Beer dilution a problem after boil?

[Dave8576]

Hi all
I have a question someone maybe able to help with please.
I've been all grain brewing now for several months but my equipment is fairly limited. I have a homemade mash tun I made myself & a 17litre or so stainless pan I do my boil in.
After my boil & chilling and I have filtered out the hops, end up with only about 15litres of wort which I top up to about 23.5litres.
However,I find my finished beer is not very hoppy. Is this because I am diluting down? Would this cause me to loose a lot of hop flavour?
For information, my usual hop addition in the boil is 1oz at 60mins then several additions of 1oz around 15 & 5 mins then sometimes one at flame out.
Many thanks

 

[HebridesRob]

What hop varieties? What kind of packaging are they bought in? How/how long are they stored?
What beer styles, what strength?

 

[Cwrw666]

That's quite a big dilution. So you must be starting with quite a high concentration of hoppiness and the more concentrated the solution, the less efficient the process is. So I'd suggest you carry on like this, but dry hop after dilution. (unless you want to invest in bigger volume equipment, of course).

 

[JapanBrew]

Why not just brew to 15 liters?
As for adding, it isn't a problem if your grain bail size is for 23 liters.
Hops look fine. Maybe a tad short on 60.

 

[Dave8576]

Thanks for the replies.
I always buy my hops from brewing shops so are in 100g vacuum packs.
I use all the pack really per brew. I brew all styles of beers(Ipa's & porters mainly)
I have tried dry hopping and have found it does improve hoppiness, but tends to cloud the beers & they take a while longer to clear, even using Irish moss at 15mins(cold crashing isn't really an option for me). That's why I was asking about the dilution factor.
I guess what I really want someone to tell is if I get a full 23litres of wort from my boil, without diluting down will this improve flavour?
If so I will buy a larger boiling pot.

 

[Dave8576]

Thank you.
I could do.
I may try just fermenting the 15litres to see if flavour is improved before buying a larger boiling pot.

 

[MyQul]

I make also concecentrated wort usaully about 16-17L which I dilute to 23L. When you boil hops in a concentrated wort you get a lower hop ustilisation. You boil yours in even more concentrated wort than mine so will be getting even lower utilisation. I usually add 5 IBU of extra hops to compensate for this. The ABV% of the beer that you usually make will have a bearing on the extra IBU's added to compensate

 

[JapanBrew]

Myqul, when you dilute are you adding just regular water or do you boil that extra water first?

 

[MyQul]

Myqul, when you dilute are you adding just regular water or do you boil that extra water first?

If I make porters or stouts I use my (London) tapwater as this is good for those, so I use my tap water to dilute too. If I'm making pales I use bottled water to make those so I use bottled water to dilute too.
I never bother to boil my tap water when I dilute using that, just chuck it in. I dont think anyone boils their dilution water when making kits do they? I never did. So going on that principle as I never had any problems with kits I just diluted using unboiled tap water (for porters/stouts) and have never had any problem

 

[Dave8576]

Thank you Myqul,
The hop utilisation sounds logical when u think about it.
Do you add the extra 5 IBU of hops at start of the boil as well as at the end or just in the last 15 minutes or so?

Dave.

 

[MyQul]

I decided upon 5 IBU by trial and error. There are calculators for this kind of thing but I found the calculators made my beer too bitter. I think it probably comes down to individual set up. So I would perhaps start at 5 IBU then perhaps up it a bit each brew if it's not enough for your particular set up until you come to a figure you and your set up/tastes are happy with

I add it as the start. With the 60 min additions so I can then do my flavour/aroma additions as per whatever reciepe I'm following. So I would therefore follow a recipe + 5 IBU

 

[BeerisGOD]

this thread has saved me writing out a long winded dull essay.
ill add three litres of ashbeck water on bottling day unboiled

cheers lads

 

[MyQul]

this thread has saved me writing out a long winded dull essay.
ill add three litres of ashbeck water on bottling day unboiled

cheers lads

Whats the bicarbonate ppm/mg (same thing) with Tescum Ashbek and what style of beer are you making as this can make a difference

 

[BeerisGOD]

hi myqul

25.0 ml
youngs American pale ale

 

[MyQul]

hi myqul

25.0 ml
youngs American pale ale

Perfect. You want it lower than 50ppm/ml for pales (<30ppm for lagers)

 

[BeerisGOD]

cool. I did read boiling it the night before helps get any air out of the water. Myn looks like there's a few bubbles inside the bottle. should I be concerned with this?

 

[MyQul]

cool. I did read boiling it the night before helps get any air out of the water. Myn looks like there's a few bubbles inside the bottle. should I be concerned with this?

If your diluting prior to pitching, quite the opposite! You want to get as much air in there as possible to aerate the wort. If you've bought 5L bottle of water pour about 1L out in the FV then shake the hell out of the reast of the bottle for 1-2 mins. I've found this REALLY helps aerate the wort and you get the lag time down/ yeast working faster