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So how much beer does everyone else loose when racking? Obviously you don't want all the sediment at the bottom but when you rack then rack for bulk priming, how much beer do you actually have left??
I made an all-grain and racked for the first time, I started with 17 L and after racking only had 15L then after bulk priming it was more like 13L.
Is this maybe a down fall of racking then bulk priming??
I wouldn't worry as much but since I don't have big pots for my all-grain, I have to make smaller batches, which means I'm loosing a greater percentage of beer. It's worrying!!!
I racked my honey beer yesterday and I reckon I lost 1L out of 22. It obviously helps if the trub is nice and firm and you're careful when tilting the primary to get all of the good stuff out.
You should probably lose less in the next stage (secondary to bulk priming) as the sediment should be a lot less.
It was my first all-grain and didn't have a mash tun so it turned out very cloudy. When I was racking it clogged and I couldn't get it to get going again, hence the loss. When I bulk primed it looked like there was a fair amount at the bottom still and probably left more than I should have. I was just curious as to what other people loose on average.
I'm hoping this time around to only loose less than a Litre per racking, but if you try and get too much aren't you just making it cloudy which is half the reason for racking??
I probably lose just over a litre on average. Most of it is the trub from Primary and very little from the secondary(around 100ml max) Your problem was definatly due to your method of mashing. My first was the same(without mash tun) Your mash probably wasn't kept at the correct mashing temp either? and you would have excess starches hanging around. The only way to over come is the obvious of making up a mash tun. Easy with two buckets and a drill or go the esky with manifold.
The thing about losing a significant amount of beer by having secondary racking I disagree with. The point is to get the batch off of the Primary yeast and trub to avoid possible off flavours. The secondary container then has usually a very thin layer of settled yeast at the bottom further away from the tap and less likely to be drawn in than the thicker layer in the primary therefore reducing the amount in bottle further. Like I said I lose less than 100ml from secondary and if a little tilt gets a tiny bit of yeast in for bulk priming then at least I know I'll have enough for creating the required CO2.
Swifty wrote:It was my first all-grain and didn't have a mash tun so it turned out very cloudy. When I was racking it clogged and I couldn't get it to get going again, hence the loss. When I bulk primed it looked like there was a fair amount at the bottom still and probably left more than I should have. I was just curious as to what other people loose on average.
I'm hoping this time around to only loose less than a Litre per racking, but if you try and get too much aren't you just making it cloudy which is half the reason for racking??
I am curious. How did you mash?
Did you do a boil, and then put this into a fermenter, then rack? If so, what caused the clogging?
I've made my mash tun now and did a new all-grain on the weekend and it was alot better. Bubbling away nicely at 17 degrees under the house.
For my first I used all the pots and pans in the kitchen with colinders and then yes I boiled and put it in the fermenter. It was so cloudy I don't think it ever settled that well, I'm assuming that the trub was just so thick that when the liquid got down closer to the tap that it started sucking the trub in.
I'm sure this time I won't be loosing anywhere near that amount.
Lethaldog, how do you loose so little? I know I lost more than normal but 100ml??? After all, isn't the trub going to be more than 100ml??
The object of racking is related to the quality increase in the final product and this is somewhat defeated (IMO) if you have an eye on the amount of beer lost. Get it off the yeast cake - to do this properly I think you lose around a litre. If you are more concerned with losing no more than x ml, I think you dont understand why you are doing this process.
If you are only losing 100ml by racking to secondary I think you are tipping most of the s^%t back in. In that case I would not rack at all.
I had ther same question when I racked but didn't raise it
I have only Racked once and lost about 4 Litres all up. Went from about 22L to about 18L
The only time I racked I had a Sediment Reducer on when I went to secondary fermenter and Lost about 2 litres, Then I bulked primed from secondary with another sediment reducer and lost another 2 litres.
I don't tip the Fermenters at all.
I can only guess that people are not using sediment reducers, but even still racking and bulk priming without I would still lose alot unless I tipped the feremters. According to the lines on my fermneter the bottom of the tap is about 1-1.5L worth of liquid from the bottom. So I can't understand how poeple lose so little.
Help me lose less beer
Last edited by Brad74 on Tuesday Dec 05, 2006 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Muddy, I think you've misunderstood my initial post. I was more curious as to how much people loose as I lost alot on my first all-grain, which was due to clogging. It was alos the first time I racked. I understand the point of racking and will continue to do it but I really just wanted to know what amount I should expect to loose. I'm not soley worried about loosing x amount, I just want to minimise it. After all, no-one likes to waste beer!
In extract brews, you only lose the stuff that you wouldn't want anyway.
If you rack and leave for at least 2 weeks, then bulk prime, there is probably only 1L wastage in total, + 500ml for bulk priming and a total loss of around 0.5 litres.
If it's a dark beer I tend to waste nothing, if it's a lighter style I leave a bit at the bottom.
Apologies - swerving off topic somewhat - once again.
I think I understood your post - later posts seemed to waver in regards to understanding the object of racking. I guess I was responding to them more so than yourself.
Swifty wrote:I've made my mash tun now and did a new all-grain on the weekend and it was alot better. Bubbling away nicely at 17 degrees under the house.
For my first I used all the pots and pans in the kitchen with colinders and then yes I boiled and put it in the fermenter. It was so cloudy I don't think it ever settled that well, I'm assuming that the trub was just so thick that when the liquid got down closer to the tap that it started sucking the trub in.
I'm sure this time I won't be loosing anywhere near that amount.
Lethaldog, how do you loose so little? I know I lost more than normal but 100ml??? After all, isn't the trub going to be more than 100ml??
Well maybe 100ml was a slight exageration but i certainly dont lose a litre, obviously there will be a bit more with AG but unfortunately i havent got around to doing my first yet so i dont know how ill go there
For the guys who have talked about the yeast unsettling as you rack or bottle.
One yeast to use is Safale S-04 (Ale) yeast which settles as a very good solid trub in the bottom of the fermenter. That way you can tip the fermenter, without getting the yeast mixed up as you pour out.
It will add about 1litre to the amount transferred if you want clear beer.
"Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen, for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in beer." - Dave Barry.
Pale_Ale wrote:In extract brews, you only lose the stuff that you wouldn't want anyway.
If you rack and leave for at least 2 weeks, then bulk prime, there is probably only 1L wastage in total, + 500ml for bulk priming and a total loss of around 0.5 litres
I was a bit curious on this subject as well so decided to find out my facts:
Your pretty much spot on Pale_Ale.
I just racked 2 into secondaries ,coopers kit beer with tea bag hopps, kit yeast , let it drain to about 5 centimeters and very gently tipped the fermenter and placed a wood block underneath as I always do. did not visually see any yeast go in the sediment reducer - 800 ML left in both and will take a guess at 200 when it goes into the keg- I take it right down to the limit.
(Depending on the style of the fermenter if your not tipping it you are throwing out good beer)
