Excessive trub

[paulmclaren11]

G'day fellow brewers,

Yesterday I pitched my latest APA. I got great efficiency (better than expected) using the 20lt pot BIAB method.

I poured the wort into the fermenter and a bit of break, then I strained some more of the break to maximise the amount into the fermenter. Topped up to 19 litres and was stoked.

This morning I checked the ferment fridge just to see how things were taking off and to my dissapointment see about 3 litres about trub in the bottom of the fermenter. I normally only get about 1-1.5 litres generally. I assume after fermentation this will increase as the yeast falls out.

Will cold conditioning compact this crap or has my volume been affected. I now anticipate 15- 16 lites into the keg instead of 17-18...

I know as long as the beer is good this doesn't really matter but I would like to avoid this again.

The practice of straining break - is this a no-no?

Cheers.

 

[Truman42]

Cold conditioning will compact it more.
Straining the break is okay (providing your wort is cool) but a lot of it still gets past the strainer anyway. Your better off using brewbrite in the boil or another floccing agent, and doing a decent whirlpool. Then either draining via a tap on your kettle very slowly so you dont break the trub cone apart and suck in break material. Or using a racking cane. If your going to pour from your kettle to your fermenter then your definietly going to get break in there.

 

[Bribie G]

A lot of what you see there could be cold break formed overnight, not trub from the kettle which is the hot break. It gets "pickled" during fermentation and should compact right down to the bottom of the FV. Doesn't affect flavour.

 

[paulmclaren11]

I use whirfloc in the boil.

With my current system (20 lt pot) I have to pour it in (no tap). I let it chill overnight in the kettle (I know risky but I have never had infection) to pitching temp then pour carefully trying to leave as much crud behind.

So my end volume may not be as bad as first thought? Just a bit surprised to see so much this morning..

 

[RdeVjun]

Don't be overly concerned, I'd say by the time its done there should be some more settling/ compaction and you'll probably recover more than that.

Bribie G is quite right in that you're seeing both kettle/ hot break which passed through the strainer and also cold break which precipitates on cooling. I found that I was getting best results using whole hops flowers (aka 'leaf' hops), in a large sieve it forms an adequate straining matrix through which you can run the entire kettle contents in one go.

That particular technique (kettle chill and strain/ pour) is one of the many home brew wrinkles which can raise a few eyebrows, in some backward quarters, even scorn, however rest assured that the beer will be just fine and the sun will indeed still come up in the morning. I used it for years and it landed a few gongs, these days I have a bigger kettle but I still really don't care that much about the presence of break material as it isn't the dastardly bogeyman which it is often made out to be.

Just on the technique (aka 20L Stovetop or MaxiBIAB), effectively you've condensed two brewing sessions into one with what is largely just household equipment. Looking at your fermenter, it should be about a cornie keg- worth from one brewing session with a small additional effort- in my books, to achieve the same ends, it beats two separate conventional brewing sessions hands down! B)

 

[paulmclaren11]

Thanks for all the feedback ;0