Boil & Evaporation Rates
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 8:51 pm
I have a question about boil off & evaporation rates.
In the 01/26/10 episode of Brew Strong ( http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/600 ), Palmer mentions George Fix's advice that an evaporation rate greater than 15% should be avoided. I found the place in An Analysis of Brewing Techniques where Fix says this.
When I brewed 10gal batches my evaporation rate was around 13%. Because of back problems, I'm moving to brewing 2.5gal batches. With a 2.5gal batch, I don't think there is any way I can get a good rolling boil and come in under the 15% mark.
From my reading, it seems most "small batch brewers" are boiling off more than 15%. My estimates are that I will have ≈4.5gal at the start of the boil. I'm assuming the amount I boil off using the same burner will be about the same. But even if I were to boil off 1gal per hour, that puts me at ≈22% for the evaporation rate.
Is this a problem? Is there anything I can do to make sure my beers don't suffer from the negative flavor & stability effects of too high of an evaporation rate?
Thanks for your help!
In the 01/26/10 episode of Brew Strong ( http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/600 ), Palmer mentions George Fix's advice that an evaporation rate greater than 15% should be avoided. I found the place in An Analysis of Brewing Techniques where Fix says this.
When I brewed 10gal batches my evaporation rate was around 13%. Because of back problems, I'm moving to brewing 2.5gal batches. With a 2.5gal batch, I don't think there is any way I can get a good rolling boil and come in under the 15% mark.
From my reading, it seems most "small batch brewers" are boiling off more than 15%. My estimates are that I will have ≈4.5gal at the start of the boil. I'm assuming the amount I boil off using the same burner will be about the same. But even if I were to boil off 1gal per hour, that puts me at ≈22% for the evaporation rate.
Is this a problem? Is there anything I can do to make sure my beers don't suffer from the negative flavor & stability effects of too high of an evaporation rate?
Thanks for your help!