Any tricks for settling out the trub after using Whirlfloc .

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

chefeffect

Well-Known Member
Joined
18/6/07
Messages
288
Reaction score
20
Location
Echuca
I have used whirlfoc only 3 times, the first few where for ale's and I was shoked how much trub and break fell out but I could see it was all clumped together like little clouds and shed loads of wort was still in-between the trub and break.

I decide to not to use it again due to varying opinions on trub in the fermentor and because I knew it would settle out and I would get more wort to ferment. I got 6.5lt of trub instead of the usual 3.5lt of trub, I put a portion of the left over trub in a 5lt carboy over night and got a furthur 2.5lt of wort which I added to the fermentor.

I decided to use it tonight for my Boh Pilsner I made as I read a heap about keeping the trub away from a lager more so than an ale. Anyway's I could adjust my recipe to allow for this but I don't like wasting stuff even if it is 2-3lt of wort.

Does anyone have any tricks they use? Do you even bother for ale's?
 
whirlpool

rest for 10 mins after whirlpooling

pickup tube drawing from the side of the kettle'

drain the kettle slowly

thats pretty much all you can do, or do as you've done and catch the trub in another vessel and let it settle

i found biab to produce significantly more trub than a recirculated mash
 
donburke said:
i found biab to produce significantly more trub than a recirculated mash
In which case you would adjust your equipment profile, maybe I am just being to fickle.

Yeah it was Biab. I pretty much did what you mentioned, I used the immersion chiller and got it to 14deg then put the whole keggle in my cool room for two hours and got the temp to 9 deg thought it would have crashed out a bit more but didn't.

Will be interesting to see the difference in the final product as have never done this with a lager before.
 
Similar to above.
My process - flameout then cover and leave for 20.
Whirlpool in such a way that an actual whirlpool is created - vortex in the cetre.
Leave another 20.
Run off clear wort and leave a clump of break in the middle of the bottom.
 
Cheers Manticle, I saw your advice in another Whirfloc thread after I had finished racking. I will def give this a go next time. Does this separate the wort from the break a bit furthur? Or does the whirlpool just aid in an easier racking process?
 
Break settles in a clump in the centre, clear wort to the kettle. I no-chill so I am referring to hot break only.
 
I also BIAB and get about 6L of trub, I think it's quite normal. I chill and then whirlpool, leave for about 20 minutes, then siphon to the fermenter. I've had varying degrees of success with this, sometimes I get a lovely cone in the middle, other times it just won't work...maybe not holding my tongue in the right place on those occasions
 
HI Guys.

I did my first BIAB last week and lost a heap due to trub loss. I only ended up with 19l into the fermenter, I no chilled as well, I wasn't sure whether or not to poor the entire batch in. Lesson learnt I guess, might need to increase the starting volume to account for more trub loss. I didn't whirlpool either but might give that a go as well.

Doing a Lager this weekend so will see how that pans out.

Cheers Wadey
 
I used to just pour the whole lot in until quite recently, but the trub was up to the tap on the fermenter, so now I try to minimise it. The whirlpool thing seems to be a bit hit and miss for me though, even though I do it exactly the same each time.
 
I did a pils BIAB and used whirlfloc at 5 minutes to go of the boil. After it cooled i racked into my conical fermenter and did whirlpool action. (apparently a cone shape is the go for a whirlpool, apparently) I let it settle for a hour, opened the bottom tap and dumped about 2.5 lt of trub.

Then I aerated the wort, pitched my 1.5 lt yeast starter and fermented.

The beer was nice and clean. Plus it tasted bloody great!
 
j-dunn said:
I did a pils BIAB and used whirlfloc at 5 minutes to go of the boil. After it cooled i racked into my conical fermenter and did whirlpool action. (apparently a cone shape is the go for a whirlpool, apparently) I let it settle for a hour, opened the bottom tap and dumped about 2.5 lt of trub.
Off topic...

