Not getting full 5 gallon volume

[NYJayhawk]

I've had an issue with a couple of batches where I've either done a partial mash batch, or recently when I used fresh hops, where the grain and/or hops are absorbing a lot of my wort. In the first case, I made the mistake of rinsing the leftover grain in a strainer until I got to the 5 gallon mark in my fermenter. I obviously left/lost a ton of sugars in the grain as my initial gravity number was lower than it should have been. Beer turned out ok, but it was about 1/2 the ABV the recipe called for and tasted a little thin.
Most recently I brewed a batch with my own homegrown hops. Since I was using fresh (not dried) whole hops, the quantity that I needed to use was pretty large (2 freezer bags full) based on the conversion ratios I found on the web. Needless to say, these whole hops absorbed a TON of wort and rather than fill the fermenter to 5 gallons with wort and water, I only added enough water to get to the target initial gravity.
The beer is in the keg carbonating now, but from what I've tasted along the way, it's going to be great. Unfortunately, however, I only netted out with 2.5 gallons rather than the 5 I was hoping for.
So here's my question: what can I do to get more beer out of these batches (thinking my rudimentary sparging isn't cutting it) or do I just need to factor in that I'm going to lose a certain percentage of beer and increase the amount of ingredients accordingly?
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Rish]

This is the extract brewing thread. Are these extract beers you're talking about?

 

[NYJayhawk]

The first problem was with a partial mash beer (I know, wrong forum) but this one was Northern Brewer's Sip of Sunshine clone, 100% malt extract. The only difference was that I substituted the pellet hops that came with the recipe with fresh hops from my back yard. To give you some idea of volume, the conversion from pellet hops to whole hops is 5:1 (i.e. for every 1 oz of pellet hops, you need to use 5 oz of dried whole hops). Then, the conversion from dry whole hops is another 5:1, so the total conversion works out to 25:1. As a result, I essentially had 2 ziploc gallon freezer bags of hop cones in a 4 gallon boil, which was essentially soup. Once you strain out the hops, the hops absorb a ton of wort. So even rinsing and squeezing out the hops only netted me 2.5 gallons of wort to add yeast to.

 

[MaxStout]

Yep, if you use whole hops, especially if it's a LOT of them, you'll lose quite a bit of wort. There are probably some free online calculators that will help you calculate hop absorption. It's just one of those things you'll need to factor into your recipe.

Do you use a hops bag in the boil? That might make it easier to remove the hops and allow you to drain some of the wort back into the kettle. You should be able to reclaim some of that wort.

 

[NYJayhawk]

Yep, if you use whole hops, especially if it's a LOT of them, you'll lose quite a bit of wort. There are probably some free online calculators that will help you calculate hop absorption. It's just one of those things you'll need to factor into your recipe.

Do you use a hops bag in the boil? That might make it easier to remove the hops and allow you to drain some of the wort back into the kettle. You should be able to reclaim some of that wort.

I think you're confirming what I thought. I didn't use a hop bag, buy it would have literally taken up most of the pot, lol. When I drained the wort, I bascially put the hops in a strainer and mushed the wort out of them with a bowl. Oh well, I get fresh hops once a year, so next year, I'll just scale things up.

 

[D.B.Moody]

I think the solution would be to not put the extract in until after you remove the hops. The extract doesn't need boiling. Treat it like a partial boil with late addition.

 

[OleBrewing]

this is part of the brewing (i will say cooking) where recipes are designed for ones equipment. wort loss is always there no matter what equipment you use. this is where brewing notes are helpful. no one has the exact same equipment or environment so you have to piece together something that works for you.

make adjustments as needed to get your numbers you expect to get. soon enough it will be like making oatmeal in the microwave.

 

[IslandLizard]

where the grain [...] are absorbing a lot of my wort.

You're not boiling your grain, are you?

 

[D.B.Moody]

You're not boiling your grain, are you?

As @Rish pointed out before, since this is the Extract Forum we don't care about his grain problem.

 

[IslandLizard]

As @Rish pointed out before, since this is the Extract Forum we don't care about his grain problem.

Fair enough!
However, steeping grain shouldn't be boiled either.

 

[IslandLizard]

Unfortunately, however, I only netted out with 2.5 gallons rather than the 5 I was hoping for.

Things are not adding up.
Can you post your recipe?
And details on how you do your partial mash?

Meanwhile, I can recommend reading John Palmer's How to Brew, 4th Ed.