No Chill, Trub And Filtering

[dmcke109]

I use BIAB (cheers Pete) and the no chill method.

Basically I siphon off my wort into my fermenter and let it chill overnight. Usually I don't get too much trub cause I stop siphoning off pretty early but on the weekend I noticed heaps of trub in the morning. I was spewing.

Anyway this got me thinking - how could I separate this trub from the wort. I ended up running the beer through my beer filter and it came out clear as. I pitched my yeast and it is now happily fermenting away at 12c.

Has anyone used the filter in this manner before?

 

[Cortez The Killer]

You could siphon into a no chill cube

Everything will have settled in the cube while it cools

Then leave trub behind when transferring to the fermenter

Cheers

Edit: Just about all the trub ends up in my fermenter - I don't believe it makes a difference to the final product - just means a thicker cake at the bottom of the fermenter

 

[seemax]

Whirlpool after flameout, than drain into no chill. That should keep most of the trub behind. Try a hopsock to keep hops contained.

It all drops out during no chill anyway, and if any makes it through it will settle in primary.

I've done BIAB, drained into no chill trub and all, drained into fermentor... and still get nice clear beer!

 

[PostModern]

I assume you use kettle finings like whirlfloc in the kettle, then whirlpool in the kettle before running off to the fermenter? If you do, all you'll find in the fermenter should be cold break, which is not bad for the beer. It's actually desirable to get some of that for yeast nutrition. All the counterflow chillers and immersion chillers will get some in their wort.

I run clear wort into my kettle from the mashtun, so I don't know how much of your "trub" is grain material. Whirlpooling should help there as well, if it is.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

I've filtered trub through a beer filter on the way to the NC cube. It worked OK a few times, but the filter quickly became almost permanently clogged, the flow rates just kept dropping and dropping. I got maybe 6 brews in before it basically wouldn't go anymore. Mind you, that was with a 1 micron jobbie, a 5 micron, might just keep working for a long time.

Never from the cube though & I'd hesitate to do so, because I think it represents an infection risk. No heat and no alcohol + lots of bug food. Probably not that high a risk, but the benefit of doing it vs racking might not be enough to win the balancing contest.

There is also a fair chance that the trub in your fermenter was mostly cold break.... and no one but weirdly fanatical German brewers worry about getting that in their fermenter. If anything there is argment abot whether wort that is too "clean" is bad for yeast health.

You don't need any hot break - I think its bad for beer quality (opinion rather than unarguable fact) but cold break is pretty benign. Everyone who uses a plate chiller, a counterflow chiller & most NC brewers - put their cold break into the fermenter and that makes it fairly standard, if not universal, practice.

TB

 

[matti]

Trub into fermenter in farly small amount will not spoil the beer with ale yeast as it will not sit there long enough to cause damage.
But if you brew lager the yeast ferment at the bottom where the trub lay so you are better to leave most of it out.
That is my opinion and it is worth 2c lol

 

[dmcke109]

I always whirlpool and use koppafloc and this does help to stop getting hot break into the fermenter.


The break I had in my fermenter was cold break (at least I think it was). I generally get a bit of break but this time there was a heap more than usual hence why I decided to filter it.

I thought someone else would have tried to do this (I knew I wasn't going to be a pioneer Thirsty Boy ) - I was wondering if doing this would have any implications for either the beer or my filter. And as Thirsty Boy said in his post - his filter only lasted 6 brews. Looks like I won't be using my filter like this anymore. Now if only I can up my efficiences.......

 

[raven19]

I use BIAB (cheers Pete) and the no chill method.

Basically I siphon off my wort into my fermenter and let it chill overnight. Usually I don't get too much trub cause I stop siphoning off pretty early but on the weekend I noticed heaps of trub in the morning. I was spewing.

:icon_offtopic: Not to be picky here, but this is not a no chill method, as you have a huge air space in your fermentor and it has not been pasturised on its side - like you would a no chill cube. Hence this could lead to issues...

+1 for other comments here on the cold break though. Cheers!

 

[browndog]

:icon_offtopic: Not to be picky here, but this is not a no chill method, as you have a huge air space in your fermentor and it has not been pasturised on its side - like you would a no chill cube. Hence this could lead to issues...

+1 for other comments here on the cold break though. Cheers!

Raven19 you are joking right? If it's not a "no-chill" method what is it then?

cheers

Browndog

 

[raven19]

Raven19 you are joking right? If it's not a "no-chill" method what is it then?

cheers

Browndog

I guess I was just trying to point out that by the method above, there is a risk of infection while the wort cools slowly - as per many discussions over no chill in cube in other threads.

I use a cube to no-chill, my mate used his fermentors, and one of his batches went bad, even with pitching the starter the very next morning.

But yes, it is a method of no chilling - you have me there.

I would hate to see someones hard work go to waste, just my 2c FWIW.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

(I knew I wasn't going to be a pioneer Thirsty Boy )

me no pioneer - just a tight ******* trying to get every last drop of wort out of my kettle - pretty sure I heard of someone else doing it and thats why I tried.

 

[browndog]

I guess I was just trying to point out that by the method above, there is a risk of infection while the wort cools slowly - as per many discussions over no chill in cube in other threads.

I use a cube to no-chill, my mate used his fermentors, and one of his batches went bad, even with pitching the starter the very next morning.

But yes, it is a method of no chilling - you have me there.

I would hate to see someones hard work go to waste, just my 2c FWIW.

Sorry about getting a bit OT, about your mate pitching the next morning I find it hard to believe the hot wort did not sanitise the fermenter sufficiently to ward off the risk of infection. Could be the bug was introduced after the wort cooled.

cheers

Browndog

 

[Bribie G]

Sorry about getting a bit OT, about your mate pitching the next morning I find it hard to believe the hot wort did not sanitise the fermenter sufficiently to ward off the risk of infection. Could be the bug was introduced after the wort cooled.

cheers

Browndog

In any brew there is always a lag time, sometimes up to a couple of day, where the surface of the brew is 'unprotected' and there is a big head space so I would guess that's when an infection could take hold rather than when the fermenter holds boling temp liquid.
I once no chilled in the urn and got a nasty cabbage tasting infection but that was from the poorly cleaned tap.... but that's a different story

 

[sijani]

I was thinking of adding an air compressor to my kit. With a high pressure air gun it would be sweet for getting into threads and joins and all the other difficult to clean/dry areas. It would also clean a filter quite well.

 

[browndog]

If you had two fermenters that had the same sanitising regime, then I'd put my swingers on the no-chill fermenter (pitched the next day)having less of a chance of infection over the fermenter with the chilled brew, lag or no lag.

cheers

Browndog

 

[notung]

While we're on about cold break material getting into the fermenter, I'd like to ask a question that is probably obvious.

:icon_offtopic:

I no-chill in a cube like others do, then give an almighty shake before pouring half into the fermenter. I stop to put the lid on again, then give another almighty shake before pouring the rest. All this shaking leaves a lot of cold break in suspension throughout the wort. Before pitching I take a sample for the hydrometer, but this also contains small bits of break.

How does break material affect my hydrometer readings? I have always assumed that the wort will appear denser, with a greater SG than without break.

 

[kook]

How does break material affect my hydrometer readings? I have always assumed that the wort will appear denser, with a greater SG than without break.

It shouldn't affect it at all if it's not in solution. If you put a rock in a glass of salt water, is the salt water any more dense?