Beer loss due to dry hops and correction...

[NotSoNew2Brew]

So, as the title suggests... One of my recent brews required 5 oz of dry hops. It was amazing, but when I was filling keg I came up short about 1/2 gallon. I want to hear the way some brew so that OG and FG results are accurate. I could have added some sterile water to top off but that would have changed the ABV, character, among other things.

Should I brew 5.5 gallons and let it do its thing? Other thing is that some kits don't account for this so how have you adjusted?

Thnx


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[prandlesc]

In measuring OG and FG, having a hydrometer on hand is important. Your kit or recipe will have target gravities, but you won't really know what they are unless you measure them. Some of your loss is likely due to the hops addiction, and some may have occurred during the boil. If you had a full rolling boil vs. a moderate boil, or if you were boiling in very dry and/or windy conditions, your evaporation rates may have changed and been greater that you expected. If you want to add water to make up a volume, you can measure the effect on FG with your hydrometer. You can also estimate/calculate the change by using a brewing calculator, as long as you know the actual gravity of your wort. I've added water to my wort to get to a volume, but never to my finished beer, so I can't help with how it will change the character of the beer. Your taste buds are the best determiner there - taste it pre-water and post-water addition. Be sure you gently stir the water in so that it's fully incorporated before measuring or tasting.

One way to reduce hops loss is to use a hops bag for dry hopping. I generally dry hop in the keg using a bag. I make a loop in the closure string on the bag and fit it tightly over the end of the "in" dip tube. The I push an extra dip tube o-ring over the bottom of the tube, which holds the bag up at the top of the beer. Then when the dry hopping is done, I pull the bag out the top of the keg. Just make sure you wash and sanitize your hands and sanitize the hops bag before reaching into your keg.

Best of luck.

 

[Hammy71]

I simply up my batch size by about a half gallon if I'll be dry hopping with a lot of hops. Let the hops have their fun. Just like whisky has an 'angel's share', think of your beer the same way. I ferment in carboys, so the bag option just isn't practicle for me and when I do dry hop in the keg I use stainless tea balls. But they restrict the amount of hops I can use in them since they are a standard size. Also, I'm not going to cut back on my dry hop amounts.....that would be insane.