Trub/Hop Loss

PieOPah · Post by **PieOPah** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:16 am

On average, how much wort do you all lose due to Hops and Trub?

On my last brew day, I was hitting all of my expected volumes up until I collected my wort after the boil.

After the mash, I collected about 27 litres (I was shooting for 25.26). Since I hadn't expected to have the extra couple of litres, I added some to the boil and poured the rest away (some grain managed to make it into this so didn't want to transfer it to the boil).

All the way through the boil I was pleased to have what appeared to be a great amount of wort. After all the problems I had previously experienced, I thought I Had finally hit the nail on the head and done everything right for a change.

After cooling the wort and collecting it in my Fermenter, I was horrified to find that I was about 4-5 litres short. I have no idea exactly since the fermenter I was using has no markings. All I have done is put a tiny line to show 22 litres.

I topped up my wort with water which I was really gutted about.

Obviously I now need to take into account the loss to Hops and Trub. When emptying my boiler, it was horrific to see just how much wort didn't drain off.

Anyway, is there a typical amount of loss? Obviously the amount of Hops would effect this partly.

Is it worth just doing a consistent calculation of about 4 litres to take this into account?

Thanks.

Kev. · Post by **Kev.** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:40 am

Depends on a few things including your system, normally with my setup, twin element 12 galllon boiler, if I'm aiming for say a 25 litres in the fermenter I'll start with around 31 litres wort in the boiler preboil.

This seems to cover me for evaporation, water loss in hops/trub and cooling shrinkage.

Promash has a calculator for working out your water requirements also see http://www.allaboutbeer.com/homebrew/water.html

Scooby · Post by **Scooby** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:04 am

On average I lose 10% / hr boil so with 27L to start I would end up with 23L after 90min.

I always gently sparge my hops with a little boiling water to rinse out the last remaining sugar so do not calculate any losses there.

Kev's 31L- 25L assuming a 90min boil is about 13%, due to his twin element giving him a faster boil no doubt.

PieOPah · Post by **PieOPah** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:13 am

I guess I could always try the hops sparge.

I will try a variety of different methods and see what works best for me

Post by **Andy** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:24 am

PoP - just collect more wort from the sparge (as long as you're still around the 1006-1010 gravity range) and use this to top up the boil as you go....

Works for me

Edit: Just remembered that you batch sparge so even easier....Use Promash to calculate the wort volume you need before boiling to reach your target volume and collect that much from the sparge. Promash will take into account boiler deadspace (you can add hop absorbtion to this) and wort 'shrinkage' after cooling...

eskimobob · Post by **eskimobob** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:20 pm

Andy wrote:PoP - just collect more wort from the sparge (as long as you're still around the 1006-1010 gravity range) and use this to top up the boil as you go....

Exactly what I did last brew - worked a treat...

TheBigEasy · Post by **TheBigEasy** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:30 pm

PoP,
Just remember how much you water had to add and allow for that in your next brew.

mysterio · Post by **mysterio** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 6:05 pm

I would guess about 3 or 4 litres, I use a lot of hops, especially at the end of the boil. I know my set up enough to work out how much I need to boil, if i'm making a smaller beer i'll just top up with hose water to a bit over 6 gallons for a 90minute boil. If I dont get quite 5 gallons at the end, i'll either top up the fermenter with boiled water or pour it over the hops to try and get the last of the wort.

I usually get around the hop absorption by calculating my recipes in Beersmith for 5.1 gallons, remembering to adjust to my efficiency.

jasonaustin · Post by **jasonaustin** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 6:18 pm

And don't forget that water 'shrinks' as it cools. Not much, but 25L becomes 24L after cooling (4%).

Vossy1 · Post by **Vossy1** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 6:26 pm

I lose about 12% on a 90 min rolling boil, but if more vigorous/ or a summers day, it can go upto 15%.

I marked both my boiler and fv up in 1 ltr increments so I know how much I've got during and after the boil.

This way I can add water during the last 10 mins of the boil if there's a need to top up.

To mark the fv/boiler I used a 100watt light bulb (suspended securely) above both buckets, in turn, and then just marked the volumes off as I added the litres of water.

This helps matters no end

God knows how I'm gonna do it with my ss jobbies

Post by **Andy** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 7:37 pm

Sight gauge Vossy!

Seveneer · Post by **Seveneer** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:05 pm

PieOPah wrote:Is it worth just doing a consistent calculation of about 4 litres to take this into account?

This is what I do, I aim to collect about 46l in the fermenters and I know that to do this I need to be at about 52l in the boiler at the end of the boil. This is to do with the drain valve being a few cm above the bottom as well as the amount of trub and hops.

The fact that I don't get all the wort from the boiler doesn't bother me at all. I've got so much beer lying around now that I can afford to dump some here and there

/Phil.

Vossy1 · Post by **Vossy1** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:16 pm

Sight gauge Vossy!

Post by **Andy** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:17 pm

This type o thang:-

http://www.texanbrew.com/article.php?st ... 5140627793

Vossy1 · Post by **Vossy1** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:25 pm

I see

I had toyed with a 15mm copper pipe capped at the bottom. Holes drilled in the bottom and a balsa stick inside.

W'ell see

Thanks Andy

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Trub/Hop Loss

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