efficiency

[MagicTurtle]

I have bought and brewed two Brewers Best kits that are made for a 5 gallon batch with a 2.5 gallon boil. Both times I bought five 1 gallon jugs of filtered water at wal-mart and added 2.5 to the kettle and the remaining 2.5 to the primary prior to adding the wort to the primary. In the first case I was brewing a belgiam tripple that was supposed to have an OG of 1.083 - 1.086. I actually got an OG of 1.072. The second batch was supposed to yield an OG of 1.071-1.075 and I got an OG of 1.052. The actual volume of wort was exactly what the kit asked for so I assume my problem is with efficiency. How can I correct an efficiency problem?? to loose .02 in OG with no significant loss in volume seems extreme to me but them again I am a noob. I know I could just add more fermentables to increase the OG but I want to be more precise in my processes to make sure I can duplicate my results. First batch lost half as much OG as the second based on the kits calculations. Any ideas here??

 

[dbreienrk1]

Search the forum. Many extract brewers have this problem of not mixing the wort with the water well enoughvand have skewed gravity readings. Also, you should be brewing/mixing with more than 5 gallons because you lose water during the boil.

 

[duboman]

Efficiency is generally not an issue with extract brewing as you are not mashing grains, most likely your volumes are off or you did not mix the wort / water enough. If you only boiled 2.5 gallons and then added 2.5 gallons you must have added more water because you would have boiled off some of the initial 2.5 so in result you had more water than wort so it's over diluted which would drop you OG.

Precise measurements I volumes is one of the first things to learn about in brewing along with sanitizing and temperature control during fermentation.

Also be sure that the next batch gets well mixed which will also help aerate prior to pitching yeast

 

[MagicTurtle]

I had exactly 5 gallons of water added in both batches. I mentioned in my question that I purchased five one gallon bottles from Wal-Mart for each batch. Whatever I lost in the boil would be a volume reduction and thus an OG increase right?? I did not add any additional water to "top off" the primary or secondary fermenter. I opened three of the bottles and poured two, and as close to half as my eye can allow, of them into my kettle. I followed the instructions in the kit for the boil and I then poured the remaining two sealed bottles plus the one partial left over from above into my 6 gallon carboy into which I then poured, with a funnel, the boiled wort. I then carried the resulting mixture to my fermentation "area" where I rocked the carboy back and forth several times to insure mixing. My wort at this point was a tad frothy. I then poured 1 cup or so out of the carboy to take my OG reading. I pitched my yeast, capped my primary with and airlock system and went to the hydrometer. I followed this exact same procedure for both batches. I am a VERY analitical person and I do not wish to come off as argumentative. I just want you all to hear what I did.

If you are correct and my readings were off due to poor mixing. Would that result in a beer of lower ABV then listed on the kit or would the sugars ( not properly mixed) still be "found" by the yeast and get fermented anyway resulting in basically the same ABV as I was trying to achieve in the first place?

 

[scubaDAN1985]

The yeast will find the sugar in your wort no prob

 

[kh54s10]

Rocking the carboy back and forth a few times is nowhere near enough to get a good mix. You need to shake the bejeebers out of your wort. This is to mix it well and to introduce enough oxygen to make the yeast happy.

I would not worry too much when using a kit. They have been refined to a point where if you use all the ingredients and get the right volumes your gravity will be very close to the kits prediction.

For me I just note what I get. Try to figure out if there was anything I did wrong or could do better. Wait a month or so and enjoy a good brew, then attempt to do better on the next brew.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Rocking the carboy back and forth a few times is nowhere near enough to get a good mix. You need to shake the bejeebers out of your wort. This is to mix it well and to introduce enough oxygen to make the yeast happy..

+1. Extract is notorious for being difficult to mix to get accurate OG readings. If you used all the extract and the right amount of water, you got the OG in the kit.

 

[azoteman213]

You could take the O.G. reading from wort pulled from the kettle (that is, prior to mixing it with the water in the carboy). Then you can calculate the O.G of the entire batch by taking into account whatever amount of water you had in the carboy. In you case, say you have 2.5 gallons of wort in the kettle with an O.G of 1.080. When you add that wort to 2.5 gallons of water, you are diluting the O.G. to half. The calculation would therefore be (80/2=40) which means your O.G. for the total 5 gallons is 1.040. By calculating your O.G. this way your readings are not affected by how well the wort and water are mixed. Also, when doing your hydrometer readings be sure to take your sample temperature into account in order to adjust your readings.

I agree with kh54s10. With the kits, as long as you use the right volumes of water you should have no problem reaching your target original gravity. The final gravity, however depends on the fermentation conditions and this is what will make the most difference in your ABV at this point. I hope this helps and I wish you the best on your future brews.

 

[MagicTurtle]

Thank you all for the feedback! Papazian ( i think thats spelled right) said "relax, don't worry, and have a home brew" I think I will go with that and if the beer isnt what I want I get to drink that plus brew some more to drink....

 

[helibrewer]

It still remains that if you started with (5) 1 gallon water bottles you did not end up with 5 gallons of beer. That 2.5 gallons you boil is going to have evaporation, anywhere from 1/2-1 gallon per hour so for a 5 gallon batch you really need 6-6.5 gallons of water to start off with.

Once your 6 gallon carboy is empty, fill it with 5 gallons of water and mark the carboy, that way you will have a good reference for topping off next time.