Not entirely sure about all whirlpool tanks but I've seen one with an inverted cone that collects the trub perfectly before being pumped into the fermentors. I assume this would be a standard setup...

Your method above sounds really simple. I'll keep dreaming about my future conical now....
 
wbosher said:
I also BIAB and get about 6L of trub, I think it's quite normal. I chill and then whirlpool, leave for about 20 minutes, then siphon to the fermenter. I've had varying degrees of success with this, sometimes I get a lovely cone in the middle, other times it just won't work...maybe not holding my tongue in the right place on those occasions

Good to know I might start using it more often and adjust recipes to suit.
 
Do those who use immersion chillers start the whirlpool with the chiller still on the kettle? Or when the wort has chilled - obvs a bit awkward to get a whirlpool started with the chiller in place, though this is what I did last brew - also lost around 6L to trub
 
if using liquid yeast, I keep all trub in a container - chill it for a day or two and decant wort for a starter. Saves having to spend money on DME, and the flavour profile is the same as the beer it will be fermenting.

But I have the same process as everyone else - although I have been using BrewBrite lately. I'm not sure, but I think I notice that BrewBrite leaves a clearer beer once it makes itself to the keg, more so than into the fermenter? I crash chill in the fermenter for a number of days - perhaps BrewBrite is doing something during this period?
 
Spiesy said:
if using liquid yeast, I keep all trub in a container - chill it for a day or two and decant wort for a starter. Saves having to spend money on DME, and the flavour profile is the same as the beer it will be fermenting.

But I have the same process as everone else
I do this just siphon wort off of trub next day into juice bottle squeeze all air out and freeze for next starter for next brew
Just defrost and boil before making starter
 
Phil Mud said:
Do those who use immersion chillers start the whirlpool with the chiller still on the kettle? Or when the wort has chilled - obvs a bit awkward to get a whirlpool started with the chiller in place, though this is what I did last brew - also lost around 6L to trub
keeping the immersion chiller in the kettle whilst whirlpooling can actually help the cause, it slows the currents inside the chiller, assisting in depositing the trub and not disturbing it, just allow some clearance under the coil for the trub to settle

recirculating wort whilst chilling also cools wort down faster, providing better thermal exchange and avoiding stagnant pockets

i have mine plumbed into the kettle, which allows me to put the lid on for a closed system, minimising the risk of birds shitting in it during chilling


post-9816-1301720272.jpg
 
donburke said:
keeping the immersion chiller in the kettle whilst whirlpooling can actually help the cause, it slows the currents inside the chiller, assisting in depositing the trub and not disturbing it, just allow some clearance under the coil for the trub to settle

recirculating wort whilst chilling also cools wort down faster, providing better thermal exchange and avoiding stagnant pockets

i have mine plumbed into the kettle, which allows me to put the lid on for a closed system, minimising the risk of birds shitting in it during chilling


post-9816-1301720272.jpg
That is a nice looking kettle! Thanks for that, all very logical
 
donburke said:
keeping the immersion chiller in the kettle whilst whirlpooling can actually help the cause, it slows the currents inside the chiller, assisting in depositing the trub and not disturbing it, just allow some clearance under the coil for the trub to settle

recirculating wort whilst chilling also cools wort down faster, providing better thermal exchange and avoiding stagnant pockets

i have mine plumbed into the kettle, which allows me to put the lid on for a closed system, minimising the risk of birds shitting in it during chilling


attachicon.gif
post-9816-1301720272.jpg
Wow, that looks awesome! Does the trub settle more on the out side or the inside of the chiller?? Does is still make a cone shape?
 
chefeffect said:
Wow, that looks awesome! Does the trub settle more on the out side or the inside of the chiller?? Does is still make a cone shape?
nice compact cone inside the coil, i have about a 40mm gap between the coil and the base of kettle, and about 5 or 6 mm gap between turns in the coil
 
Back
Top