First Ag Pilsner Something Doesn't Look Right.

[darrenp]

Made my second all grain batch yesterday a 25 litre Pilsner. No chilled into a cube and everything seemed to look alright up until I poured into the fermenter today. Once in the fermenter I discovered I only had 22 litres, topped up to 25 litres with cooled boiled water, temp rose from 10 to 16 and then added rehydrated yeast. I broke my hydrometer yesterday so took a sample of wort to check OG at work tomorow. I soon noticed that sediment was starting to form at the bottom of the sample jar and now there is around 2cm of it formed on the bottom of the fermenter as well.

Not sure what this sediment is, it certainly wasn't like this in my first batch and it wasn't in the cube. The only thing I can think of is that the concentration of the no rinse sanitiser was too high in the fermenter and I'm precipitating out protein but when the sample is shaken everything goes back into solution The sanitiser is a Homebrand product from Safeyway for sanitising babby bottles, contains chlorine and Sodium Hydroxide.

Used the following ingredients.

6.25 kg Pilsner (Weyermann) (1.7 SRM)
0.30 kgCarafoam (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM)
30.00 gmBSaaz [8.60 %] (60 min)Hops24.1 IBU
20.00 gmBSaaz [8.60 %] (30 min)Hops12.4 IBU
20.00 gmBSaaz [8.60 %] (0 min)Hops-
1 PkgsSafLager West European Lager (DCL Yeast #S-23)Yeast-Lager

Managed to measure OG pre boil at 1045 which calculated out to post boil as 1064 using Beersmith for the 22 litres and to 1056 when diluted back to 25 litres. I can't help but think something's wrong here, wort just doen't look the same as it did in the cube. Surely the yeast couldn't have got going this quick (2 hours).

Any advice from some more experienced brewers to aleviate or confirm my concerns would be greatly apreciated.

 

[Acasta]

if could be trub if you poured some into the cube after boil

 

[manticle]

Did you empty the entire kettle into the cube or keep the last bit of hop debris and hot break?
Did you pour the whole cube into the fermenter or keep the last bit of hob debris and cold break?

 

[darrenp]

Thanks Acasta I think you might be right.

The stuff in the sample jar looks just like the trub that was left behind in the keggle, maybe I just didn't see it in the cube.

If I leave things to go and rack to secondary as normal things should settle out shouldn't they or am I going to have off flavours with all of this trub carried over? :unsure:

 

[RdeVjun]

Sounds fine to me. How did you determine you only had 22L in the fermenter? I wouldn't rely on the fermenter's graduations.

The sediment is fine, probably nothing untoward there, guessing more precipitates along the lines of cold break. Relax!

BTW, probably best to chill that sample until tomorrow, it will start fermenting.

 

[Acasta]

trub is no big deal, just make sure you take as little with you as possible with every transfer, and give it plenty of rest time to settle out (1 - 2 weeks, take a sample to see clarity). If you leave the fermenter still without knocking it before you rack, and then again before you bottle, you can hope to clean it up a bit, leaving the trub behind. Some people use kettle finnings and they secondary finning too. I've used gelatin in the fermenter and it seems to help a bit, and i've recently ordered some whirfloc to try.

With my first AG i stupidly dumped everything from my kettle into the fermenter, now its drinkable but has a powdery mouth feel and a little harshness at the end.

 

[manticle]

Yes things will settle out. I'd relax and worry less. There are reasons to leave various types of break material behind - I won't go into it as last time I even suggested break material won't kill your beer or make it taste like arse, I was designated as a loudmouth who would offer his opinion on anything regardless of how little I knew about it.

Break material won't kill your beer or make it taste like arse.

 

[darrenp]

Working down the "It's Trub' track a few things are starting to stack up.

Filtered the wort through a fine filter sock and did colect a fair bit of trub in the sock. I remember shaking the cube up before tipping into the fermenter which would have disolved everything like I see with the sample jar.

The cone of trub left in the kettle after my first brew was a lot higher and more stable. Now that I think about it there was also a lot more wort left in the kettle because I'd lost the siphon early. Looks like this could be the answer.

What affect is this going to have on the end product?

 

[Acasta]

What affect is this going to have on the end product?

Just give it plenty of time to settle! I made the mistake of bottling the mentioned above brew after about 1.5 weeks when it was still cloudy. After fermentation just leave it until the trub falls out, putting it in a cool place with some gelatin when u rack might help too. like i said, my beer is drinkable, but i think thats because it has alot of hops it in. Maybe a dry hopping can mask some bad flavors.

I even suggested break material won't kill your beer or make it taste like arse

Well i could somewhat agree with you, sure mine left a powdery after taste, but that doesn't mean its undrinkable. Im certainly still alive.

 

[manticle]

The original post I'm talkng about suggested that while it's advisable to keep as much break material from your beer as possible, if some gets in, it's not the end of the world. Generally try and keep hot break out, cold break is less troublesome from what I've read but still best to limit it.

What I've experienced is good beers made with some element of both hot and cold break in there. I still wouldn't suggest deliberately throwing it in but if some gets in, don't sweat too much.

 

[darrenp]

Thanks to everyone for their advice. Will sleep much better now.