How does someone go about adjust ingredient amounts when they scale up batch sizes? Lets use going from 5 gallon to 10 gallon batches. It cant be as simple as doubling everything can it?
for the most part, yes it is that simple.
:cheers:
Even in terms of hops? Wont hop utilization ratios change considering a larger liquid volume? As I type this it makes sense, but for some reason I feel like something would be different.
Yes, all of the ingredients will scale linearly between batch sizes.
You can also use brewing software to scale recipes, such as Beersmith or Brewtarget (free) http://brewtarget.sourceforge.net/.
I have done many 2.5 gallon batches and used Beersmith to scale 5 gallon recipes down just to be sure that simply cutting everything is half was correct…and it is.
I quadruple everything and then adjust for the difference in efficiency. I let my spreadsheet tell me what the IBU’s will be and then adjust accordingly to match the recipe.
It’s a larger liquid volume but the ratio between liquid volume and hops stays about the same so utilization is also the same.
One small difference to note is that the rate of evaporation should be lower. My software calculates evaporation rate as a percentage of the total per hour but in reality the total amount doesn’t matter I don’t think. It’s the surface area as well as weather related things. ie, all other factors being equal (same boil kettle, same boil duration, etc.) I’m going to lose ~1.5 gallons to evaporation whether I start with 7 gallons or 14 gallons but 1.5 gallons is a larger percentage of 7 gallons compared to 14.
You won’t run into a problem until you get into batches in barrel sizes.
What changes in barrell sizes? Isnt that 50 gallons?
[quote=“Adam20”]What changes in barrell sizes? Isnt that 50 gallons?[/quote]A barrel of beer is 31 gallons.
Oh ok thanks. So what changes from 20 to 31 gallons? What creates the need to adjust recipes at that size?
[quote=“Adam20”]Oh ok thanks. So what changes from 20 to 31 gallons? What creates the need to adjust recipes at that size?[/quote]I make a barrel of wort every other brew day and there’s no difference compared to making 20 gallons. It’s when you start moving into the multi-barrel batch size that you begin to see better hop utilization.
I was referring more to changes from 5 gallons to several barrels, the size some of the smaller brewpubs use. I’ve read that hop utilization changes and efficiency is different in the large batches.
I generally do 10 gallon batches and just use 2 kits instead of 1. I boil in a converted keg, outside on the patio using natural gas. Even in the winter, it works just fine, I just double everything. My large square blue cooler-mash tun is big enough to hold all of the grain out of two batches.
tom_r2 - central Ohio is much nicer than northern MN, glad you can brew outside all year round, and actually jealous, I brew inside for the winter, as I don’t want my brew day ruined by weather. For the initial question, just double everything.
