TONS of trub making wheat beer

hlumbard · 03-21-2010, 11:00 AM

I made the beer below and only ended up with 4 gallons in the fermentor because there was SO MUCH TRUB. When I racked after cooling I got a good pint of sludge. I thought I hadn't whirlpooled enough but when it got to the end I saw the entire bottom of the pot was 2" deep in trub. Did I not vorlauf enough or is this typical with wheat beers?

Also, do you need to go slow with the runnings? I only took 3 or 4 minutes for the first runnings. Same for the 2 batch sparges I did.

5# 2 row
4.5# wheat malt
2oz Saaz 60 min.
1t Irish moss 15 min.
2oz Saaz 5 min.

I also think I need a hop bag. This wasn't a ton of hops but I can see that if I do an IPA I'm just going to increase this problem.

archiefl98 · 03-21-2010, 01:46 PM

Vorlaufing will help set the grain bed and allow you to collect less trub. Just drain the first few quarts into a pitcher and gently pour them back into the top of the mash tun. When you drain them, crack the valve about 1/4 open. Slower is better for that filter bed to set. After the first few quarts the wort should clear up (meaning no chunks of grain, hush, white blobby stuff etc) and then you just drain into the kettle.

**big supper** · 03-21-2010, 11:31 PM

wheat also has more protein than barley. Maybe that could contribute to more trub. I am not sure how signifigantly though.