MW hop head double IPA volume

[Thundercleese]

Bottled this today, amazingly tasty already and 8.14%! I know I put 5 gallons into the primary but had 4 after fermentation and got roughly 3 into the bottles. Did I really lose 2 gallons to the dry hops and sludge? Any way I could have done better?

dunkelweizen is next, loving this new hobby!

 

[whoaru99]

ABV is high based on the kits highest OG and lowest projected FG.

I think you may have two or more issues...original volume and leaving too much behind somewhere along the line(s).

Just moments ago I finished bottling Northern Brewer's Surly Furious kit and put up 48 bottles (with a couple swallows left over for me). That's basically 4.5 gallons into the bottles and I think the Furious kit has way more dry hopping to contend with.

Did you use a hop bag?

 

[Thundercleese]

Yes, two bags in fact. I had 5 gallons before racking over the bags and left only sludge today. The bags swelled up massively.
Why mention ABV? That's what I put in my original post.

 

[whoaru99]

I mentioned high ABV because it's higher than what the kit suggests it should be (6.8 - 7.6), even by Midwest's most optimistic information (highest starting OG and lowest finished FG). To me this implies maybe light on post boil volume, maybe. Since you were able to calculate ABV, presumably you had/have OG and FG. What were they?

The hop load in the boil is similar between the MWS Hop Head and the NB Surly Furious. The Hop Head has 2oz leaf for dry hopping and I found some estimates of 4 to 5oz loss per ounce of leaf dry hop. Since the dry hop loss only accounts for one bottle of beer, say even two or three bottles just for good measure, it's not anywhere close to the gallon or so indicated. The only conclusions I can see are -

Post boil volume was low (which may also be why ABV is so high)
Lost a bunch to blow-off (is this true or not?)
Transfer from one stage to the next was very conservative

Perhaps some of our colleagues will see something else.

 

[SoonerDoc]

Surely (Shirley?) you would notice if you left 40% of your beer behind. Is there really that much left after transferring?

 

[Thundercleese]

Surely (Shirley?) you would notice if you left 40% of your beer behind. Is there really that much left after transferring?

Not at all, just the muslin bags with dry hops and some sludge. Going to chalk it up to conservative racking for 2nd stage, bottling, and the hops bags. Have been trying to minimize the sediment at the bottom of my bottles and the pantyhose filter didn't work for me.

If this brew proves to be as tasty when mature as it was last night, def. going to brew again. What would doing a larger volume, say 6.5 gallons, effect besides ABV?

 

[whoaru99]

Finishing with 6.5 gallons from a 5 gallon kit will change pretty much everything about the beer.

If you are not currently, perhaps using Irish Moss (et al) in the boil and cold crashing to get that clearer beer your going for, without needing to leave behind as much.

One step that will eliminate some loss is doing away with transfer to secondary, instead leaving it in the primary for an extra week or two. I understand that many/most kits recommend secondary but it is a topic of considerable opinion as to whether it results in materially better beer unless the beer style requires considerable aging/conditioning time.

So far I have used secondary for only one beer, a Maibock that was lagered for near 3 months. Other than that I've done everything with just primary, including dry hopping.

 

[Thundercleese]

I'll try the moss and single stage, thank you.

Two weeks later, opened one and WOW this is one of the best IPAs I've ever had!