Trying to adapt to the pressures of sizing beer batches to predict the necessary volume to meet demand in this crazy world we now live in. Kicking myself because in an experiment where I tried THREE new things for the very first time, I only got half the increase I expected to.
I keep needing to tell myself I didn't fail. I just didn't succeed as well as I would have liked.
Full explanation:
Our brew system is designed to produce ~20bbls per batch (1bbl = 31 gallons, or 2 full sized kegs). We have a first row of tanks that will ferment 20bbls. We installed a second row of tanks that can hold 40bbls (2 batched).
We've did a beer that we know is going to sell well. It's themed for a supporters group for the local soccer team, the Columbus Crew. This is a big deal because our bar is the home of the grassroots movement to Save the Crew (that's a much longer and sordid story, but it's apparently a first in U.S. professional sports). So we know this beer is going to sell well and people are going to want a lot of cans. The nature of the mobile canning company we use, it really only makes financial sense to bring them out if we can package out at least 20bbls.
So... we knew we wanted more than 20bbls, but weren't confident that there'd be enough demand for 40. So, I figured the best solution would be to produce *30*.
Rather than brew two 15bbl batches, I figured the easy way would be to brew one 20bbl batch at 1.5x strength and dilute to target since it's a <5% beer. This is a very common practice. I've done this at well respected craft breweries. I've never done it on our system though.
The supporters group also wanted a lager, I was under a time crunch to get this out in time for our season opener - especially with the extra lagering time - and used a new yeast strain.
This was also the first batch of beer done in these new 40bbl tanks.
We're now transferring to the packaging tank, and instead of ~30bbls of beer, it looks like we got 24-25bbls. Damn. That's going to make our keg supply really tight once we can out 20bbls.
What looks like happened was I had chilling issues with the new tank. Looks like the cone at the bottom of the tank got too cold and froze up the base of the tank. This isn't a problem in itself. It can be thawed out. But it meant that the yeast and extra hops from dry-hopping did not settle to the bottom neatly like they usually do. The new yeast strain may or may not have contributed to this. So there's a lot of liquid that just isn't saleable because it's mostly beer, but has enough yeast and/or hop sediment to not be packageable. And we don't filter or contrifuge, so I can't separate the good liquid from crud, so it's gotta go down the drain.
So, the new dilution procedure probably netted me a bit less than I anticipated, but then the cooling issues lost me even more. If only one of these had happened, it wouldn't be a big deal. But they BOTH happened at the same time in the worst possible beer to be be a bit low on.
So now we have to figure out if we need another batch of this before it's even had a chance to hit market to see what response is going to be.
I need to keep reminding myself that I learned a LOT about my system and procedures from this, and that my experiment didn't fail. I just didn't succeed as well as I'd wanted to.