Been trying to tweak my system to maximize wort collection. I am set up to recirculate the boil(ed) wort through the CFWC and get a pretty decent whirlpool. But when I transfer to the fermentor I’m still picking up alot of trub. I’ve been xferring to a carboy; letting it settle out and then rack to another carboy, but I end up leaving behind like a gallon of wort. I was gonna try putting a "starsan"ed mesh bag over the tube going to the carboy. Anybody have any ideas? I guess i could increase my batch size; just seems like 15-20% is such a waste. What do the “pros” do?
Do you let it sit 10-15 minutes after turning off the whirlpool? There was a thread not too long ago and the consensus was that the trub settling occurs when the whirlpool is really slowing down. During the whirlpool it mostly stays suspended.
Cold break doesn’t hurt anything, and might even help, depending on who you ask. If you ask me, it hurts nothing. Why waste a gallon of wort when it could be fermented and give you another 6-pack or more.
I feel like a broken record, but I feel the need to add my 10 cents again lol. I’ve recently started pitching my hop pellets directly into boil. I now siphon my wort through a sanitized knee high lady’s hose that is zip tied to my tube into a bucket. This collects just about all of the trub. I then dump my bucket of wort into my carboy through a funnel with a screen (which minimal even gets to this point). If I dry hop, I do the same thing with the knee high into the bottling bucket. The first beer I did this with was a Pliny the Elder clone…which you know has a pile of hops in it. I just poured one, and it is crystal clear! I also was able to harvest a nice clean looking yeast off this batch. You can get two knee highs in a container for 17 cents at Wal-Mart!
How are you picking up the wort in the kettle? If you’re getting a good cone to form in the whirlpool and picking up from the side of the kettle, you should be able to get at least partway down the cone before you start to pick up trub.
FWIW, I think 15% losses from kettle to package is pretty standard for a small brewery.
How do you prevent oxidation?
You know, I originally thought that oxidation could possibly be an issue, but it really doesn’t pour much differently, if at all, than straight out of the siphon tube. I’ve filtered out of the kettle twice now on brews, and three times into the bottling bucket. I have had no ill-effects from filtering into the bottling bucket. Until I do, I am going to continue using this method.
I would fear some oxidation post ferment filtering that way. So I dry hop using stainless tea balls. I will split an ounce of hops among 3 tea balls and often just leave them in the beer while dispensing, suspending them, if I want to limit the exposure time.
To limit trub, I use a false bottom in the kettle and a double mesh colander on the top of my fermenter. Anything that gets through is minimal and likely beneficial to some degree. Some people then go further and skim the braun hefe during high krausen, to further limit the trub and for the cleanest beer possible.
IMO, oxidation isn’t much of a concern once the wort is chilled. its supposed to be exposed to oxygen and you need oxygen priior to adding yeast, so i dont worry much about that. i don’t think there is any very effective way to reduce trub…tried it all and bottom line is you’re going to get trub in the primary. the best method i’ve found is put it in a carboy, let it chill and settle, and then rack it to another carboy and then add oxygen and yeast. i honestly haven’t tasted any difference though in pouring everything from the kettle vs minimizing trub.
Unless temperature control is not an option, why not just rely on finings and cold crashes? I get some really clear beer that way, even bottling, although I normally just do a cold crash and keep it cold for a few days.
I think the oxidation question was for dry hopping in fermented wort. I would worry about that as well.
I used to always just dump the wort with no ill effects until I started reusing yeast. I like to make an extra gallon now. It’s an extra $1, maybe, and it keeps a lot of stuff out of my fermenter.
When I have time, I like to let the wort sit for at least an hour before transferring from kettle to primary. The wort is crystal clear.
Dave
i thought there was concern about oxidizing wort post boil and into bucket…my bad.
i agree on the letting the wort sit and settle for clarity purposes - its seems to me to be the greatest benefit of this procedure.
I’m a little new at homebrewing but need to ask, after the boil and chilled down, do you experienced brewers filter out the bittering hops, etc. before putting the wort into a fermenter? I ask because I didn’t and ended up with an enormous amount of trub as well as an extra bitter brew.
Yes. That’s what’s being discussed here. Whirlpool the wort and allow it to settle. The debris and break material will settle in a cone in the middle of the pot and the siphon out the wort into the primary either with or without the nylons.
Or…
You can out a colander over the primary and pour your chilled wort through it. This method also provides pretty good aeration which the yeast need to get going!
I think it’s mostly something that homebrewers worry about when they are looking for something new to worry about.
+1.060!
Basic Brewing Radio did a collaborative experiment with BYO on the trub removal issue. I’d summerize the conclusion but I’d encourage those interested to listen and for their own conclusion or try the experiment.
Well, being new at homebrewing I guess I’m a little worried about my 2nd batch not finishing the way I would like it to. It’s a Pliny clone and has a ton of hops. As we didn’t filter out anything after the boil until going to a secondary and dry hopping I’m hoping it is drinkable. One of the first things I was told by an experienced home brewer was “not to over think it”. I’m trying not to…just want to get it right.
You certainly won’t hurt anything by passing your wort through a strainer, just don’t go crazy trying to leave everything behind.
If I recall correctly, the BasicBrewing Radio link above found slightly more hop flavor in the beers that were pitched with all the trub. I partcipated in that experiment and compared a batch split in half, with crystal clear wort in one fermentor and all the trub in a second. The resultant beers were virtually indistinguishable.
This is off topic, but, frankly, there are bigger fish to fry, especialy as a new brewer, and you may have already tackled these problems, but:
For a big beer like that, are you growing up enough yeast? Are you aerating sufficiently? Are you controlling fermentation temperatures?
Fermentation temps were right on the money. Aeration could have been a bit more aggressive and I’m not sure what else I could have done with the yeast. It’s been bottled and we’ll sample on Saturday.
I guess part of my original post was “what do the pros do” ie. the microbrewers. do they simply transfer ALL the wort to a fermenter? I was under the impression that a little trub was ok, but too much would result in inconsistant beer. Good beer is ok, but consistantly GREAT beer is my intent.