# Excesive Trub From Biab



## ArcLight (20/9/12)

In your experience with BIAB, do you get more trub than with traditional mashing (in a cooler, sparging, etc).

How much Trub do you get for a 5 gallon (20 liter) batch?


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## Aydos (20/9/12)

i have only done a few but im averaging about 3.5L of trub in my 40L urn. Im pretty sure the recirculating through the grain bed in a 3v system filters out a lot more so it doesnt end up in the kettle


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## Phoney (20/9/12)

Average around 2 - 2.5L.

As for your question; yes it produces more trub. But traditional mashing ends up with mashtun dead space, so it all comes out equal in the wash.


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## kelbygreen (20/9/12)

you will get more. But this will vary alot with the amount of hops you use. Although same recipe with all the same stuff you will get more trub. Not the biggest downfall of BIAB as you allow that in the calculations. My problems are the lack of efficiency, people claim 80% I got 69% once and was really happy. I am not sure if I work eff out different but I get 73% with 3v and fly sparge, I do run the wort off a bit to quick but most days I dont have time and the MT shape plays a big part as I get channeling (mainly the speed I think), But the $1 in grain cost to the extra 30mins + draining the tun out weighs for me.

You have to get more trub with more cloudy wort into the boiler or your getting more into the fermenter if your not. Its what process suits you, I never had BIAB on my mind as a thing I will always use. It was cheap to get into and good to do but when I refined 3V to my self it can take 4.5hrs to do 42lts from measuring the water to having pots draining. I have done a single and double side by side in 4hr 50mins so 42lts of pale ale it was and 21 lts of pilsner with a decotion in there lol I wont lie I didnt have much of a break the whole time and I had to use a 20lt pot in the kitchen stove and the rest of the rigs in the shed so running in and out while heating 3 lots of water lol


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## jacknohe (20/9/12)

I BIAB in a 40L Urn. I brew 20L batches and estimate my trub at 3L in my calcs. I've never done any other AG brewing technique so couldn't compare. I used to worry about the trub collecting in my Jerry Can but not now. Its all good. One other thing, I've always used a Hop sock so I don't have hop trub. Making great beer so the trub thing doesn't bother me.


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## ArcLight (20/9/12)

Its not that Trub bothers me, its that the batch size isn't 20 liters, its 17.

Is there a way to compensate? Such as putting an extra liter or two into the boiler, and then transferring 22 liters (not 20) into the fermentor/cube?

What I am getting at is I want 19 liters of beer at the end, not 17. (and not watered down beer).
I wonder if sparging (setting the bag in a pot of 70C water) with the extra few liters, so make up for teh Trub would be the solution? (making sure I don't draw off Tannins)


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## black_labb (20/9/12)

sparging or starting with more strike water will get you there.


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## kelbygreen (21/9/12)

if you want to brew more lts thats fine if your pot allows just adjust the recipe to the extra few lts you put in.


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## beerdrinkingbob (21/9/12)

kelbygreen said:


> My problems are the lack of efficiency, people claim 80% I got 69% once and was really happy. I am not sure if I work eff out different but I get 73% with 3v and fly sparge



I think they're quoting mash numbers not brew house, I set BS at 68% and it hovers in between 68 to 72%.

OP I do doubles, basically 32 ltrs high gravity wort and water it down and get about 5.5 ltrs of trub in a keggle.

Cheers

BDB


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## RdeVjun (21/9/12)

Ah yes, the disappointment of your own awesome all- grain beer only partially- filling the cornie keg! I'd like to say that was one of the reasons why the MaxiBIAB method was developed (similar to the 20L Stovetop method), but its not as I was only bottling at the time. (Close enough though!  ) 
If your kettle volume is the limiting factor (that's usually the reason this sort of question is asked), what you can do to increase the batch size is simply scale up the grain and hops, while leaving the water about as it was for the mash, but then including a sparge step and also diluting the wort at pitching. That's MaxiBIAB in a nutshell, its a hybrid which overcomes many of the limitations of conventional methodology and it means that in my cheap 19L kettle I often brew 24L batches of 1.055 OG into the fermenter. 
You mention tannins, rest assured that there's no quality issues affecting MaxiBIAB either. This has been established by continual positive results at many competitions over the last three years, for instance this year I have two beers produced by this method which have qualified for the National amateur competition, that's because they placed at the Qld state comp, (plus four medals out of just six entries too! B) ).
So, perhaps try the method, as far as additional equipment goes all you need is a simple bucket for sparging, I recommend using a 15L or bigger as the ubiquitous 10L is just too small.
Hope this helps! :icon_cheers:


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## Crusty (21/9/12)

ArcLight said:


> In your experience with BIAB, do you get more trub than with traditional mashing (in a cooler, sparging, etc).
> 
> How much Trub do you get for a 5 gallon (20 liter) batch?



I get 2.5lt or so for my 23lt batches. I use a grain bag for hop additions which helps with hop trub.
I think I was getting 3lt of trub in my 50lt keggle.




jacknohe said:


> I BIAB in a 40L Urn. I brew 20L batches and estimate my trub at 3L in my calcs. I've never done any other AG brewing technique so couldn't compare. I used to worry about the trub collecting in my Jerry Can but not now. Its all good. One other thing, I've always used a Hop sock so I don't have hop trub. Making great beer so the trub thing doesn't bother me.



I transfer a bit of hot break, cold break, trub or whatever you want to call it into my no chill cube & add the whole cube to the fermenter which has a little bit of crap settled out on the bottom. I tried to eliminate it in the past & not get it into the fermenter but it made no difference to the finished beers. I use a grain bag for hops too & the 40lt urn is brilliant.


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## Nick JD (21/9/12)

I can do 60L (3 kegs) batches in my 19L pot.




1.8% Lager.   

But seriously, if you're constrained by your gear set with batch size, if you contain the hops - it's possible to _only lose the hotbreak_ - which is only about 500ml in a fine crush 20L BIAB. 

It's a hassle though, straining the hotbreak for that extra 500ml or liter and reboiling and cooling - but if you're cunning you can freeze it and use it for a starter for the same recipe made next time. Do this all the time and your net loss is zero wort - but you freezer is full of containers with their recipes written on them.


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## sim (21/9/12)

Nick JD said:


> I can do 60L (3 kegs) batches in my 19L pot.
> 
> 
> 1.8% Lager.



Do you though? :blink:


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## Nick JD (21/9/12)

sim said:


> Do you though? :blink:


 
No.


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## Filby (21/9/12)

In my 50lt keggle I get 6lt loss to trub. Ive measured it a few times. Now I don't like picking up any break from the bottom of the kettle so I'm probably a bit higher than most people. The reason i dont like the break is because I had a bad experience where I was putting lots (read 50-100gm) of late hops in (whirlpool hops) and quite a bit went into the fermenter. The final beer was VERY VERY resin'y and pretty much undrinkable (In fact its still on tap). So now I just allow for the loss and add 250gm of grain to account for it. No biggy.

Oh and most of my beers have at least 80gm of pellets so that increases the losses a lot.


Fil


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