Trub impacts to volume measurements and calculations

[Btaz]

I've been working to understand my various volume measurements throughout brew day and wonder how Trub and other material is handled. For instance, from my batch sparging I have an idea how much grain absorption and MLT losses to expect, but I know when I do a pre-boil volume measurement there is a fair amount of material in there that is going to add to the measurement.

Also, when doing a, lets say, 5g recipe I assume the is the amount of wort into the fermenter. Is this correct? I know that the amount of trub carried into the fermenter various by beer and beer maker so how does one account for the variations?

 

[Rev2010]

I only really count for excess absorption when making beers with lots of hops, and in those cases I use a bit more sparge water so that I wind up with a, preplanned of course, boil volume. This way if, for example, if I plan for 5g in the fermenter and would usually start with something like a 6.75 boil volume, I'll shoot a bit higher like 7g. This is just an example, not a real world math based one, and doesn't take into account actual wort loss in regard to OG but I've never really found myself falling short on OG targets. There are calcs though where you can figure hop absorption and such if I recall, then just compensate your grain bill. I've always just winged it and have had great success, though in an environment where you need to be accurate and repeatable you'll of course want to calculate so I'm sure some others will chime in with better advice.

Rev.

 

[flars]

You're over thinking it. Meet your fermentor volume, take some trub loss to the bottle or keg and avoid what might be a thin watery beer by adding extra volume.

 

[acidrain]

I never worry about brew house efficiency... mash efficiency is what I'm after.
I brew a 6 gallon batch to make 5.5 gallons in the fermenter, and then keg only 5 gallons of that.

 

[kh54s10]

To avoid loss to hop debris I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag and add each addition to the bag that is clipped to the rim of the kettle. I collect enough wort to have a bit over 5 gallons after the boil.

I really don't pay any attention to how much I lose in grain absorption, and have fine tuned my equipment profile in Beersmith so I don't have to worry about equipment loss.

 

[Btaz]

Thanks for the comments. I've basically been doing the same thing as most of you have stated. Given that I'm only into my second all grain batch I'm glad to hear that I'm not forgetting something.

 

[Justdrumin]

You're over thinking it. Meet your fermentor volume, take some trub loss to the bottle or keg and avoid what might be a thin watery beer by adding extra volume.

You don't necessarily have to take the loss or have watery beer if you account for it right from the get go. You can experiment with it a bit. When you put your recipe into beer smith or whatever it is you use, have your target boil volume and fermenter volumes reflect for the trub loss. Add an extra .5 gallon or so. If you have 5 gallons into your fermenter, more than likely you're not going to end up with 5 gallons in the end. You'll use more grain to account for it so it doesn't end up watery, and you will still end up with your target end volume into bottles or keg. I'm in the process of figuring this very thing out myself. So if you know what you're losing from grain absorption and mash tun dead space, then add a smidge more than that to your recipe and see how it comes out. If you're getting 5 gallons in the bottle, perfect! If not, add a smidge more next time.

I never worry about brew house efficiency... mash efficiency is what I'm after.
I brew a 6 gallon batch to make 5.5 gallons in the fermenter, and then keg only 5 gallons of that.

In a nutshell, this is what I was talking about. You brew a six gallon batch accounting for the loss by keeping your OG where you want it with the added water and added grain. You lose a little bit to grain absorption, a little bit in the boil, a little bit to trub, and hopefully you end up with your target 5 gallons in the bottles or keg.