Gotta quick question about a batch I just brew

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Beer-Zombie, Feb 16, 2015.

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  1. Beer-Zombie

    Beer-Zombie Pooh-Bah (1,769) Oct 16, 2007 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    So I just did a Bells Two Hearted clone and it was a 6 gallon boil at 75 minutes. Ends up after all the boil loss and trub, I had 4 gallons to put into my carboy. I actually would have only had 3 gallons to syphin into the carboy but I decided to snag some trub laden beer to make an extra gallon. I know, quality over quantity but I figured it would drop out later (and I still might only end up with 3 gallons). So I punched into BeerSmith that my final volume in the carboy was 4 gallons and it said I had an efficiency of 59%. But had I ended up with 5 gallons if would have been 73%. Just wondering if I should invest in a larger brew kettle so that I can snag more beer and less trub next time. Or add water to my carboy to bring it up to 5 gallons? Not sure what to do for the next attempt at this recipe
     
  2. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    What is the gravity of the beer you put in your carboy? What was it supposed to be? If it is higher than expected, add some water.

    You can't go wrong with a bigger kettle. A 10gal kettle is good for 5-6gal batches with a gallon left behind as trub.
     
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  3. psnydez86

    psnydez86 Initiate (0) Jan 4, 2012 Pennsylvania

    The battle of trub vs. homebrewer. Whirlpool stands. Strainers. Molecular extraction. Modern day wizardry.

    I don't have a great answer. I brewed my first batch in march 2012 and I still battle with trub into the primary.

    The easiest thing I've found is throwing everything into a bucket lined with a paint strainer bag (all sanitized of course) and then pull the bag out with sterile/sanitized gloves and let it drain without too much squeezing. Discard bag contents, clean bags and repeat. (If your worried about it).

    This being said ( I don't know the link) but I saw a guy split a 10 gallon batch. 5 gallons as trub free as possible and 5 gallons as much trub as you could imagine. The trub freer version didn't taste as good as also took longer to clear in the keg. YMMV.


    I think the moral of the story is that you are worried about trub transfer and that I love using ---> ( ) 's.
     
  4. Beer-Zombie

    Beer-Zombie Pooh-Bah (1,769) Oct 16, 2007 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    The OG was 1.070 and the recipe said it would be 1.063 or so. Think it's ok to add a gallon of water in? Guess I should boil and cool it first? I pitched the yeast only a few hours ago. Hasn't even started goin nuts yet
     
  5. Beer-Zombie

    Beer-Zombie Pooh-Bah (1,769) Oct 16, 2007 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    Guess I couldn't get my true gravity reading after I add a gallon too huh? Because I honestly won't get to it tonight.
     
  6. salcedo

    salcedo Aspirant (287) Jun 1, 2014 California

    Yeah, if you have -5- (oops mean 4) gallons at 1.070, then add 1 gallon of water (presumably 1.000) then your gravity will end up around 1.056
     
  7. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    It depends on what you'd like at this point. You can leave it alone and have less beer with a higher gravity than what is planned. If you want this beer to be close to the recipe, then I'd add about a half gallon. It's not too late since you've just pitched your yeast. If you are on city water, then you don't need to boil/cool first because it should be sanitized water. You'll also add a little more water with you boil your priming sugar into solution, but that amount may just make up for the displacement of the trub that you'll leave behind.
     
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  8. GavinHarper

    GavinHarper Initiate (0) Jan 22, 2014 California

    if adding water to fermenter you'll want to remove the chlorine and chloramine by sending through a carbon filter then you'll definitely need to sanitize the water by boiling for about 5 minutes + 1m for every 1000ft above sea level.
     
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  9. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    definitely an interesting read
    http://brulosophy.com/2014/06/02/the-great-trub-exbeeriment-results-are-in/
     
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  10. Beer-Zombie

    Beer-Zombie Pooh-Bah (1,769) Oct 16, 2007 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

  11. Genuine

    Genuine Maven (1,347) May 7, 2009 Connecticut

    I've always wondered about that as well - What a great article!
     
  12. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    Just think of it in terms of sugar points. Gravity is read in terms of potential sugar per gallon. If you're going to add water and thin out your beer, you need to brew a condensed beer. It's just like Campbell's condensed soup. If you boil off a bunch of gallons, you have a stronger reading of sugar. If you add a bunch of water you have a weaker reading of sugar.

    How big did you say your boil kettle is?
     
  13. Beer-Zombie

    Beer-Zombie Pooh-Bah (1,769) Oct 16, 2007 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    It's a 7 gallon kettle. I'm actually looking into gettin some old kegs and converting them
     
  14. Theortiz01

    Theortiz01 Initiate (0) Jun 7, 2013 Texas

    You def need a bigger kettle...10 gallon kettle would be a minimum for 5-gallon batches.
     
  15. Beer-Zombie

    Beer-Zombie Pooh-Bah (1,769) Oct 16, 2007 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    Ya I just got 3 keg shells. Gonna be doing some cutting here soon
     
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