Draining to the fermentor

lucianthorr · Joined: 26 Feb 2017 Posts: 19

I've been brewing with my HERMS setup for a little over a year now and I finally feel like I've just about nailed the hot side of the brewday. However the cold side still has a couple tricky spots that I haven't quite figured out.

My setup has some really long tubes because I use the same 4 tubes for each stage (mashing, sparging, etc)
After I've chilled, I pump out through the counterflow and into the fermentor but I'm pretty sure there's at least half a gallon sitting in the tubing by the end of the draining.
I really like brewing 5 gallon batches so this is a pretty big fraction of my batch that I can't get into the fermentor.

I was thinking of trying to push 0.5 gallons of hot water from my HLT through the tubing to clear everything out but definitely feels like asking for an infection or accidentally diluting the beer if the liquids in the tubing decide to mix.

Is this a solvable issue or just something to consider when planning a recipe?

Thanks!

cmkopp11 · Joined: 26 Jan 2018 Posts: 19 Location: San Diego

Don't try to hit 5 gallons in the kettle. Rework your recipe for 5 gallon s of finished beer. You will want about 6.25 to transfer to the fermenter after trub and hop less. That way you get 5.75 in the fermenter and a full 5 in your keg.

**kal** · Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 4:09 am Post subject:

Bingo! cmkopp11 hit the nail on the head. This is why my recipes are for 12 gallons post boil. After all losses you'll end up with closer to 10 gallons in the kegs.

On some less hoppy beers I'll sometimes adjust this to aim for 11 gallons post boil. You'll learn what makes sense.

Better to have a little extra wort you dump than not enough. Wort is cheap.

Good luck!

Kal

dp Brewing Company · Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 12:22 pm Post subject:

Here is a good calculator I use.

http://brewgr.com/calculators/mash-sparge-water-insusion

lucianthorr · Joined: 26 Feb 2017 Posts: 19

Thanks!
It's these little parts of the process that still haunt me, like "I know I can do this better."

I'll measure out exactly for what's left in the kettle and in the tubing+counterflow for next time
+ below the spigot of the fermentors

and I'll definitely check out that calculator too.