Could I have really lost this much beer?

[Mechphisto]

I just finished bottling my 5 gallon batch. I got 34 12oz bottles and 2 22oz bottles.
I calculate that to be 3.3 gallons!
When I put it in the primary fermenter (a 5gal glass carboy), I made sure to top it off to where it came up just below the bottom of the neck. Surely that's 5 full gallons.
I lost maybe a few ounces in the blowoff.
Then I secondary fermented it in a 5 gal PET carboy, and it came up to about a couple inches under the bottom of the neck. Let's say I lost a quart to the trub.
Then when I racked to the bottling bucket, I left about an inch of more sentiment, and when I finished bottling, I have less than an inch in the bucket.
At the most generous, from primary to bottle I lost 3 quarts.
How in the world did I end up with only 3.3 gallons of finished product?
Where am I wrong in my fig'urin'?

 

[davidabcd]

Max for 12oz size is 53 bottles but I lose around 5 bottles to trub or whatever on average. You got about 37. You should get around 48. So you're missing 11bottles.

Magic aside, I would physically measure your containers.

 

[501irishred]

, I made sure to top it off to where it came up just below the bottom of the neck.

With that little head space, I’d think you would have lost more than an once or two. Even the least active fermentation needs some room to work. Are you 100% sure your PET carboy is a full 5gal? Something sounds fishy for sure. Maybe your neighbor is a Wiccan and has something against homebrew?

 

[jrgtr42]

Does your bottling bucket have measurement markers on it? What did it come to?
My seat of the pants, and being slightly fuzzy, math comes to you got about 3.5 gallons bottled - including whatever you have for priming.
So....where did the rest go.
I would say to measure out your carboys, if you haven't already - mark some permanent way on the side where a measured amount of liquid comes to -
and I also wouldn't use a 5-gallon carboy as primary for a 5-gallon batch - you do need more headspace than that - I personally won't use less that 7 gallon container as primary.
also, what is the dead space - lost liquid - in your bottling bucket?
All that can easily add up to more than you think.

 

[CodeSection]

I suspect those couple of inches (1" in the fermenter glass carboy; roughly 1" in the bottling bucket) easily contain about a gallon of liquid. 128oz / 12oz = 10.67 of bottles....so there is the missing 11 bottles.

 

[brewdude88]

I would skip the secondary next time, but I’m guessing you lost more than 3 quarts to trub. I find I need 5.5 gallons into the fermenter to fill a 5gal keg, 6 gallons with high hop loads.

 

[dwhite60]

Eleven, twelve ounce bottles is 132 ounces or just over one gallon.

You might want to confirm your vessel size. Only thing I can think of.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[Rackrunner]

I suspect those couple of inches (1" in the fermenter glass carboy; roughly 1" in the bottling bucket) easily contain about a gallon of liquid. 128oz / 12oz = 10.67 of bottles....so there is the missing 11 bottles.

Pretty much this. An inch at the bottom of a ~10.25" diameter bottling bucket comes out to 82 cubic inches, or about 45 fl oz. Figuring roughly the same for the primary and secondary that's 135 fl oz, or 11.25 bottles. Add in a little bit of volume loss to blowoff, etc, and you're not too far off.

 

[HB_ATL73]

Eh thats the typical tax rate in Georgia...