What am I doing wrong?

[mattjazz2000]

I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone for their help and suggestions. Spent a long time with all the above advice and a few other calculators for reference and I think I've got beersmith about right now. I've just done the recipe below and I was pretty well bang on with the mash, sparge and now have a healthy amount of wort boiling away as we speak with even a little bit spare.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Timothy Taylor Landlord

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 28.84 l
Post Boil Volume: 26.00 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l

Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4.25 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 99.3 %
0.03 kg Black (Patent) Malt (985.0 EBC) Grain 2 0.7 %
30.00 g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 90.0 Hop 3 16.7 IBUs
30.00 g Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil 90.0 mi Hop 4 18.0 IBUs
0.30 g Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 5 -
20.00 g Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil 10.0 mi Hop 6 4.5 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 7 -


Mash Schedule: My Mash
Total Grain Weight: 4.28 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 14.16 l of water at 72.1 C 67.0 C 90 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 3 steps (Drain mash tun, , 10.98l, 10.98l) of 80.0 C water

[roonikins]

if i was you i would just sparge till you get 23 litres in the boiler . put the hydrometer in a draw and forget about it. dont get hung up on efficiency and beer smith .
making beer is not rocket science the more internet bull you read the more confused you get.
just keep it simple and you will make great beer.

[mattjazz2000]

Your not wrong there Roonikins, I mainly wanted Beersmith to keep records but I have to say I far enjoyed todays brewday working out my own volumes and just for reassurance checking them against Beersmith.

[Horden Hillbilly]

if i was you i would just sparge till you get 23 litres in the boiler.

If you intend to make a 23 litre brew, you will need more than 23 litres in your boiler at the start of the boil to allow for evaporation losses.

[mattjazz2000]

If you intend to make a 23 litre brew, you will need more than 23 litres in your boiler at the start of the boil to allow for evaporation losses.

I had about 28 litres pre boil which left me slightly shy of 23l in the fermenter but thats another thing learned.

[orlando]

If you intend to make a 23 litre brew, you will need more than 23 litres in your boiler at the start of the boil to allow for evaporation losses.

I had about 28 litres pre boil which left me slightly shy of 23l in the fermenter but thats another thing learned.

And BS had it at 28.84 as preboil so you must have tweaked it reasonably succcessfuly. As for ignoring BS and getting the amount you need in the boiler, I would caution this. You need to be careful that once your runnings start to get below 1.010 in gravity as this is the stage at which you risk pulling excess tannin into you wort making a more astringent beer. Far better to top up to the required volume with sparge water or boiled water and miss your pre boil gravity.

One other point don't forget to adjust hydrometer readings for temperature (BS has a tool for this) or you could stop sparging too early thinking you are below 1.010.