Is wasted wort in boiler decreasing effiency?

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bigbellybrewery

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Great day to brew, only hit 95 in Arkansas. Brewed a Bass Ale Clone (Biermuncher's recipe). My efficiency was 70%. My boiler setup leaves about 3 qt. of beautiful wort mixed with trub. I am using a 15 qt. boiler with a bazooka screen. I loose my siphon at about 3 qts. This can't help my efficiency (logic tells). Is this typical with boilers? Should I expect this much loss? Do I need to look elsewhere for gains in efficiency?
OK, long thread but need to cut down on total time to brew (10 gallons). It took about 6 hours to brew. Boil time was 60 minutes. I am using a Bayou Classics on hot water tank and boiler. Using a preIC packed in ice water leading to IC. Am I going to have to spend $$ on improving cooling and $$ on higher BTU burners to decrease time?:rockin:
 
The trub and hops were clogging my spigot. I added a bazooka. I was afraid a siphon would clot off. What's best?
 
Any more I just empty the whole boiler into the fermenters, hops and all. It does not hurt the taste at all and I seem to notice better hop flavor from the late hop additions. It's a win-win situation. I make 12 gallon batches and try to split up the hop trub between the fermenters if using carboys. Otherwise I just put all of it into my conical. A good chiller is the best for reducing haze. My ales are really clear and I ferment in a temp controlled freezer at the yeasts recommended temperature.
 
I've actually taken gravity readings of my wort before hitting the hop trub at the bottom and then after straining out that trub. Believe it or not....the gravity readings were the same!! Would it be different if you didn't strain? Perhaps....or perhaps not (maybe by the time you take the sample, the big debris has already started falling to the bottom of the fermentor).

However, I do strain out the bottom part with a fine mesh strainer.....I'm able to collect all the spent hops and any coagulated debris that's already happened from the irish moss. My belief is that it might be good to get that bottom juice....even though it doesn't increase gravity, my theory is that there must be some extra hop residue (afterall, the juice that comes out of the strainer seems to turn a slight green when it's hitting those hop clusters).
 
I've actually taken gravity readings of my wort before hitting the hop trub at the bottom and then after straining out that trub. Believe it or not....the gravity readings were the same!! .

The hydro reads the density, IE sugars, etc in the wort, trub does not impact the SG of the liquid.

I am interested in the concept that trub can be thrown into the primary, sometimes I dump it all in, sometimes I don't and I have never noticed a difference. But then again for me as long as the hops are there, the beer is bitter and the ABV is high I'm a very happy camper.
 
I use a bazooka in my kettle, but pour the dregs through a strainer.

For 10 gallons, a larger burner would really help. Something in the 150-200,000 BTU range. Another option is to start heating the first runnings immediately, rather than waiting until the sparge is complete. (This is a bad idea if you are making pales, though)
 
The hydro reads the density, IE sugars, etc in the wort, trub does not impact the SG of the liquid.

The hydrometer reads density....nothing more. Before I confirmed that strained trub has the same density as the rest of the wort, I had thought that it might be possible that there were a few points extra of whatever would have coagulated with the spent hops. But my gravity readings pretty much confirmed that if anything already flocculated down from cooling down, it's not much of any difference.

As for hop preference: I tried nylon bags a couple times, but found that they didn't make cleanup any easier then straining. I also think I get a little more bitterness by straining the hops out when transfering wort. So that's the way I roll: is interesting to see how different people's methods/ setups are. Whatever works for you to get some good beer! :mug:
 
Dude:
My efficiency numbers are pretty typical for a homebrewer: my mash efficiency is typically in the 80-85% range and my brewhouse efficiency is 60-65%. Leaving 3 quarts behind on a 10 gallon batch will reduce your brewhouse efficiency (slightly) but who cares. Add an extra pound of grain and call it good. If your mash efficiency is 70% - try grinding your grain a little finer. If your brew house efficiency is 70% - you are doing awesome.
steve h
 
For those with higher BTU burners. How long does it take to heat 10 gallons to 170 degrees?

How fast to cool 11 gallons of wort with plate chiller or counter flow chiller?

What is your average time to brew 11 gallons (single infusion, batch sparge)

It is taking me 30-40 minutes with Bayou classic.
30-40 minutes reducing wort to 90 with preIC in ice water and IC in wort.

I don't want to sound like a whiner, but I need to mow.
 
On my last batch I took 6.5 gallons from 80-170 in 25 minutes.

Cooling times depend very highly on coolant temp. When the hose water runs 43F in the winter, I run out 11 gallons through the CFC as fast as I can pump it (about 10 minutes). In the summer when the tap is 75F, I have to run the wort a little slower so about 20 minutes.

My brewday from milling to cleanup to tucking the fermenters into the fridge is about 5 hours. I'm sure I'll shave about an hour when I stop messing around with my setup's configuration and finally get used to how long heating the water will take. IOW, if it's time to sparge and your water is only 130F, you're wasting time.
 

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