Should I add pick up tube to my brew pot ?

[mongey]

S I am about do my 4th BIAB . am happy with my results so far. Learning more . so many beers I want to brew already

as with everything you start out just happy to make beer, then next 2 batches wanted to make sure my efficiency was good which it is . In my next brew this weekend focusing on cutting down my trub losses as bit, . have some whrilfoc to add .

my brew pot, cheeky peak brewery 50l pot, didn't come with a pick up tube .The tap is installed right on the 5L mark and once I drain to that point its pretty much trub city, even after a good whirlpool.I get maybe another liter of clear enough stuff to use but the last 4L is throw away . Seems like a pick up tube pointing away form the cone would help, but then I wonder if it will just get clogged too easily to be worth it ?

 

[Rocker1986]

4L loss isn't too bad anyway. Probably easier to simply increase your batch size by a litre or so and keep draining it the same way, if batch volume is a concern. That's pretty much what I did with my system, usually allowing for about 4L trub loss as well.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

4lt is the trub volume of my 55l keggle. I may tilt it and get another 1 ~ 1.5lt sometimes as long as its clear and not just mud.

You can rescue that trub too. I use 2 or 3lt apple juice bottles and tilt the keggle to fill them with the trub. Squeeze out the headspace if you can. Chill them in your beer fridge for a few days. I hope you have a beer fridge etc.
The trub will cold crash and up to 1/3rd to 2/3rd of it is clear wort. Crystal clear wort actually. I then carefully tip off that clear wort to keep and use for yeast starters. Or tip that wort into your next brew. I used to freeze it, now I home can it in mason jars. Heat pasteurized and ready to use.
It seems too good to waste since you've put all that design and craftsmanship into your own made malt.

 

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

I am getting ~ 5.5L trub in my 55L batches.

Just account for it and dump it, or harvest it for starter wort as others have suggested.

Just make sure that you are hitting your expected “into the FV” volume.

Don’t sweat your efficiency it’s just a guide. Hitting your final liquor volume & gravity targets us what is important.

 

[soreba]

Ive got the 91L Cheeky Peak pot and have an elbow pickup that hovers a couple mm from the bottom. Anything left below the tap still siphons out until about 0.5L - 1L (plus whatever the hops absorb) which is left behind. see pic below of pickup (during lautering through whirlpool port)



A good whirlpool helps to.



- Alex

 

[JDW81]

I've got a 115L kettle, with a pickup tube that sits a few mm of the bottle of the pot. With a good whirlpool, and an appropriate standing time (i.e. leaving it until it stops spinning) I get a nice tight trub cone, and can siphon off pretty much to the bottom of the kettle leaving <1L in the bottom even when making big batches with lots of hops (the picture has about 2.5L left in it, but was still draining clear wort when I took the pic).


If you drain slowly you'll also pick up less trub.

My vote is a yes for a pickup tube.

JD

 

[Markbeer]

I always had large trub losses when BIAB.

@JDW81 and @soreba are you recirculation or 3V by chance?

The efficiency you gain from squeezing the bag and draining you lose at knockout as you don't have the vorlauf/recirculation step.

My losses were 4l for BIAB but minimal when I get a good whirlpool cone in my 3V.

You can't compare the 2.

 

[soreba]

@JDW81 and @soreba are you recirculation or 3V by chance?

3v

 

[JDW81]

3V gravity fed system with a RIMs tube for the MLT.

 

[Markbeer]

I rest my case.

@mongey you will have to take your trub losses into account and if you want a nice cone with little loss, then a 3V or recirculation is needed.

 

[Lionman]

4L of losses would give me nightmares, especially around 50L total volume.

I'd recommend a lauter helix. They do a great job of getting all the sweet wort out of your kettle while delivering clear runoff till the end.

This was a 40L batch of RIPA. Nothing left in there but cold break and hops.