From the kettle to the fermenter

Systems, Gear, & DIY
1

I’m using an immersion chiller, so I cool in the kettle than transfer to the fermenter.  My question is for those that have a similar setup like me.  How do you transfer from the kettle to the fermenter leaving the majority of trub behind in the kettle?

I either have to pick up and pour 5 gallons of beer into my fermenter.  Or I sometimes use a sanitized pitcher to scoop out smaller amounts and pour into the fermenter.  Well picking up a kettle with 5 gallons of beer in it just sucks.  The pitcher idea works, but it seems to kick up the trub on the bottom even when being careful and slow.

I know there is a better way.  Is drilling a hole in my kettle and installing a ball valve the answer?  How do you guys make the transfer?

2

Ball valve is a wunderbar way to go, but if you’re not prepared for that why not just rack the wort out of the kettle once it’s cool?

This has the advantage of using that tight cone, you’ve hopefully created.

3

+1 - if I did not have a ball valve, I’d rack with an autosiphon for sure.

4

I whirlpool with a sanitized spoon, let settle, then transfer with the autosiphon.  That is until my new 10 gallon kettle with SS ball valve arrives from Northern Brewer…woohoo!!!  I love birthdays!!!

5

I use the siphon and rack it into the fermenter. My back is all kinds of hosed, so I do whatever I can to avoid lifting. I chill the wort right on the burner. Once it’s cool, I swirl the wort and siphon from the side of the pot. After about 1/2 of the wort is gone, I lift the pot up onto a nearby shelf (it’s much lighter now) and finish the job. I usually end up leaving a few ounces in the pot, along with the break material and the hops.

6

This is the way to go for sure.

7

Just installed a ball-valve and used a pump. However, my whirl-pooling sucked. In any case, trub or no trub beer pretty f’ing good. I transferred with a cheap gallon pitcher for years and haven’t retired it yet.

8

+1  Keeping out all the trub isn’t really the be all and end all for me.  I just don’t worry about it that much.

9

I’m sorry, but what do you mean by that?

10

Stir the wort until it makes a nice whirlpool. Let it settle on it’s own. All the trub is (should be) now in a tight little cone in the center of the pot, allowing you to siphon from the sides without sucking it all up.

11

Make sure your stirring stick is sanitized first!

Also, I boil and whirlpool at table height so that when I open the ball valve, it goes right into the fermenter.

I also sanitize my ball valve (output end) and any hoses used to transfer into the fermenter bucket.

To keep the hops/trub away from the ball valve, some just hold their sanitized spoon over the input side (to create a little dam).  It is effective and cheap.  That’s a trick some of my brew buddies use.  It works.

I just partly open the ball valve and keep the flow low (to minimize suction/impelling forces drawing hops and trub towards the ball valve).  I also catch any hops in my SS china cap strainer (lots of surface area and does not ever “clog”) on the output side of the hose and use the large nylon funnel+fine mesh screen to funnel the strained wort into the fermenter bucket.

12

Thanks everyone for the advise!