Where Did my beer go?

[NyQuil_Driver]

Hi Folks,

I'm working on my first batch ever, a nut brown ale kit from a local shop. Everything seemed to go fine. I pitched, it bubbled, it stopped, and I racked it over to a secondary to clear. That's when things got weird. I estimate that there's only about 3 gallons present of the original 5 gallon batch.

The most likely story is that I grossly miscalculated the amount of water with which to top up before pitching, or I mislabeled my five-gallon line, or the foam from pouring screwed up my measurement.

Is there anything else it could be? I only took one sample from the bottling tap at around 2 weeks, and it was just enough to float the hydrometer, no more. Is my dog sneaking samples on me?

The second question is: What should I do? Do I just bottle what I've got there and see what happens, or do I top it up to 5 gallons? The original gravity was 1.067, and right before I racked over to secondary it was 1.027, which I think is pretty normal, but I'd love to hear some ideas from you guys.

Thanks!

 

[elmetal]

1.027 is def not normal. I would boil water and top off. but that's me.

 

[phatuna]

well, you should re-measure your 5 gallon line on your primary first of all to make sure that it is correct.
You will also loose beer due to trub left at the bottom of your bucket, hydro readings etc. You did a pretty decent size beer @ 1.067 SG, I would guess you used a good amount of hops and probably had a good layer of trub (certainly not 2 gallons worth though).

I'm not sure if you buy kits or buy your ingredients a la carte, but if you buy them a la cart, you might adjust your recipe to 5.5 gallons to adjust for the loss due to trub.

 

[wyzazz]

Heh, those damn beer gremlins again! Bastids have flexible straws that they stick right through the airlocks!

 

[Hodor_Baggins]

The most likely story is that I grossly miscalculated the amount of water with which to top up before pitching, or I mislabeled my five-gallon line, or the foam from pouring screwed up my measurement.

Did you account for boil off? If your total water to start out was 5gal, then it is possible you boiled off ~1.5gal during your 60min boil, leaving you with 3.5 gal beer. I did this on my first batch, beer still turned out really well though.

 

[techrunner]

i'd bet that he missed the initial volume for a kit to have that high of an OG. i'd check your 5 gallon line, and then if its off fix that. did you try the hydrometer sample? guess if its good, i might go with it, but if its way too heavy, i would top it off with boiled/cooled water.

 

[malkore]

1.067 seems way high for a nut brown ale, and 1.027 is def too high a final gravity.

i'd say a mis-measurement of top off water from the beginning. the foam can indeed cause issues reading lines through a bucket fermenter.

 

[somecallmetex]

I just did my first racking last week and lost a good half gallon in the process.

 

[david_42]

I'm inclined to go with not enough top-off water. 1.067 is way too high for a nut brown kit, should have been around 1.040. I'd boil 2 gallons of water, cool it and add to the secondary. Then let it sit for a week or two.

 

[BlueSunshine]

I just lost about a gallon on my last batch to a massive trub, so I feel your pain.