Volume calculation and temperature correction

[samric]

I searched for this and could not get a precise answer, so here it is.

Throughout the brewing process, Beersmith calculates various volumes of water (mash, sparge, pre-boil, post-boil).  However, the temperature of those calculated volumes is not explicitly mentioned anywhere.

Does anyone know if these volume are 60F equivalent OR if they are real (i.e. process temperature's reading) volume (for instance, sparge volume taken at sparge temperature)?

Personally, I'd like to see it explicitly mentioned in the software, and possibly having a setting allowing the user to choose between "process temperature" volume reading and 60F volume reading (I find it much easier to measure sparge volumes at tap temperature rather than heating  water and measure once hot).

So, anyone has an idea on how Beersmith determines those volumes?

 

[brewfun]

Heat expansion is factored into all volumes, so they can be measured real time.

The choice of 60F would also require an expansion factor since water hits its maximum density at 39F.

The difference between tap temp and sparge is 2.5% or one pint of variation per 5 gallons.

 

[samric]

Heat expansion is factored into all volumes, so they can be measured real time.

The choice of 60F would also require an expansion factor since water hits its maximum density at 39F.

The difference between tap temp and sparge is 2.5% or one pint of variation per 5 gallons.

Thanks for the reply.

It does make sense that all volumes be taken real time at the given process temperature (sparge volume taken at sparge temperature and so on), but I would have liked it to be specifically mentioned in the software to dissipate any doubt.

That being said, I still believe volumes should be calibrated at different temperatures for the various steps (and not necessarily "real time").  Ideally, it should be user configurable with the following defaults :

[list type=decimal]
[*]Mash water volume : Should be calibrated at 50F (tap temperature) OR room temperature
[*]Sparge water volume : Should be calibrated at 50F (tap temperature) OR room temperature
[*]Pre-boil volume: Should be calibrated at wort temperature out of mash tun
[*]Post-boil volume: Should be calibrated at boil temperature (to allow possible top up while boiling)
[*]Fermenter volume: Should be calibrated at pitch temperature
[/list]

That's still pretty easy to adjust to take shrinkage/expansion into account, but you still have to know without any doubt what temperature BeerSmith calibrates its volumes for to initiate the conversion process.  And until I see it written in BeerSmith's documentation or in the software itself, there is no way to know for sure...

 

[DrZymurgy]

I actually think this correction would be important as Beersmith records the volumes at various steps, which I use to dial in my equipment.  The water calculator uses this data to predict how much water to start and compares the volumes by simple addition or subtraction so all these volumes should be at the same temperature so a tool to correct the volume based on live temperatures would address this.  A pint in 5 gallons will make a different in gravity and extraction.

 

[brewfun]

so all these volumes should be at the same temperature so a tool to correct the volume based on live temperatures would address this. 

The real issue is measuring in volume instead of weight. If BeerSmith used weight as the base measurement, then converted to volume for ease of use, there wouldn't be a gravity calculation error that's exactly equal to the expansion factor. However, in real world brewing, this becomes moot when using BHE because the error gets corrected.

A pint in 5 gallons will make a different in gravity and extraction.

Again, BHE is all about correcting for that.