Improving yield

So I've done a handful of batches and have always been short of my supposed yield of 48 12 oz. beers. Seems that between drawing samples with the thief, extra in the bottom of the bottling bucket, and the trub that collects-I've always been short.

I use a 6.5 gal. carboy as a primary-so if I just add more water (maybe an extra half-one gallon), will the concentration still be correct? I'd rather be short than have it watered down, but I'd still like to get a full batch.

BrewDey said:

So I've done a handful of batches and have always been short of my supposed yield of 48 12 oz. beers. Seems that between drawing samples with the thief, extra in the bottom of the bottling bucket, and the trub that collects-I've always been short.

I use a 6.5 gal. carboy as a primary-so if I just add more water (maybe an extra half-one gallon), will the concentration still be correct? I'd rather be short than have it watered down, but I'd still like to get a full batch.

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No, you need to adjust your recipe. It will screw it up. I am in the habit of brewing a full half gallon over my target.

alot of us do a 5.5 gallon batch. this will alow us to end up with an easy 5 gallons after racking and trubb loss

i add a little over 5 gallons (say, 5 1/8) and usually end up with about 4.5 gallons. alot is lost in racking and sediment.

I would definitely adjust the recipe, tho, if its that important to get a 5 gal batch. i'd much rather have better tasting brew than a full yield, myself.

How close to the target gravities are you getting? I usually make 5.5 gallon batches, and bottle 5 gallons and a little change.

You can use software available online such as ProMash or BeerSmith to adjust the recipe for a larger batch size.

Try to get that last bit out of the bottling bucket by tilting it.

- magno

I would definatly adjust batch size to yield more wort, don't water down the brew.

Just to throw this out there with a five gallon batch you should end up around 52 or so bottles. FWIW.

Cheers

Approx how many ounces are lost when you transfer from the secondary to the bottling bucket? In turn, how much is lost in the bottling bucket? I have figured I will get about 44-46 bottles when I am done. Am I wasting to much? I have figured about 32 oz waste in the secondary and about 16 oz in the bottling bucket.

I am already down 64 ozs from my transfer into the secondary. It was my first time racking and when I seen "milky stuff" in the racking cane I stopped. I had 32 ozs of spent yeast in the bottom of the primary, is that about normal? I am sure it depends on the strain.

Waste in the bottling bucket? What is this? It all goes in, just tip the bucket!

z987k said:

Waste in the bottling bucket? What is this? It all goes in, just tip the bucket!

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Except for the last bottle which always comes out only 90% full.
I always tilt the primary and seconday as well. The only problems I have are when racking to secondary and not paying attention, I sometimes end up with a pint of beer on the floor.

-a.

Chimone said:

alot of us do a 5.5 gallon batch. this will alow us to end up with an easy 5 gallons after racking and trubb loss

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+1. I create recipes for 5.5 gal, targeting 5 in the corny at the end and lots of yummy sampling along the way.

zoebisch01 said:

No, you need to adjust your recipe. It will screw it up. I am in the habit of brewing a full half gallon over my target.

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So last night I boiled 2.5gal and topped off with 2.75gal. Are you saying .25gal extra water can affect a recipe enough to notice?

In the 2 batches that I have bottled my yeild seems to be lower then it should be. But to avoid being upset by the ammount that actually gets bottled I use 16.9oz and 22oz, I manage to avoid doing the math and just go with the flow.

Plus by using the larger bottles I manage to drink more per night. Say a girlfriend doesn't like you drinking more then 2 maybe 3 bottles a night....2-12oz means 24oz beer per night, 2-16.9oz bottles a night equals 33.8oz beer per night. You're drinking almost a whole extra 12oz bottle a night! Bigger bottles fool the womens!