Volume loss to yeast growth

[MaHCa]

Hi all,

been brewing now for a couple of years and ran into an odd issue recently.
I brewed a few weeks ago for the first time a NEIPA.

Post boil I dropped 24.4 litres of wort into the fermenter.
13 days later I dry hoped with 170 grams of citra, mosaic, & centenial pellets.
A further 2 days later I transferred to keg. So 15 days total in the fermenter.

Now, into the keg went only 16.7 Litres of the fermented good stuff.
Therefore, I lost (24.4 - 16.7 =) 7.7 Litres to trub & coldbreak dumping, SG checks, dry-hoping, & yeast losses.

The losses as best I can identify are broken down as follows:
2.10 L - Trub & cold break dumps & yeast harvest losses during first 7 days of fermentation
0.30 L - SG Measurements
0.46 L - Dry-hop losses
4.84 L - Additional yeast settled/crusted in fermenter by day of kegging.

Yeast type used: Lalbrew American East Coast Ale

Here are the SG readings:
Day 00 - 1.062 - SG Fermentation Start
Day 07 - 1.016 - SG Fermentation End
Day 13 - 1.016 - Dry Hop
Day 15 - 1.018 - SG Post 2 Day dry-hop

I have 2 questions here, which hopefully some more experienced individuals can help me with.
I've never lost such a large volume of the brew to yeast. Is this normal for a NEIPA?
And, is it normal to get an SG increase as I did following a dry hop?

 

[Minbari]

Hi all,

been brewing now for a couple of years and ran into an odd issue recently.
I brewed a few weeks ago for the first time a NEIPA.

Post boil I dropped 24.4 litres of wort into the fermenter.
13 days later I dry hoped with 170 grams of citra, mosaic, & centenial pellets.
A further 2 days later I transferred to keg. So 15 days total in the fermenter.

Now, into the keg went only 16.7 Litres of the fermented good stuff.
Therefore, I lost (24.4 - 16.7 =) 7.7 Litres to trub & coldbreak dumping, SG checks, dry-hoping, & yeast losses.

The losses as best I can identify are broken down as follows:
2.10 L - Trub & cold break dumps & yeast harvest losses during first 7 days of fermentation
0.30 L - SG Measurements
0.46 L - Dry-hop losses
4.84 L - Additional yeast settled/crusted in fermenter by day of kegging.

Yeast type used: Lalbrew American East Coast Ale

Here are the SG readings:
Day 00 - 1.062 - SG Fermentation Start
Day 07 - 1.016 - SG Fermentation End
Day 13 - 1.016 - Dry Hop
Day 15 - 1.018 - SG Post 2 Day dry-hop

I have 2 questions here, which hopefully some more experienced individuals can help me with.
I've never lost such a large volume of the brew to yeast. Is this normal for a NEIPA?
And, is it normal to get an SG increase as I did following a dry hop?

No way you had 4L of yeast. Most of that is protein trub and hop absorption.

That is allot of loss though. I usually get about 1/2 gallon loss

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I've had a lot of trub unexpectedly with an odd grain and a hoppy beer before, since then I always add more water but it's also possible you rushed it, it takes time for hops to settle completely

 

[Craigerrr]

I would expect to lose close to 1 liter to hop absorption for 170 grams (6oz) if it had settled out in a relatively compact fashion, possibly more if it didn't settle out very well. This may be possible if you transferred it only two days after adding.
Maybe next time after the hops drop out, reduce to serving temperature for 2 days before kegging if you have the ability to do that.

 

[MaHCa]

Thanks all for the comments.

Just to counter on a point or two:
I lost exactly 0.46 L to Dry-hop absorption. I know this because I used a fine mesh hop filter and weighted it before putting it into the fermenter and then again when I removed it.

The remaining losses then were as follows:
2.10 L (0.55 gal) - Trub & cold break dumps & yeast harvest losses during first 7 days of fermentation
0.30 L (0.08 gal) - SG Measurements
4.84 L (1.28 gal) - Additional yeast (& trub possibly) settled/crusted in fermenter by day of kegging.

Regardless of the trub/yeast ratio though, 6.94 litres (1.83 gallons), I thought was quite high.
I counter-flow-chilled directly into the fermenter - so perhaps that also plays a factor toward maybe higher than usual cold-break proteins settling in the fermenter rather than being left in the kettle.
But I was hoping someone here might be able to clarify the exact reason why, rather than me just guessing here.