Oatmeal Chocolate Stout:

[Ciderhead]

You reckon thats what it is? I was maxed out on it. Blue flame all the way. With the lid on it was boiling like crazy & with it off a nice rolling boil.

Would you think Im okay to follow beersmith steps up until the actual sparge amount & then just sparge with less to adjust for its over compensation?

Cheers for the help.

Beersmith thought you were going to evaporate 10 litres you evaporated 2

[Hop Bomb]

It was my mate who said lid off (he is an engineer & heat loss/transfer is his speciality) You reckon so if lid was on & boil like mad would have gotten me where I needed to be?

Im gona copy your sparge volume next brew & lid on for the full boil. Hopefully that will get me where I need to be. You think?

Does everything else look okay on the beersmith sheets?

[Ciderhead]

One other little thing was your grain temp was it in the house at 22 or in shed like mine at 6 degrees as obviously that will influence your mash water temp?

[Hop Bomb]

In the garage. That would explain why my mash temp was 2[ch730]c below what it should have been. Cheers for the replies Ciderhead.

[Ciderhead]

It was my mate who said lid off (he is an engineer & heat loss/transfer is his speciality) You reckon so if lid was on & boil like mad would have gotten me where I needed to be?

Im gona copy your sparge volume next brew & lid on for the full boil. Hopefully that will get me where I need to be. You think?

Does everything else look okay on the beersmith sheets?

He is correct and there is an argument for that but with less volumes so I would have put your desired 25l + 2-3 litres you boil off + your boiler dead space vol, you can always add boiled water at the end if you overboil

Think of a 20 euro eBay refractometer as well.

Beersmith is really good tool and has really helped my understanding of ag process and keeps surprising me with its accuracy but like sat nav you need to keep watching the road as well 

[Ciderhead]

In the garage. That would explain why my mash temp was 2[ch730]c below what it should have been. Cheers for the replies Ciderhead.

Mash tun ambient temp as well

[Hop Bomb]

Every day is a school day! Thats lots to think about and adjust for the next brew. Cheers!

[Ciderhead]

Every day is a school day! Thats lots to think about and adjust for the next brew. Cheers!

2 or 3 more and you will be doing it with your eyes closed
I usually just work off printed brew sheet from drop down menu on main recipe page

[Hop Bomb]

Hopefully!

Just going through my equipment settings in Beersmith & the boil off was set at 19%! Thats huge. I think that explains all the extra water.

When Im in my equipment profile does the start boil volume need to reflect the 5.6 Litres of dead space in my boil kettle?
Is this really dead space - can I not just tilt the keg & get most of it out? (or are there horrible nasties down there?)

[Ciderhead]

Hopefully!

Just going through my equipment settings in Beersmith & the boil off was set at 19%! Thats huge. I think that explains all the extra water.

When Im in my equipment profile does the start boil volume need to reflect the 5.6 Litres of dead space in my boil kettle?
Is this really dead space - can I not just tilt the keg & get most of it out? (or are there horrible nasties down there?)

Would you eat the chips in the bottom of the chip pan oil?

You throw in Irish moss or a whirl floc tablet, then you get cold break and more crud falls out of suspension. A gentle circular stir with a sterilised paddle and you get a crud cone at the bottom of your boiler of suspended solids including hops
And you want to pour all that into the fermenter ;
Only pulling your leg, i make mostly clear beers so i need as much shit as possible left in my plastic boiler

Would others with kegs advise please what your dead space is and do you tilt as quite rightly Hop is probably losing 2-3 litres here

[Hop Bomb]

I get ya.

If I dont tilt my boiler I leave 5.6 litres behind. The bottom of the keg is curved downwards and my bazooka screen sits over that curve.

Ive no problem leaving that there. I just want to know if I compensate for this in my equipment settings in the "loss to trub/chiller" section?  (see image below:)



Ive no issues adding that extra water to cover the dead space once it doesnt effect the OG of the beer. Any thoughts?

Sorry for all the questions. There isnt really anything covering it on the beersmith site.

Thanks
Tom.

[Ciderhead]

That's the one
There is a walk through set of vids on beersmith website which goes through all parameters
Resolution not great on my ipad does that yield you 25 litres based on your revised numbers?
What does that spit out your post boil gravity at then?

[Hop Bomb]

If I add my boil kettle dead space to the "loss to trub & chiller" it'll yield me 25 litres post boil & thats without having to tilt & drain the dead space in my boil kettle. Thats the one yeah?

Re: the videos -  I actually watched that video twice last week but dont remember seeing the deal specifically with this (but watching it again now with hind sight its dealt with at 3.00 mins) Not to worry. Learn the hard way as always 

Thanks Ciderhead!

[Hop Bomb]

Just took a gravity reading & its down to 1.010 already from 1.040. In three days! Notty you beaut! Thanks for recommending it lads. The stout tastes lovely with a nice silky texture. Im delighted now as I though with the miscalculation with the water it'd turn out crap.

Gona roast some cocoa nibs & stick them in the secondary.
Im thinking of some cold brew coffee also to make it a breakfast stout for the craic. Anyone added cold brew espresso to their brews before? Any tips?

[Ciderhead]

When I was doing a simpler pilsner today I was reminded that apart from a 90 minute boil you also need the lid off to evaporate any DMS just something to bear in mind if you intend doing pilsner or using lager malts.