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Kettle Evaporation Rates
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:18 pm
by naes100
Hi everyone, looking for some comments! I am trying to dial in my equipment and just started to use beer smith… I tried to figure out my evaporation rate today.. started with 24 litres… boiled for an hour… ended with 17.5 L or a 27% evaporation rate which seems way high compared to what I see online.
I have a 15 gal kettle I purchase from Ontario Beer Kegs (
http://www.ontariobeerkegs.com/15_Gallo ... -2weld.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) and I typically leave the cover off when I reach a boil.
Any general comments???
Re: Kettle Evaporation Rates
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:32 pm
by LeafMan66_67
My OBK 15G kettle is fairly consistent at 6.67L per hour. My 15g keggle was 6L/hr. Don't worry about percentages.
Re: Kettle Evaporation Rates
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 6:58 pm
by jacinthebox
My 19gal pot with the flame on bust boils off 10L an hour
Re: Kettle Evaporation Rates
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:19 pm
by spears104
Evap rate is influenced by diameter. I have a fairly wide home made pot and it boils off 10L per hour.
Re: Kettle Evaporation Rates
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:26 pm
by naes100
So I guess 6.5L per hour is ok … appreciate the comments, was making me paranoid! Thanks!
Re: Kettle Evaporation Rates
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:31 pm
by jason.loxton
I've never understood evaporation rate given as a percentage. It makes zero sense. For example, a constant 10% boil rate would translate to 1.5 gallons per hour if you've got 15 gallons in your kettle, but only 0.5 gallons an hour if you're boiling 5 gallons in the same pot. That's just not true. Boil off will be relatively constant, and largely determined by surface area/kettle diameter, regardless of how full one's kettle is. Change your Beersmith setting so that boil off is given as a rate per hour in litres/gallons, rather than percent of volume.