beer loss?

[jonbomb]

Ok so a few weeks ago I seen a post someone posted about having a lot of loss. He only got like a case and a half of bottles after brewing. I bottled last wendsday and I only got like 1 3/4 case so I had some loss too... is there any way to prevent this. I know the wort usually takes a lot off the top.

BTW I brewed a 5 gal container.

 

[BigTexun]

If you are sure that you had exactly 5 gallons in your fermentor (big assumption), I'd surmise that your loss was caused by the trub at the bottom of your fermentor. The trub takes up significant volume and generally, you try to avoid bottling it.

 

[BrewVol]

There are a number of reasons you may have less than the desired 5 gallons, but in my experience the main culprit is boil off. I've seen a one hour boil reduce the wort from 6.5 down to 5, which after fermentation will be less than 5.

However, it must be noted that only getting 4.75 gallons isn't always a bad thing, especially if you like stronger beer. The times I've come up short after boil, ferment that volume. Some will add water after boil to get it back up to 5, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Feels like cheating. \

My advice, which has helped me along the way, is pay real close attention to your measurements. I was sparging a full half gallon less than I should have on one of my brews. It came out great by the way, as they say, beer is really hard to screw up.

 

[BendBrewer]

If you shoot for 5 gallons in Primary you aren't going to end up with 5 gallons of beer.

I like to shoot for 5.25 or 5.5 gallons in Primary depending on amount of planned dry hopping. Those dry little buggers 'drink' a lot.

But with the loss of trub and whatever the dry hops absorb, you need to plan for slightly larger batches, (which kits aren't really designed for) or be happy with the yeild you do get.

 

[BrewVol]

If you shoot for 5 gallons in Primary you aren't going to end up with 5 gallons of beer.

I like to shoot for 5.25 or 5.5 gallons in Primary depending on amount of planned dry hopping. Those dry little buggers 'drink' a lot.

But with the loss of trub and whatever the dry hops absorb, you need to plan for slightly larger batches, (which kits aren't really designed for) or be happy with the yeild you do get.

+1 on this. I have never brewed an extract kit, but just from reading the forums the instructions leave much to be desired. I have been shooting for just a bit above 5.25 in the primary, and this leaves me plenty of trub space, and a full five gallons of fermented goodness.

 

[jonbomb]

There are a number of reasons you may have less than the desired 5 gallons, but in my experience the main culprit is boil off. I've seen a one hour boil reduce the wort from 6.5 down to 5, which after fermentation will be less than 5.

However, it must be noted that only getting 4.75 gallons isn't always a bad thing, especially if you like stronger beer. The times I've come up short after boil, ferment that volume. Some will add water after boil to get it back up to 5, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Feels like cheating. \

My advice, which has helped me along the way, is pay real close attention to your measurements. I was sparging a full half gallon less than I should have on one of my brews. It came out great by the way, as they say, beer is really hard to screw up.

I def had a half gallon boil off my wert which i then filled my ale pale up to five gallons after my wert was done cooking. So I did loose some in the boil.

 

[BigTexun]

If you shoot for 5 gallons in Primary you aren't going to end up with 5 gallons of beer.

I like to shoot for 5.25 or 5.5 gallons in Primary depending on amount of planned dry hopping. Those dry little buggers 'drink' a lot.

But with the loss of trub and whatever the dry hops absorb, you need to plan for slightly larger batches, (which kits aren't really designed for) or be happy with the yeild you do get.

+1.

I shoot for 5.5 in the primary to account for trub loss... and loss when cold crashing. Since I put my end product in kegs, I just can't stand to see a partially full keg!

 

[BrewVol]

I def had a half gallon boil off my wert which i then filled my ale pale up to five gallons after my wert was done cooking. So I did loose some in the boil.

And to be clear, adding water post boil isn't a bad thing. Most people seem to do it. I just have a hard time adding water to my wort, who knows why.

 

[BendBrewer]

And to be clear, adding water post boil isn't a bad thing. Most people seem to do it. I just have a hard time adding water to my wort, who knows why.

Probably for the same reason I don't boil my IC for 15 minutes.

So, where did you cook?

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

You definitely will have some loss with trub.

Did you ferment 5 gallons in a 5 gallon container? If so, did you have some blow off? That would also account for your loss.

 

[jonbomb]

I had a .5 gal boil off but I still filled my 5 gallon container up to five gallons.

I was under the impression that you only double the amount. Meaning if I had 2.5 gallons of wort I would fill the wort up to five gallons but I was told it doesnt matter how much wort you end up with as long as you fill the 5 gallon container up to the ammount the starter pack calls for then you are fine.

 

[BrewVol]

I had a .5 gal boil off but I still filled my 5 gallon container up to five gallons.

I was under the impression that you only double the amount. Meaning if I had 2.5 gallons of wort I would fill the wort up to five gallons but I was told it doesnt matter how much wort you end up with as long as you fill the 5 gallon container up to the ammount the starter pack calls for then you are fine.

If you want 5 gallons after fermentation you're going to need more than 5 gallons in the fermenter. The yeast eats some, the trub takes away some.

 

[jonbomb]

If you want 5 gallons after fermentation you're going to need more than 5 gallons in the fermenter. The yeast eats some, the trub takes away some.

Ok but see how I was orginally suposed to have 2.5 gallons of wert. If I put too much water in am I going to effect the final alchahol by volume??

 

[snowveil]

Ok but see how I was orginally suposed to have 2.5 gallons of wert. If I put too much water in am I going to effect the final alchahol by volume??

That's correct. Any time you dilute your wort you're also going to decrease the gravity reading. So it really comes down to this...do I want more beer at a lower abv, or less of what I planned to make?

As others have said, you can up the recipe just a bit so that you hit your OG with more than 5 gallons if it matters that much to you that you get a specific volume of beer in the end.