Filtering out Break Material

I've pretty much given up on getting a good trub cone with a whirpool. I use a Jamil style WIC. It chills fast but doesn't create a whirpool fast enough to form a trub cone. I then whirpool with a sanitized spoon for 5 minutes then let it sit for 45 minutes after being chilled. the first part is clear but the rest is cloudy. I just can't get a damn trub cone. I use 2 tablets of whirfloc per 11 gallon batch.

I'm thinking about racking the chilled wort into a sanitized corny keg. Then running it through a 5 micron filter into the fermenter.

It seems like extra work. But I'm kinda out of ideas now since I've been trying so hard to get a trub cone. Anyone tried this? Thoughts?

wheres your pickup tube located? What kind of Boil Kettle are you using?? Ball Valve...?

I have decided to try loading a hop back with Rice Hulls as a chiller pre-filter. I find no reason why it shouldn't work.

If it works as planned, buh-bye hop bags for pellets too.

IrregularPulse said:

wheres your pickup tube located? What kind of Boil Kettle are you using?? Ball Valve...?

Click to expand...

I use a converted sanke keg as a boil kettle. I've been racking the wort with an auto siphon to the fermenter.

IrregularPulse is asking if your siphoning form the edge of your pot or the middle. you should be siphoning from the edge.

you could put a hops bag of the your siphon and see if that helps any.

I use a Siphontap, works great and I transfer right after my chill. I rarely whirlpool. It doubles as an autosiphon and collects the perfect amount of wort to take your OG with a hydrometer.

http://morebeer.com/view_product/15778//Siphontap

If you are using an immersion chiller in the boiler after whirlpool, then use a siphon wand (racking cane) to remove the wort from the boiler, you should not be picking up that much hop spunk. Only the particles suspended in solution should get tranfered to the fermenter which shouldn't be much.

Now if you stick the wand in the bottom of the boiler during transfer, you'll suck the hops into the fermenter.
In other words.. Start with the wand high in the wort and slowly drop the wand as the level in the boiler drops. When you start to get close to the bottom of the vessel, stop the siphon, leaving some wort behind with the undisturbed hops sediment.

As pointed out, you can use a hop bag as a filter on the end of the racking cane to keep the sediment out of the fermenter.

OK. To clarify...I rack from the edge of the fermenter. not the middle. I also put my hops (pellet) in a hop bag. It's mostly trub that i am worried about. the siphon tap looks interesting...

michael.berta said:

I've pretty much given up on getting a good trub cone with a whirpool. I use a Jamil style WIC. It chills fast but doesn't create a whirpool fast enough to form a trub cone. I then whirpool with a sanitized spoon for 5 minutes then let it sit for 45 minutes after being chilled. the first part is clear but the rest is cloudy. I just can't get a damn trub cone. I use 2 tablets of whirfloc per 11 gallon batch.

I'm thinking about racking the chilled wort into a sanitized corny keg. Then running it through a 5 micron filter into the fermenter.

It seems like extra work. But I'm kinda out of ideas now since I've been trying so hard to get a trub cone. Anyone tried this? Thoughts?

Click to expand...

That whirlpool toy of Jamils is just churning up the hops during the cooling phase. You may want to get the intake siphon for the pump up off the bottom of the kettle. that is probably why you are not getting the whirlpool to cone up the break material

Forget about trub cones, or using the spoon to stir it after you cool it. You will only put it back into solution. Just chill it and rack it no waiting for 45 minutes.. Whatever goes into the fermenter from there will settle out either after the fermentation or the cold conditioning phase.

OLDBREW said:

Whatever goes into the fermenter from there will settle out either after the fermentation or the cold conditioning phase.

Click to expand...

I want to remove the trub before it makes it to the fermenter because it makes repitching yeast is a little easier. Also, folks like John Palmer say too much trub can have a flavor impact.

GilaMinumBeer said:

I have decided to try loading a hop back with Rice Hulls as a chiller pre-filter. I find no reason why it shouldn't work.

If it works as planned, buh-bye hop bags for pellets too.

Click to expand...

Do rice hulls have lacto on them? I would worry that they might be a source of problems if they are post-boil.

michael.berta said:

I want to remove the trub before it makes it to the fermenter because it makes repitching yeast is a little easier. Also, folks like John Palmer say too much trub can have a flavor impact.

Click to expand...

Good cold break comes from fast chilling to 50*F and using a fining like irish moss. Then you siphon only the top clear wort. the bottom stays in the boiler. That's why you make a 6 gallon batch for 5 gallons into the keg/bottles
If you leave a half gallon behind in the boiler you'll leave a lot of the break behind

Yeast washing using ball jars is a pretty simple way to separate the trub after fermentation.

I tried something new on my last brew. After I cooled my wort, I poured it into my bottling bucket lined with a large grain bag. Then I drained the strained wort into my fermenter. It left behind a huge pile of hops and break and aireated it at the same time.

I have a ball valve as low as I could get it on the kettle and no pick-up tube. I whirlpool, wait for it to settle, then open the ball valve. When the level gets to the point where it is going to go below the ball valve, I tilt the kettle to keep collecting wort. When I start to see trub ready to go through the valve, I stop. I also really don't care if I get some trub in the fermentor. This is a 15 gallon pot with about a 17.5" diameter. Works for me.

Bartman said:

I tried something new on my last brew. After I cooled my wort, I poured it into my bottling bucket lined with a large grain bag. Then I drained the strained wort into my fermenter. It left behind a huge pile of hops and break and aireated it at the same time.

Click to expand...

That sounds like a good idea too...

OLDBREW said:

Good cold break comes from fast chilling to 50*F and using a fining like irish moss. Then you siphon only the top clear wort. the bottom stays in the boiler. That's why you make a 6 gallon batch for 5 gallons into the keg/bottles
If you leave a half gallon behind in the boiler you'll leave a lot of the break behind.

Click to expand...

So I usually make 11 gallons of wort for a 10 gallon batch. Only the first 6 or 7 gallons come off clear. The last 3 or 4 gallons are filled with trub. It's just too much wort to toss out. Somehow i need to get that trub compacted further...

michael.berta said:

running it through a 5 micron filter into the fermenter.

Click to expand...

I read somewhere (probably HowToBrew) that major breweries found that removing *all* of the trub was bad for the beer.
I think the yeast need some protein and FAN to build healthy cell walls.