boiling to get a proper measurement...but this only takes a few seconds and then you can decide how high to reset it.

 

[hoppapatamus]

Does temperature something you can use to judge a rolling boil because whenever I tried to turn my burner down it went way down in temperature. I was under the impression I needed to be at 220 or something like that for a boil ?

 

[unionrdr]

Water boils at 212F. I turn my electric stove down to 8.8 on the dial. Nice rolling boil,but not violently so.