2 part question - Measuring OG and whole leaf hops

This is probably more important for 3 gallon batches, but I wanted to verify. I typically boil with 5-6 gallons in my kettle. Usually I turn the spigot on and start draining to the carboy and somewhere midstream I divert to my hydrometer to get my reading. Considering there is some evaporation I always end up having to add a half gallon or gallon of water at the end. Do you think this would change the OG reading much? Should I get the carboy to 5g, shake it up and then take a reading?

Also, I've noticed that when using whole leaf hops, especially in IPAs it really absorbs a lot of the wort meaning I have to use more cold water at the end. Do people make an effort to press them a bit to extract some more water and hoppy oil goodness? Or is it not worth the effort and/or risk of contamination of trying to do this?

Thanks in advance for any help!

If you had five gallon in at 1.050 then added a half gallon to account for loss to trub, you will end up around 1.045 according to Beersmith.

I personally would mix the water sufficiently to ensure equilibrium before taking a hydro sample.

I don't use whole leaf so cheers

yeah, in order to get a true OG reading you want to take a sample from the final product at a reasonable yeast pitching temperature and then adjust based on the chart on this page http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixA.html

As far as with leaf hops, the only time I used them I only used two ounces and they didnt seem to absorb a huge amount of water, didnt seem to be a problem, but even if they do you dont want to try to make up for that with top-off water, thats just going to dilute your beer.

adding any amount of water will lower your OG reading. always take a reading after you top off. top off to 5 gallons in your brew pot before you rack to your primary. then don't add any water after that. as far as the hops goes i would think there would be more wort left in the pot after racking than the hops could soak up.

neomantra said:

This is probably more important for 3 gallon batches, but I wanted to verify. I typically boil with 5-6 gallons in my kettle. Usually I turn the spigot on and start draining to the carboy and somewhere midstream I divert to my hydrometer to get my reading. Considering there is some evaporation I always end up having to add a half gallon or gallon of water at the end. Do you think this would change the OG reading much? Should I get the carboy to 5g, shake it up and then take a reading?

Yes, mixing well is the only way to get an accurate reading. That said, I never water down my batches. I simply increase my mash/sparge water volume to get desired postboil volume.

Also, I've noticed that when using whole leaf hops, especially in IPAs it really absorbs a lot of the wort meaning I have to use more cold water at the end. Do people make an effort to press them a bit to extract some more water and hoppy oil goodness? Or is it not worth the effort and/or risk of contamination of trying to do this?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Click to expand...

I do squeeze a little, but I use Lil sparky's hop bag, and with sanitized hands, I gently press as much wort out as possible without directly touching the bottom of the bag.

I sanitize two sets of tongs, use one to hold the hop bag and one to squeeze the wort out of it.

Cool, thanks for the feedback so far everyone. Sounds like I should definitely take the extra step of siphoning back out of the carboy after I have my full 5 gallons in there. I have some follow up questions based on some of your comments.

@gtpro: "you dont want to try to make up for that with top-off water, thats just going to dilute your beer."

Hmm, I understand you don't want to dilute your beer beyond what the recipe calls for but if my recipe was for a 5 gallon batch doesn't that account for trub loss and the addition of cold water to reach that 5 gallon mark in the carboy?

@tipsydragon: "top off to 5 gallons in your brew pot before you rack to your primary."

How do you swing that measurement in your brew pot? Don't I have to get the wort into the carboy to know how much liquid is left after the loss from evaporation and trub removal?

Along those lines one thing I have tried is adding the water to the kettle and letting it run through the wort/hops to help preserve more flavor while topping up (I guess that's like sparging? I'm not an AG guy yet). Though in hind sight this might also pull additional trub into the carboy...?

@ the people using hops bags-

This last batch I brewed was an amber IPA (attempt at a nugget nectar clone) using 6oz of hops. I have a nylon grain bag but 1) it seems like it would be really tight trying to squeeze all those hops into the bag in the first place and 2) how do you handle multiple hop additions? I can't imagine you fish the bag out to add more to it? Do you end up with several hop bags in there? Maybe I should just roll with pellets for the early additions and save the whole leaf for the aroma bit?

I don't have Beersmith but found a nice tool online for recipe building. Here's the recipe if anyone's interested for the sake of background info (url to the recipe calculator is on the PDF in the top right corner): http://neomantra.org/beer/2010-03-04-nugget_nectar_clone.pdf

I split my hops in to multiple small muslin bags, so yes, I have multiple bags in one boil.

Pick up a Mix Stir, you can aerate and mix up your wort at the same time in the carboy, and definitely squeeze those hops for all their worth! I use the Lil'Sparky Nylon Paint Strainer Bag Thimajiggy, and always squeeze my hop bag with my tongs before I send the wort through the plate chiller.

You can take your OG reading just like you are doing. It won't change during draining. Adding water will certainly change the OG reading. If you are reading SG at 4.5 gal., then adding water to bring it to 5 gal. will reduce OG by 4.5/5. It is certainly easier to get beer from the siphon hose than from the primary, and less stuff to sanitize.

You can calculate gallons in your brewpot using a ruler. Simply measure your brewpot height. If it is a 5 gal. pot, 10" high, then every inch is .5 gal. So, 4 gal. would be 2" from the top (measuring from the top keeps your ruler clean). I keep a handy chart with me when brewing showing inches from the top for every .5 gal. increment.

I don't think it matters where you put the water. If you don't want to take another OG reading, then put it separately. Otherwise, some percentage will be lost in the equipment and trub.