Brewing efficiency
"I would like to hear from others experience about how big loss of wort/beer from kettle-whirlpool-chiller-fermenter-lagering-filtration. How much volume disapear during fermentation?
What is the volume difference between hot wort and wort at 20 deg. celsius?"
-I try to keep at or above 90% efficiency. That is 90% of my kettle volume ends up in the serving tank. If you are bottling this may be a high goal though.
Remember to adjust for hot / cold wort differnce: (hot X .96 = cold)
The places you loose volume and should be looked at if you have concerns are:
Kettle/whirlpool- use of kettle finings improves hop/trub pile and gives more wort. Also look at where you drawoff point is. Is there a design flaw that could be fixed w/ some welding?
Transfer- How much wort is left in hoses/heart exchanger. A capture system (sanitary of course) or a water chase could help here.
Fermentor- Look at the stand pipe/racking arm, are you getting all the beer out? Also how much yeast crop do you have- +yeast growth = + beer loss.
filtering- Contrary to some, a plate/sheet fiter should leek very little beer. Look at pad quality and fit ie. gasgets on filter and consider spacers for tighter fit. I sacrifice 2 sheets on each end to get less leeking- a bargin for $2.20 if I save only one pint!
Transfer agian- a water chase or in my case Co2 purge helps clear lines and filter-
If you are a pub brewer remember a little work / Time pays off. At $4 a pint a 10th of a bbl extra = $99 gross revenue. Remember to always think cost/savings. It could be depending on your system cheeper to lose some beer.
brewmaster@landerbrewing.com
http://www.landerbar.com/CowFishMain.php
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