Always end up with just over 4 gallons?

[BK_BREWERY]

is there a better way to end up with 5 gallons of beer at the end of the brewing proccess? between racking from primary to secondary, and then racking from secondary to keg, and all the hydrometer samples i only end up with 4.1-4.2 gallons of drinkable beer in the end. Can you just start with say 5.5 gallons of wort, or 5.75 gallons to accomodate all the loss in transfers and samples or would the beer be watery? any other methods or tips that would increase my yield? or is the loss of brew just part of all the goodness!

(during racking i stop transfering as soo as i start picking up sediment trying to keep the next stage starting as clear as possible.)

any thoughts or suggestions are welcome

 

[david_42]

Leave the beer in the primary for a month, rack to keg. I rarely lose more than a quart.

Rack the 'muddy' part into a 2L bottle.

 

[Nurmey]

I leave mine for 4 weeks in primary. Leaving your beer longer compacts the trub considerably and you get more beer out without sediment.

3/4 of a cup fills my hydrometer tube. How many samples are you taking to be losing that much beer?

 

[BK_BREWERY]

3/4 of a cup fills my hydrometer tube. How many samples are you taking to be losing that much beer?

most of my loss is from racking, just was adding the hydro readings as another loss.

 

[Yooper]

A couple of things I thought of. First, use a yeast like Nottingham that "packs down" really tightly with the trub, so it's easy to rack off the beer from it. If you put a wedge under one side of the fermenter the night before you rack, most of the trub can slide more to one side, so you can more easily rack off of it. (I don't do that, but I know others do). Like was mentioned earlier, don't rack so soon. Leave it longer in the fermenter, and the trub will compact down more, and the beer will be easier to rack. Tilt the fermenter at the end, so you can rack the last couple of inches of beer.

If you're not doing kits, you can scale your recipe to 5.5 gallons if you want. (If you're doing kits, that won't work- you'd just be watering down your beer to get a few more beers out of it- 1/2 gallon is only 4 pints anyway.) Or, live with the amount you end up in the name of clearer beer.

I don't get much in the way of racking losses, to be honest. If I do a ton of dry hopping, I lose some to the hops but usually not very much in most of my beers.

 

[smizak]

My target volume in the kettle is 6 gal. When I rack with the kettle flat and whirlpooled, just the tip of my autosiphon touching the bottom, I get exactly 5.5 gals. in the fermenter. Trub left behind.

When I rack to my bottling bucket, same deal. No tipping of the carboy, just the tip of the siphon touching the center of the bottom. 1/2 gal. of yeast and trub left behind in the fermenter. 5 gallons of clean beer in the bottling bucket/keg.

I know that this bugs some people out, but it's worth the loss of some potential beer to hit my volumes exactly.

 

[BK_BREWERY]

Would building a "fermenting rack" to basically angle my carboys for racking while fermenting be a good idea? would it have any adverse affects on the fermentation proccess? been thinking about it for a little while.

 

[michaelm]

lol I set my targets up to get 5.25 gallons after boil so that after trub loss and such I end up with 5 gallons or so into the fermentor.... you just have to adjust for your equipment...


nottingham AND muntons premium gold prolly have the best most compact yeast cake when it comes to handling it....

 

[trn]

Would building a "fermenting rack" to basically angle my carboys for racking while fermenting be a good idea? would it have any adverse affects on the fermentation proccess? been thinking about it for a little while.

+1 to angling the fermentor. I'm just starting out and this was one of the issues I've had to work out. My efficiency was TERRIBLE. I use Webster's 9th New Collegiate Dictionary and use it to angle the fermentor overnight or at least a few hours before racking. Now I'm losing much less - around a quart. Don't see the purpose in spending time to build a "fementing rack," unless it's for fun.

 

[BK_BREWERY]

Don't see the purpose in spending time to build a "fementing rack," unless it's for fun.

one of my other hobbies is wood working, so it would be fun

just wanted to make sure it wouldn't stunt my fermentation or any other adverse affects

 

[McGarnigle]

If you're not doing it already, move your fermenter to its racking location a day or two before bottling day. That way, the sediment will fully settle first.

 

[SumnerH]

Spend slightly more on slightly more fermentables + hops, make 5.5 gallon batches, and don't waste your time and money on gear and letting it sit forever in primary.

Once you have a reasonable pipeline of beer going and the time/primary space isn't an issue, reverse those instructions.

 

[norn_irn]

hi guys im a newbie here, im doing a kit beer that says to bottle after a week, what i done was rack into another fermenting bin hopeing to get it clearer, i was thinking of leaving it here for a week or 2 then bottle it what you guys reckon?? will there be any problems in this??

GAWA
Green and White Army

 

[Nurmey]

hi guys im a newbie here, im doing a kit beer that says to bottle after a week, what i done was rack into another fermenting bin hopeing to get it clearer, i was thinking of leaving it here for a week or 2 then bottle it what you guys reckon?? will there be any problems in this??

GAWA
Green and White Army

You are wise not to pay attention to the instructions. Those are very bad instructions and can lead to bottle bombs and yucky beer. Continue with what your good sense is telling you to do. Personally, I would leave it in secondary for 2 weeks to allow it to clear and bulk age a bit. Your beer will be clearer and taste much better.

 

[Beerbeque]

With just 13 posts, I imagine you haven't brewed many batches yet. Just keep working on the science end of it and you'll work it out. Find a way to measure at every step. I did, and now with 30 batches completed I consistently hit my expected volumes and OG's. Brew on!

 

[ChshreCat]

I've used S05 and S04 and left it for 2 weeks in primary. When I racked to secondary I could literally set my autosiphon right into the sediment so there was only about a cm between the sediment and where I'm taking in beer and I'm getting nothing but beer.

That brings up a thought... are you using an autosiphon or a plain rackng cane? An autosiphon has a little piece on the end that keeps you from sucking up stuff that's right under it. It REALLY helps you get the last bit cleanly.

 

[norn_irn]

im using an autosiphon, ive come across some good stuff here which put me in mind to let it sit for a while longer. after the 1st week the beer is sitting at 4.59% which i was pleased about so i decided rather than put it into bottles and risk bottle bombs (there has been plenty of the real ones here for 35 years lol), i would transfer it into secondary for a week or 2. i think ill leave it there for 2 weeks now then bottle, once i bottle how long will i let it sit until i can have a swally??

 

[Yankeehillbrewer]

With just 13 posts, I imagine you haven't brewed many batches yet.

That's about the silliest thing I've heard. Assuming that someone's post count correlates to their brewing career is asinine. Believe it or not people are able to brew without HBT.

carry on:fro:

 

[ChshreCat]

That's about the silliest thing I've heard. Assuming that someone's post count correlates to their brewing career is asinine. Believe it or not people are able to brew without HBT.

carry on:fro:

And the inverse... By my post count, I should be a Master Brewer by now. LOL

 

[IrregularPulse]

And the inverse... By my post count, I should be a Master Brewer by now. LOL

I was going to say the same. Just as there are people who brew with HBT, there are plenty who post and don't brew. Hell I've got less than 20 batches under my belt since I started a little under 1 1/2 years ago, post count says I'm a master brewer.

 

[ChshreCat]

I have just over 600 posts for each batch I've done. And that counts the one I put in the fermenter on Sunday.

 

[norn_irn]

ha ha i thought it was a strange post but hey im not complaining i got vgood advice#]

GAWA
Green and White Army