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Madtown Brew · 09-11-2007, 01:13 AM

I've been reading and listening to alot of people talk about all of these fancy methods for transferring the wort to your fermentation vessel w/out the trub (whirlpooling, siphons, filters, etc.). Is this really a big deal or is it just nice to be able to do? my understanding from the few books I've read is that trub isn't problem unless you let the brew sit on it for awhile, such as when lagering. What's the deal?

***Yooper*** · 09-11-2007, 01:17 AM

For several beers, I just dumped the whole thing in. When I started using more hops (like making IPAs) I started pouring it through a strainer into the primary bucket after it cooled. To be honest, there isn't much difference in flavor or fermentation. I don't worry about it, but I try to keep out the "sludge" in the bottom of the boiler. Just makes it easier to rack, that's all.

**TheJadedDog** · 09-11-2007, 01:26 AM

It just makes for a cleaner clearer beer but is not essential.

Madtown Brew · 09-11-2007, 01:34 AM

I also strain my wort through the hops when tranferring, but nothing else. Certainly there is still a considerable amount of trub still going into the fermenter. I just wondered because I have an APA that I think I will skip the secondary on, and wanted the opinion of the resident experts on potential ill effects of trub.

count barleywine · 09-11-2007, 03:16 PM

If your going no secondary, much of that trub will settle out in a few weeks. Then, when you siphon, do your best to leave all the trub with the yeast cake. Also, more settling will occur in the bottles, so you should be fine.

FlyGuy · 09-11-2007, 04:46 PM

For many brews, having trub in the fermenter is not a big deal, especially if you rack after a week into a secondary. The exception to this would be light or 'delicately' flavoured beers. Blonde ales or lighter lagers would be good examples. The risk is that the trub will begin to breakdown in the fermenter, and leave by-products that cause off flavours that will be most detectable in these types of beers. But it is only a risk, not a sure thing.

On the other hand, trub has a lot of good things in it that help initiate fermentation, so you don't want to be over-zealous about straining it out, either. A general rule of thumb is that a small amount of trub is good in the fermenter, and larger amounts can be tolerated by darker, heavier brews.

**Sea** · 09-12-2007, 12:46 AM

I used a five gallon paint strainer wrapped around my immersion chiller (As suggested by Biermuncher I think?), siphoned out of the center, and it works incredibly well, aven with all pellet hops.