Transferring From Boiler To Fermenter

[barfridge]

I've been slowly getting better with my practices, but there's still one area I have no idea about, that is what to do when getting the wort from boiler to fermenter.

I just did a pilsner, and it isnt looking quite as clear as I'd like, and that got me thinking of how this could happen.

What I'm currently doing is: once the wort is chilled, I just dump everything into the fermenter, hops, sediment, cold break and all. Is it worth filtering this? What about hops? Should they go in the primary fermenter as well?

I had a good look through High Chief Palmers bible, but couldnt find any mention of this. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Doc]

You should really leave the majority of the cold break, sediment and hops behind in the boiler.
If you get it all into the fermenter wait for it settle out over a few hours and rack the wort off the top and pitch you yeast.
Or filter from the boiler to the fermenter. For lower hopped beers I use angle high panty hose. For the highly hopped beers I use strain bags (they are much bigger) from Asian supermarkets.

Beers,
Doc

 

[JasonY]

Yep agree with Doc. I account for about 4L of losses in the bottom of my boiler. You need to take this into account when you formulate your recipe. I set a batch size of 23L in promash which gets me 19L in the fermenter.

 

[big d]

try some braided s/s hose over your pick up/outlet some time bar.this should keep most of the left overs out.

 

[jgriffin]

I had a good look through High Chief Palmers bible, but couldnt find any mention of this. Any help would be greatly appreciated

You need to look harder

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter9-1.html

I just throw it all in and rack off after 5 days or so, but i mainly do darker beers so i wouldn't really notice any haze.

 

[Batz]

My boiler as big d , said , a bit of braided line

Heavy hopped brews with pellets can block it , then you have to tap the braid with your mash paddle once in awhile

 

[barfridge]

Cheers for the advice guys

The problem is I dont have any outlets on my boiling pot, and the metal is far too thin to be cutting holes in it, so I might just stick with Palmers idea of straining through the hop flowers, and a SS seive. Or I'll give the whirlpool+syphon idea a go, see which one I prefer.

 

[Jethro]

I have the same problem I drain through a stainless valve from my boiler through a stainless scouring pad this works but blocks up quickly which slows the whole proccess down I was wondering if there is a magical timee frame after cooling the wort to let all the solids settle I have been leving the wort about 10 minutes (concerned that too long will give air born bugs time to contaminate) but notice that by the end of the drain hte wort is clear. How long do most all grainers leave the wort to settle Cheers Jethro

 

[johnno]

Yeah i also strain through a SS sive and its a PITA. And thats only for part mashes!! h34r: Cant wait till i get something more convenient together.
A a Matter of fact i should get orf my lazy backside and do it.

cheers

 

[sosman]

Well I think I have my brewpot just about the way I want it now. Even though I forgot to toss in the irish moss for today's APA, I whirlpooled and left it for maybe 45 minutes.

I should have remembered to take a pick of the bottom of the pot. I left less than 2 litres in there and most of it was crud.

 

[JasonY]

Whirlpool and leave for about 10mins, wort is still hot at this point so I don't want it to cool too much in case that affects the cold break. Ony done one brew since using a pump to CFC it, ended up racking after a couple of hours in the fermenter to get rid of a lot of the cold break.

Racking may be a good solution until you get a tap!

 

[pint of lager]

From lots of reading of different posts to different boards.

Hot break is bad for ferments as it leads to off flavours. Try and prevent as much as possible going into the fermenter. Whirlpool, and leave for at least 10 minutes before racking or siphoning off.

Cold break. About 20% should go into the fermenter for optimum final flavour and yeast performance. Let 20% of the cooled wort run into your fermenter and pitch the yeast. Let the next 80% go into a settling vessel or spare fermenter. Leave it somewhere cold, after 12 hours, all the crud has settled out, rack the nice clear wort into your primary fermenter on top of the 20% that should have heaps of yeast activity.

 

[jgriffin]

Stupid question, but how do you differentiate the hot break from the cold break? You say that 20% of cold break is good, and hot break is bad, but how do you get the cold break without the hot?

 

[JasonY]

If you use an immersion chiller or somehow chill the wort in the pot then no you cannot differentiate.

If you use a couterflow chiller then you should be leaving most of the trub in the boiler (hot break + hops) and you inherently end up with all the cold break going into the fermenter so in that respect you can differentiate.

 

[Jethro]

All looking complicated again, 20% cold break? I use a emerrsion cooler and will stick with that for awhile yet I guess it would not be hard to take a couple of Litres from hte wort pre chilling but what is the benifit of this "optimum flavour and yeast nutrient" would this be for all beers or funky ales? Cheers Jethro

 

[pint of lager]

0% hot break, 20% cold break is the optimum.

If this is too hard to achieve with your setup, aim for no hot or cold break in your fermenter.

When my setup ran with an immersion chiller, I chilled, whirlpooled then syphoned off for almost zero break material in the fermenter.

If you really want to wring the last drop of wort out, after adding the wort to the fermenter, run the dregs from the boiler into a jug, let it stand overnight, then you have some nice hopped wort floating on top, ready for reboiling and using for starters.

 

[JasonY]

If you really want to wring the last drop of wort out, after adding the wort to the fermenter, run the dregs from the boiler into a jug, let it stand overnight, then you have some nice hopped wort floating on top, ready for reboiling and using for starters.

Now that idea is worth bottling! Great stuff will be giving this a crack next brew, will probably freeze it and then thaw and boil before next brew. This should cut my DME use back!

 

[nonicman]

Thanks Pint Of Lager, like JasonY I'll be trying your tip this coming brew day