I am a new brewer and still an extract brewer. I just completed fermentation for the first time in my new conical. It started with 5 gal. 2 days after pitching yeast, I purged the trub. After a full 12 days later moving it to the keg, it appears I did not purge enough and ended up with only 3.5 gals without adding any trub to my keg. Did I purge to early? Should I use more muslin bags with my hops? How do I get my keg full with 5 gallons if I am extract brewing 5 gallons. I make sure I have added water post boil before cooling to assure I have 5 gals. How much should I purge? Is 2 days after pitch too soon? How can I assure I have a full 5 gal keg after fermentation?
for my best results I would start with 6 gallons finished wort before adding to the fermenter, at least 5.5 in the fermenter and 5 out to the keg, I hope that helps
Only 2 days of fermentation is too early to do anything. We'd never think about transferring to secondary that soon so purging yeast would be too soon then. Depending on your yeast, you were still in active fermentation and most of the yeast was still in suspension. Try the same thing again but as Ozark mentions, start with minimum of 5.5 gallons and make certain that fermentation is complete and the yeast has started to drop out of suspension before you purge trub. That would be probably 4 days even for something fast and high-floc'ing like S-04.
Not sure, but did someone mention taking notes......lol. I think a lot of people forget that the brewing system does not end at the chiller. Anything and everything that you use from pouring the water into your pot, to opening the pop top on your bottle plays a role with the end product. What fermenter are you using? How big is your collection ball? if you emptied it twice, at a minimum you lost that much volume. so if you plan on maintaining that process, then you need to account for it up front. T
And so, the notes. Something to review when looking for the root of a problem. Unless you have a photographic memory, you need something to reference.
