All went pretty well and I got my volume and hit the target OG, but I should have started with 1 - 2 more gal of wort total.
yeah, I actually target an extra 1.5 gallons (13.5 vs. 12) to account for the losses to the hops in the kettle and dryhopping. one of my biggest pet peeves is not being able to completely fill my kegs when packaging.
Yep. Paul, usually, if I'm brewing with two kettles I brew two 10-gal (finished beer) batches, rather than splitting one mash/sparge into two kettles. So, I didn't think it through carefully enough and compensate for the doubled evaporation from two kettles while boiling two "half" batches. I figured it out once I filled the kettles with wort, so to hit target volume I did a little dance of reducing boil time, doing a low-to-moderate boil rate, covering the kettles at least partially, and changing my hop additions timing slightly. Thankfully, I had done a double pass of the grist through my 3-roller Monster Mill so my brewhouse efficiency was good. Afterwards, re-calculating my recipes in Pro Mash, it appears that my IBUs are still very close to what was originally intended, and the wort hydro samples both tasted very good. So I'm a happy camper.
And so I wouldn't screw up, I brewed one "half" batch and then the other, and just kept the one waiting at +150F so no bacterial spoilage could begin. It ended up being a 10-hour brew day, same amount of time it would have taken for 20 gallons of beer instead of 10. But you live and you learn!
And thanks Jon - I researched hops for my Western Sunset IPA to balance between citrus and tropical with a tad of dank. We'll see how it goes.