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Yield from 5 gal extract kit with special

Extract/Partial Mash Brewing
#1

How many ounces of beer do you typically get from a 5-gal kit?

I filled the ale pail to the 5 gal line for fermentation. After racking over to a 5-gal container for secondary fermentation and then racking to a bottling bucket and estimating incidental spillage I ended up with 4 gallons actual and could have had maybe 24 ounces more. I left a few ounces in the plastic carboy because of the traub.

I’m always a bit leery of the last few bottles both because I have to pour them through a funnel (extra aeration) and because they have lets of sediment in them.

Any suggestions or comments?

#2

I usually yield between 45 - 53 bottles per 5-gallon kit. It all depends on how much trub is generated, how compact it is and how well my racking technique is working that day. I recently bottled a session ale that yielded 53 bottles. I used Wyeast 1056 and my boil hops and 2 oz of dry hops were done in mesh bags. The yeast is a low-to-medium flocculating strain, which gave me a smaller, compact trub in primary, and the beer clarified nicely in secondary, so it was easier than most to rack 99% of the beer after both primary and secondary. I also just bottled the Surly Furious Pro Series kit. This featured Wyeast 1335 British Ale II yeast, which is highly flocculant, and 8.5 oz of dry hops. The trub was very loose, more so is secondary, and there was a lot of hop matter, despite using muslin bags. As such, I yielded 46 bottles.

#3

Loss to fermentation and trub are natural occurrences and Ken is dead on that it often depends on the recipe and yeast. One thing you can do is to tilt your fermenter a couple hours before racking to minimize loss.

#4

Losing a quart or so due to trub is normal. You can minimize losses by skipping the secondary – you’ll always lose more if you secondary because of the additional racking step.

I get 10-11 bottles (12-oz bottles) per finished gallon. If you’re getting fewer than that, consider:

  1. Racking less often
  2. Keeping a little trub in your beer when racking (a couple of ounces of trub isn’t going to hurt anything!)
  3. Brewing with less hops. Those darn Americans and their darn hops… hops in IPAs and APAs take up a huge volume. Brew some of the more traditional beer styles with less hops and you’ll have far less trub, and thus, less losses.
  4. You could always add a little clean boiled water with your priming sugar if you wish to gain more volume without losing a lot of flavor. Probably safe to use 1-2 quarts which will gain you 2-5 bottles of beer. It will water down your alcohol level and flavors very slightly, almost undetectable, but of course it’s up to you if that’s acceptable or not.
#5

I average 51-52 12 oz bottles per 5 gal. batch…I dont use a lot of hops, and I through a bucket mesh bag into primary.yeast hast been much trouble. :cheers: tanker

#6

Buckets used for fermenting are often not marked correctly for volume. Check your bucket by pouring in an accurately measured five gallons. Tilt your bottling bucket to get the last of the beer out while still using the bottling wand. You can also use a vinyl hose inside the bucket, curled around the bottom, to get down to last couple of ounces with a small tilt to the bucket. I use a piece of 2x4 to keep the bucket tilted.

I fill 48 12 ounce bottles. A little waste pushing the Starsan foam out of each bottle. About 12 ounces is left in the fermentor to cover the yeast for later harvest. I drink the last 2 or 3 ounces left in the bottling bucket.

#7

^ This.
Mine was off by about a 1/2 inch. Between that, and my preference for less hoppy recipes, I’m routinely getting 50-52 bottles per batch.

#8

Thanks guys for all your good advice.

#9

[quote=“flars”]Buckets used for fermenting are often not marked correctly for volume. Check your bucket by pouring in an accurately measured five gallons. Tilt your bottling bucket to get the last of the beer out while still using the bottling wand. You can also use a vinyl hose inside the bucket, curled around the bottom, to get down to last couple of ounces with a small tilt to the bucket. I use a piece of 2x4 to keep the bucket tilted.

I fill 48 12 ounce bottles. A little waste pushing the Starsan foam out of each bottle. About 12 ounces is left in the fermentor to cover the yeast for later harvest. I drink the last 2 or 3 ounces left in the bottling bucket.[/quote]
Thanks Fer the tip…it never occured to me to check that… :cheers: Tanker

#10

I just bottled my first brew - not the most fun part of the process. I ended up with 50 12oz bottles, one glass in the fridge, and about 1 or more all over my kitchen floor. :smiley:

#11

i normally only get 45-47 bottles. and I have checked the markings, they were pretty accruate. having said that it is tough with the foam etc to get it dead on correct each time

#12

I’m guessing you have the bottle filler that comes standard in the equipment kit?
Get rid of it. Get the spring loaded filler, it makes a huge difference; very little drippage.

Also, if you have a dishwasher, bottle over the door. Just shut the door when you’re done. (Run it soon after to prevent skunky beer smell though.)

#13

[quote=“JMcK”]I’m guessing you have the bottle filler that comes standard in the equipment kit?
Get rid of it. Get the spring loaded filler, it makes a huge difference; very little drippage.

Also, if you have a dishwasher, bottle over the door. Just shut the door when you’re done. (Run it soon after to prevent skunky beer smell though.)[/quote]

Yep - you’re right - thanks I’ll definitely check out that other filler - appreciate it!

:cheers:

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