OK conversion rate, terrible brewhouse efficiency!

[DarrenSL]

I don't normally worry about efficiency as I usually just throw in extra grain and brew to the size of my fermenter, but I've recently ordered a couple of ready made recipes from the MM. I really like them but they are only made up to 19L target so efficiency has come to the fore.

I brewed this one today:
Jon Finch NE IPA

I got 24.5L into the kettle @ 1.059 sg (20L 1.070 post boil), a conversion rate of 79%. I'm ok with that. I use a thermos mash tun with false bottom and a slow (?) 45 minute sparge at 75C.

There are 180g of pellet hops in this so I ran the wort through a sanitized sieve (1hr in the over at 150C) to improve the yield but with so many hops it eventually blocked the tap and I was left with a large amount of trub (aka green sludge) in the kettle.

I ended up with 15L in the fermenter, 58% brewhouse efficiency :-(

Any thoughts on how to improve this efficiency? The kettle outlet is 35mm above the base so quite a lot of dead space hence using the sieve so I could tilt it and get as much as possible out. Whirlpooling does pull all the hop debris to the centre but it quickly collapses when I get to end so doesn't help the efficiency. Maybe a hop spider, but I'm not sure I want to sacrifice the hop utilisation.

Thanks

 

[Duxuk]

Your wort in the kettle is decent efficiency. You just need a better way to filter out the hops. I use a BIAB type of process and have no sludge or dirty wort left over. What about a massive hop sock, of some kind?

 

[Slid]

180g of pellets is a lot. You could do what everyone does and dry hop the majority after fermentation, let alone in the kettle..

 

[Thatscold]

I use muslin bags for my hops in the boiler after getting a blocked filter too often. No problems now.

 

[Leon103]

I would never have put 60g to boil in a neipa. That recipe is shocking.

 

[matt76]

@DarrenSL I do 12L-ish batches that generally net me around 20 x 500ml bottles. Since I'm brewing smaller batches almost every drop is precious and I don't want to be throwing away more than I have to.

This is what I do;

In the boil I've started recently to use a single large hop bag from BJ Filters on eBay - some pics here.

It's big enough that hops have free space in the kettle, no worries about small hop bags reducing flavour. The vigour of the boil keeps the bag of the element.

Immersion chiller goes in after I switch off the heat. The near-boiling wort is plenty hot enough to pasteurize any nasties.

Once I'm done chilling I lift out the bag and tip it back and forth to drain the excess wort, followed by a gentle squeeze with clean hands.

Then I leave the kettle to stand at least an hour, usually 2 or 3 - I put it up high on the kitchen counter so it's easier to drain after. All the crud and break material magically settles to the bottom just below the tap outlet.

Finally I can drain the wort - the first 100-200ml is a bit cloudy with crud so this goes into a sanitised 2L or 5L Tesco Ashbeck bottle. Then I drain the crystal clear wort to my FV and shut off the tap just as it gets down to the level of the crud (I also take a hydrometer sample at this point). Pitch yeast into FV as normal.

This method means I get zero trub in the FV - very handy if you want to harvest your yeast, not to mention no trub losses when you come to package.

Next I drain the crud (usually about 4L or so) into those sanitised Tesco Ashbeck bottles. These are then put in the fridge (2L bottles fit better) to settle out overnight. The next day I can carefully pour off the clear wort from these bottles to top up the FV. I might do this in a couple of stages over 2 days, but in total this probably nets me between 1-2L that would otherwise have gone down the drain.

In addition, the hop bag in the kettle probably allows me to recover another litre or so that likewise would have gone down the drain and/or blocked up the tap on my kettle!

 

[Richard_H]

What about a hop spider? I use one and even when given the hops a good stir 95% of the sludge when using pellets stays in the spider. Mine would probably hold 180g but that would be near the limit, could be worth having a few muslin bags and use them for the last addition

 

[DarrenSL]

Thanks for the replies everyone, plenty of food for thought. I used to BIAB and have a few large kettle sized bags around so that's certainly an option. I was concerned about scorching the bag (although maybe less of an issue given that I use a gas burner rather than an electric element).

@matt76 really interesting process you've got there to ensure you get every drop! I've just got a massive OCD about getting yeast in as soon as the wort is cool enough.

@Leon103 I had the same concerns about the boil hop additions (and the crystal!). I actually bought this recipe pack without thinking too much just to get the order over £100 and get free delivery. It was cheap and had 5* reviews but when I started to brew it I realised the colour and IBU were off style. But, I actually prefer west coast IPAs so I think it will turn out well. I've just bought the Two Hearted Premium recipe kit which is well on point. Bells Two Hearted

What I need, I think, is a massive hop spider so I get the benefit of hop utilisation and no floating bag getting in the way of my stirring and immersion chiller. I've not been able to find anything that fits the bill so looks like I will need to make something . I have also been thinking of upgrading my brewing with a pump so maybe use a hop rocket with a muslin bag for pellets?