I listened to that basic brewing podcast last week - where they got 20 people around the world to split their batch (taking clear wort into one vessel and clumpy hotbreak into the other) and then report back on how it went.
More than half (including a few triangle testers) found that the hotbreak left in tasted better, fermented better and cleared better.
That's right - fermenting on the hotbreak.
I took part in the Basic Brewing experiment, so just thought I would share my results
Style of Beer: Cream Ale
Type: All Grain on Direct Fire RIMS Brew Date: 7/01/2012
Boil Time: 90 min Brewhouse Efficiency: 85.00%
Ingredients
Amt Name Type %/IBU
2100.00 g Bohemian Pilsner (Floor Malted) (2.0 EBC) Grain 1 40.4 %
2100.00 g Perle Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (6.3 EBC) Grain 2 40.4 %
800.00 g Rice, Flaked (2.0 EBC) Grain 3 15.4 %
200.00 g Wheat, Flaked (3.2 EBC) Grain 4 3.8 %
30.00 g Hallertau [7.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min 21.2 IBUs
20.00 g Hallertau [7.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min 0.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)
After boiling the wort was whirlpooled and cooled with an immersion chiller for 45 minutes to let the trub settle. 3 gal of clear wort was syphoned into the first fermenter. The remaining wort was then stirred to rouse the trub off the bottom of the boil kettle and 3 gal were syphoned into the second fermenter. I estimate that 2/3 of the trub was carried over into the second fermenter. Both fermenters were agitated for 3 minutes to aerate the wort and pitched with 7g of dry US-05 yeast (for simplicity I just sprinkled it on top). The fermenters were then placed in a temperature controlled water bath and fermented at 18c.
Pic1 The picture on the left shows samples taken directly after the wort was put in the fermenters. The Trub sample is noticeably more turbid. The picture on the right was taken 2 hours later. The trub has begun to settle out forming a layer on the bottom of the Trub sample
Differences in the beer visually
There was no difference in the head retention/volume, but there was a clear difference in the clarity. The Clear sample was cloudy whereas the Trub sample was clear
Pic2. The Trub sample is much clearer than the Clear sample
Tasting results
My results: I completed 2 separate triangle tests 1 week apart. Because of the obvious visual difference I used white plastic cups which didnt allow me to identity differences in the clarity of the beers. In both tests I was able to correctly identify the odd beer and correctly identify which beer was the Clear sample and which was the Trub. The taste was very similar, and it is hard to pinpoint the exact flavour difference. The only way I can describe it is that the Clear sample had a bit of an aftertaste (astringent might be the best description) and the Trub sample tasted cleaner. I think watching the side by side fermentation gave me some preconceptions on potential differences in the beers which is what allowed me to identify the slight difference in taste.
Additional results: I had 9 willing volunteers complete a triangle test. The participants ranged from other home brewers to people who rarely drink beer, and none of them had any knowledge of the difference in the beers before the test. Of the 9 participants 4 of them correctly identified the odd beer in the test. This is slightly higher than random (you would expect 1/3 to get it correct by just guessing), but I think the only conclusion I can make from this is that there are no strong differences in the taste of the 2 beers.
Conclusion
The taste panel showed that there was no significant difference in the taste of the 2 beers. But based on these results I will definitely never worry about getting trub into my fermenter. The sample with the trub had a stronger fermentation, was clearer and, to me, tasted better.
