Not meeting my final batch volumes.

[Whistledown]

I have recently purchased a large 3 vessel system that I use for 40 litre + batches. The trouble is I am not hitting the final batch volume. A typical brew would be 10 kilo's grain mashed for 60 mins in 30 litres; transfer to kettle and batch sparge to 55 litres in kettle. Boil vigorously for 60 -90 mins to get 45 litres post boil. I allow 5 litres for trub losses. I then transfer into 2 x 20 litre no chill cubes. Unfortunately I do not have enough wort to fill the cubes and have to top up with 3-4 litres of water to get rid of the air space. This does not have a great effect on desired final gravity as my efficiency reasonably good.
I have calibrated all the vessels and am at a loss as to where the 3-4 litre are going. The only thought I had was that the 20 litre cubes are expanding when adding the hot wort.
Any ideas?

 

[smertin]

I have recently purchased a large 3 vessel system that I use for 40 litre + batches. The trouble is I am not hitting the final batch volume. A typical brew would be 10 kilo's grain mashed for 60 mins in 30 litres; transfer to kettle and batch sparge to 55 litres in kettle. Boil vigorously for 60 -90 mins to get 45 litres post boil. I allow 5 litres for trub losses. I then transfer into 2 x 20 litre no chill cubes. Unfortunately I do not have enough wort to fill the cubes and have to top up with 3-4 litres of water to get rid of the air space. This does not have a great effect on desired final gravity as my efficiency reasonably good.
I have calibrated all the vessels and am at a loss as to where the 3-4 litre are going. The only thought I had was that the 20 litre cubes are expanding when adding the hot wort.
Any ideas?

Have you checked the cubes hold 20litres? I checked mine the other week and they had a fair bit of head space when i added 20 litres of water. I think the 20 litre mark is where it starts to taper at the top.

 

[goatchop41]

Yeah, a lot of those cubes will hold a few litres more than they say they do. As smertin said, fill the cubes and check how much they actually hold (I have a 20L one that holds closer to 23L!). I would also recommend doing it with hot water (as hot as you can get), as some cubes/containers will expand a little too with the hot wort in them

 

[Whistledown]

Yeah, a lot of those cubes will hold a few litres more than they say they do. As smertin said, fill the cubes and check how much they actually hold (I have a 20L one that holds closer to 23L!). I would also recommend doing it with hot water (as hot as you can get), as some cubes/containers will expand a little too with the hot wort in them

Yes I was thinking that this could be the issue. I haven't checked the cubes but its the first thing I will do when I next empty them.

 

[mongey]

They def will take 22 to 23 of hot wort even when new and not stretched out yet

I cubed with a new one last weekend and I think it may have even taken a bit more than 23.

 

[Outback]

I think a more realistic possibility is wort trolls magicing away some of the wort.

 

[Whistledown]

I think a more realistic possibility is wort trolls magicing away some of the wort.

The Bastards.

 

[JDW81]

Also bear in mind that hot liquids expand and take up about 4% more volume than those at ambient temps, which may also explain some of your short fall.

I'd be checking cube volume though, most will hold at least 10% more than their advertised volume.

JD

 

[Schikitar]

Also, how long are you storing the beer in the cubes for? I'm happy to be corrected by someone but if you're just cooling down overnight and pitching the next day you probably don't need to worry about the headspace too much..

I typically get 23L into my 20L cubes and 29L into my 25L cubes, go figure! I also made the mistake of marking and measuring them with cold water instead of hot.. rookie mistake!

 

[altone]

... I also made the mistake of marking and measuring them with cold water instead of hot.. rookie mistake!

Bugger! - me too.

 

[dave_h]

Are you allowing for boil off? I typically lose over 3L as my pots are wide