Does beertools account for the water loss:decoction mashing

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reddart
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Does beertools account for the water loss:decoction mashing

Post by reddart »

I was wondering if the beer tools software accounts for boiloff losses to the amount of mashing water when boiling decoctions?
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billvelek
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I imagine it does ... but am not sure

Post by billvelek »

Since the decoction editor has all sorts of fields like how long it takes to reach a boil, and the boil duration, and the boil output (I assume that means the vigor of the boil), I would imagine that it is using that data to calculate how much is boiled away. I don't do decoctions, so I'm not that familiar with that aspect of the program, but I think you can test it by using two different values in the boil duration in that editor and see if you end with two different volumes.

The more I understand the workings of BTP, the more I am impressed.

Cheers.

Bill Velek
Visit www.tinyurl.com/bvelek - portal to my brewing sites: 3,100+ members on 'Grow-Hops', and 1,350+ brewers on my 'BrewingEquip' group.
Running BTP v1.5.3 on WinXP 2005 SP3 w/AMD Athlon 64@3800+, 1GigRam, Res 1024x768
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slothrob
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Re: Does beertools account for the water loss:decoction mash

Post by slothrob »

reddart wrote:I was wondering if the beer tools software accounts for boiloff losses to the amount of mashing water when boiling decoctions?
It does, but I can't seem to figure out where it gets the evaporation rate. It doesn't seem linked to the Evap./Hour rate entered at the top of the page.
BTP v2.0.* Windows XP
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billvelek
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There are sliding bars in the decoction editor

Post by billvelek »

I want to take this opportunity to tell Jeff and Lathe how tremendously they have improved their 'Help Topics' and 'User Guide'. Having said that, there is no detailed explanation of the controls in the 'decoction editor', so I am therefore assuming, intuitively, that the sliding bars to the right of "Heat to Boil Output" and "Boil Output" is the amount of heat you are applying. If you are using a calibrated vessel and a calibrated heat source, then I imagine that this is how BTP is calculating the time it takes to reach a boil and how vigorous the boil is once it is reached. On the practical end -- and something that they can't control -- I think it would probably take a lot of experience to be able to accurately gauge the percentage of GAS power being applied to the vessel, i.e., is the kitchen burner or propane burner at 50% or 60% ... but that's how things look to me. If you have an electric range, with a clickable/numbered positions on the control like my son has, you could probably actually measure/calibrate each position and know exactly what to set the decoction editor to. Fortunately, with the kitchen burner, I just turn it up full blast and would set the editor to 100%; the problem is with the propane burner outside, which I never turn all the way up because I lose too much heat with flames extending well beyond the bottom -- plus wind and temperture variables.

Cheers.

Bill Velek
Visit www.tinyurl.com/bvelek - portal to my brewing sites: 3,100+ members on 'Grow-Hops', and 1,350+ brewers on my 'BrewingEquip' group.
Running BTP v1.5.3 on WinXP 2005 SP3 w/AMD Athlon 64@3800+, 1GigRam, Res 1024x768
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