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half gallon short now.....help needed

storytyme

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Hello everyone.  I just brewed my 100th batch of beer today and for all of those I have used Beersmith.  The last few batches I am now all of a sudden a half gallon short (5 gal into the fermenter instead of 5.5).  What is the best way to fix this.  Start doing 6 gal batches?  I have changed my mash efficiency to 78% from 72%  Will this effect anything?  My volume into the kettle is spot on, so do I increase my rate of evaporation?  I have a pretty good grasp on all numbers but need a little guidance.  Thanks.
 
Is your OG where it should be, or is it coming in high? If you didn't change anything and your OG is high, your boil off has increased for whatever reason. If that's the case, put your efficiency back to where it was and adjust the boiloff in the equipment profile.

If this isn't the case, you have changed something. Perhaps something like trusting markings on a new kettle or fermenter or changing the way you measure your water. Without knowing anything about your brewing process that's about all I can come up with. Some information about your process and attaching a recipe file will make it much easier for someone to help.
 
My OG is spot on.  My pre-boil volume is spot on.  I've used the same kettle for 70+ batches.  Same fermentors as well.  A few batches back my OG was coming in too high on batch after batch.  I changed my mash efficiency in the equipment profile and since then it has all been spot on, except for the 1/2 gal shortage.
 
Congrats on the century brew mark!

I run into this as well. Last week, I drained my spent grains into a bucket and found 3/4 gallon. I might be draining my mash tun a little faster now that I switched from gravity to RIMS and use a pump to xfer to the kettle.  I've adjusted for this by adding more sparge water to achieve my pre-boil volume.

I also lose some in the transfer hoses and pump now. Not a lot but still some.

My kettle is also bigger now and when I boil 8 gallons of work in a 20 gallon kettle, the evaporation rate is higher.

I have been testing the gravity and adding cold filtered water to top up and achieve my expected gravity.

I can only see a few causes for your lower loss.

* Evaporation rate is higher
* You are leaving more behind in the kettle in trub or hops (adding more hops these last few batches?)
* You are measuring the fermenter volume wrong


 
storytyme said:
My OG is spot on.  My pre-boil volume is spot on.  I've used the same kettle for 70+ batches.  Same fermentors as well.  A few batches back my OG was coming in too high on batch after batch.  I changed my mash efficiency in the equipment profile and since then it has all been spot on, except for the 1/2 gal shortage.

Basically, that leaves kettle loss and boil off. Measure what remains in your kettle and compare it to your entry in the equipment profile. If it's the same, add 1/2 gallon to your boil off. 
 
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