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Help noob needs with equipment wizard setup

Kingfisher0479

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I'm new to all grain brewing. I am trying to setup equipment wizard and I have a few questions.  First off, I want to do 3 gal BIAB and smaller batches.  I have a 5 gal pot and I can't answer the following questions that Equip Wizard asks... How much beer is lost during fermentations and boiling, boil off rate, loss to trub and chiller? The next section of mash tun settings questions...Like I said I'm doing BIAB, how do I answer the mash tun section of questions?
 
here's a great video that walks you through setting up the equipment profile.
http://brulosophy.com/2014/08/04/beersmith-tutorial-equipment-profile-setup/
 
Second on Bob357's advice of watching the video for help in setting up your equipment profile.  Also, since this is a new process expect to be collecting a lot of measurement data and using it to update your equipment profile as you do your first few brews.  Feed the data back into the 'session' tab of your recipes and the program will give you calculated values for your brew house efficiency.  From your beginning volume of water and the pre-boil volume you can get your loss to grain absorption.  You can use the volume data post mash (pre boil) and post boil to figure out your boil off rate.  Measure your volume into your fermenter and the actual loss to chilling and trub from the boil and you will have those values down.  Lastly, you can give a fair estimate that you will lose approximately a quart or two to trub in the fermenter.  Once you have a few brews finished completely, you can refine this number to reflect your actual values.

As a last tip, take the time to create an accurate way to measure your volumes in your kettle and fermenters.  Even if they have pre-stamped measurements, I would highly recommend double checking them as real life seldom completely falls into alignment with engineering drawings and templates.  I've done this for my 6 different pots and made aluminum measuring sticks using an etching tool.  Likewise, you should create a way to measure how much wort ends up in your fermenter.  I tool a strip of masking tape and marked off my volumes by liters and then filled in half liters at the lower volumes and near where my typical batch size was for better accuracy.

Treat your first few brews as experiments to help you get used to your new process and to hone the equipment profile in to match your actual results and you will be well ahead of the curve going forward.
 
An even better video tutorial to address your specific questions can be found here. He walks through all of the volumes and weights.

https://youtu.be/HwEbjOt8OR8
 
Ha! these amateurs... HERE is an even better video that will answer all your questions.

https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ
 
;D ;D ;D

 

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