I remember reading somewhere (Joy of Home Brewing, I think) that the trub in the bottle of the brew kettle at the end of the boil (hot + cold break) contains material that the yeast needs to do it’s thing.
On the other hand, I seem to be leaning towards the camp that likes it’s wort clean.
So, some trub is required, question is: How Much? If I run the wort through a Chinois strainer, some would get through, is that enough?
Charlie writes in the “The New Complete Joy…”( I got an oldie), “The presence of trub in the fermenting wort does affect fermentation and flavor, but for a homebrewer it’s overall significance is slight compared to all of the other variables that more dramatically affect the outcome of your beer. Relax. Don’t worry. Have a homebrew.”
A Chinois is too fine and clogs easily. A regular strainer with some cheese cloth works wonders. if the strainer is course it will support the cheesecloth, which will filter out the trub. You can also whirlpool the wort with a sanitized spoon after it’s cooled and then rack the wort to the fermenter. Sometimes I use cheesecloth, other times not. I just relax…
I love that old book.
A guy on the Brews and Views forum did an experiment a few years back where he brewed 2 batches of pils (IIRC) and removed the trub from one but not the other. The batch with the trub ended up clearer and better tasting in his opinion.
Interesting.
Maybe I have to change my MO here. Ever since I took my APA extract recipe whole grain I have been making good beer, but it’s NOT the same flavor, and I really liked that flavor…
Ironically the best batches were the extract batches where I threw EVERYTHING in the BK in the bucket. Hops, trub, everything.
Maybe I should just go back to that. Makes it a lot less work too… ;D The only drawback is that the yeast cake has a lot more crap in it, and I do like repitching.
I doubt it was all the gunk that made the difference. You probably just haven’t experimented with the AG version enough to hit what you’re going for.
I use whole hops or plug hops and put them into a hop bag suspended in the bk in the center of the
main boil vortex. Pull the entire bag of hops out when finished boiling…prior to putting in my immersion
coil. (I may be missing some hop utilization but the beers taste good) Anyhow, I just cool it down and
put the entire thing in the fermenter, cold break…all of it…dumped in the fermenter. I secondary in my
corny kegs so a lot (most) of the material gets left in primary and after a week or so in the keg under gas,
seems most of my beers are coming out very nice and clear. F.W.I.W. Y.M.M.V.
As far as getting the yeast out of that primary, I suppose a good wash w / DI water would facilitate that.
+1 on less work and repitching. Recently started yeast washing with good results. It’s easy. I’ve never worried about trub, but now my big “hop taco” gets the majority of hot break and virtually all the hop debris. I use a PC, so all the cold break goes into the fermentor.
Do you have side by side recipes we can compare Oscar?
Sure do…
The original extract recipe:
6lb Munton & Fison Extra Light DME
1/2 lb Briess Crystal Malt 20º L
1/2 lb M&F Carapils Malt 20º L
1 oz Simcoe Pellets Bittering
1oz Cascade Pellets 10 minutes
1oz Cascade Pellets 2 minutes.
Wyeast 1056
OG 1.056
FG 1.014
ABV 5.3%
For the AG I replaced the DME with 10 pounds of 2 Row Pale Ale, and reduced the Simcoe to .75oz
I lost some of the hops, so on the next batch I am going to bring that back up to 1oz, especially since I’ve started using a hops bag.
Now one of the AG batches was the “hot” mash from another thread. Still, I’m hitting the targets. In fact the FG has come in a few points lower, maybe because I was repitching a healthy dose of slurry. (Thin, 400ml)
DOH!
I’m doing 10 gallon batches… I doubled the grain, but I didn’t double the hops… :o :o :o
The Irony is that the wife actually likes this, she is not a hophead… So that may stand as a recipe for the “less hoppy” version…
Wooden Shoe Blonde Ale, and Wooden Shoe Pale Ale… The calculated IBU’s for the former about 18.5, the latter 37.
This explains a lot…
Learning is taking place… ;D
LOL!
I was going to ask what the flavor difference is… Is it solely a bitterness issue or malt flavor as well?
Well, it is first and foremost a bitternes/hop flavor/hop aroma problem, again, duh! Haven’t gotten to the malt aspect of the evaluation. Nothing stands out, in fact it’s a good beer, just not what I was looking for. Trying to figure out which style it is.
OK, if I take out a 1/2 pound of two row and get the OG to around 1050 it looks like it would fit in “6A Light Hybrid Beer, Blonde Ale”… IBU’s 18 ABV 5.2 SRM 5
I meant to do it like this… no really.
Look on the bright side - at least it’s an easy fix 
Yes it is… Now that it has evolved into it’s own recipe, I am considering taking out the Carapils to lighten it up a little for her…
Meanwhile, thinking I was brewing the APA I brewed three kegs worth, which will take her a year to drink… (OK some of my buddies aren’t exactly hop heads either and will help)… and I have no APA…
FIRE UP THE BURNERS, MAN THE MILL!
An IPA may not be the style you want to be drinking on for a year. It’s one of those that’s better fresh.
I know… will grab a keggie or two for the next party… (insert large sucking sound)… ;D