KyleWolf

Recipes 

hey everyone, so I am finally starting on my journey of leaf hop over pellets. I understand that leaf hops can absorb (the number varies according to who you ask or what phase the moon is in :-p) between 1-2pts per oz of hops. If you are doing something with a lot of leaf hop, that can cause serious issues. To combat this of course we add extra water, but do you add the extra to the mash? sparge?...boil perhaps? Or should I also just increase my batch size in my calculator to account for hop absorption and purchase extra grain too so it wont effect my gravity?
(as I am unsure whether or not leaf would absorb the sugars with the water or through osmosis/diffusion, leave the sugar in the wort, it is probably better to be safe than sorry).

Sorry if the post is confusing. I look forward to your thoughts though!

Kyle

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GilaMinumBeer

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If you use software you account for that loss as a trub loss and the system will add the needed extra volume to the total water.

Basically it needs to be accounted for through the mash as just adding to the kettle would serve only to dilute the pre or post-boil wort

Dog House Brew

Recipes 

I figure .38qt per ounce absorption for whole hops. I just figure it into my trub loss. works out really well when doing a big IIPA.

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Bigscience

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You have to work your way backwards. Start with how much you want to go into the fermentor and add any kettle dead volume, shrinkage, evaporation and the hop loss. This will give your start of the boil volume. If your all grain, you know what your run off will be based on the lauter loss and grain absorbtion. The rest is added by the sparge (or to the kettle or fermentor if doing a partial boil).

ChemE

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I measured 0.146 quarts/ounce here: Leaf Hop Absorption Measured

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My Super Efficient 5-Gallon Mash Lauter Tun • Graduating Carboys • Leaf Hop Absorption Measured
Primary - Bemused Bitter, Munich Saaz SMaSH
Secondary - Air
Bottled - Oatmeal Stout 2011, Apfelwein, Withdrawn Wheat, Bourbon Barrel Barleywine SMaSH, Christmas Ale 2010, Perplexed Pale Ale

OffKilterBrewer

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I collected the hops left in my kettle after the wort had gone to the fermenter and wrung them out by hand and got 20 oz. of liquid out of 2 oz. of hops.

Bigscience

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I'm not sure this is really an accurate way to do this. The hops will still be holding on to liquid this way. If you would have weighed them, dried them and re-weighed them (and accounted for gravity of liquid) it would be better.

It seems the best way to accurately test absorption would be to add a measured amount of water to the hops, soak, drain and re-measure the water. The Weigh, Drain, Weigh would also work.

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ChemE

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It is exceedingly surprising that your hops held twice as much liquid as mine did even before adding the additional wort still in the hops that your measurement neglected as Bigscience mentioned. Does that 20 fluid ounces include trub and deadspace in your MLT? If you wrung the hops out by hand over your kettle which did not completely drain during the lauter, then that would help explain how your measurement came out 100% greater than mine.

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My Super Efficient 5-Gallon Mash Lauter Tun • Graduating Carboys • Leaf Hop Absorption Measured
Primary - Bemused Bitter, Munich Saaz SMaSH
Secondary - Air
Bottled - Oatmeal Stout 2011, Apfelwein, Withdrawn Wheat, Bourbon Barrel Barleywine SMaSH, Christmas Ale 2010, Perplexed Pale Ale

OffKilterBrewer

Recipes 

The liquid left in the hops due to squeezing rather than weighing/drying/weighing is definitely a source of error, but I would wager is not tremendous. The volume measurement is from the bottom of the kettle, after wringing out the hops and subtracting the volume left by my dip tube (~8 oz.). The measurements were made with a 32 oz. pyrex graduated pitcher, which adds some additional error. I think that a good deal of the extra liquid was not actually absorbed in the hops but rather was trapped in and amongst the "hop pile" because they don't get a chance to drain by gravity prior to emptying the kettle (I have a screen in the bottom blocking them from entering the dip tube). If I were to bag them and let them drip-drain into the kettle prior to emptying the kettle, I think I would find a significantly lower volume of liquid lost to them. I lack the scales and accurately graduated, volumetric measuring vessels to be much more accurate about it at present.

ChemE

Recipes 

Cool, that makes sense.

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My Super Efficient 5-Gallon Mash Lauter Tun • Graduating Carboys • Leaf Hop Absorption Measured
Primary - Bemused Bitter, Munich Saaz SMaSH
Secondary - Air
Bottled - Oatmeal Stout 2011, Apfelwein, Withdrawn Wheat, Bourbon Barrel Barleywine SMaSH, Christmas Ale 2010, Perplexed Pale Ale