lowend

Recipes 

I'm trying to get some ideas on how to reduce the amount of trub that I end up with in my beers. As of now, I just pour the wort through a strainer after being chilled, and then I pour the fermented wort through a strainer again just before bottling. The sediment isn't typically much of a problem, but every so often I brew up a batch with so much sediment hanging out at the bottom that I lose 1/2 to 1 gallon worth of a 5 gallon batch. What else can I do to reduce/eliminate the sediment? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Marko73

Recipes 

I would be really careful about straining the wort before bottling. That will introduce oxygen into the wort and that can lead to a lot of off flavors. Siphoning is really the best idea to go to your bottle bucket. My auto siphon has a cap on the bottom that helps keep a lot fo the sediment out when going to the bottling bucket.

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ChshreCat

Recipes 

Time between brewing and bottling is the best thing for reducing sediment in your beer. I'm guessing that you're not giving it enough time to clear. How long do you go before you bottle?

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SteveM

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Agree - you need patience to be able to see the process through. And straining is not, in my opinion, the answer anyway. Careful siphoning will be much more effective because you are leaving all the trub untouched at the bottom of the fermenter.

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lowend

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I use an auto siphon but have the end of the tube go into a strainer (don't know if that makes a difference for what you're talking about).

lowend

Recipes 

I tend to wait about 2.5 to 4 weeks before bottling.

ChshreCat

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What kind of yeast are you using? Some compact down better than others.

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lowend

Recipes 

I typically use Nottingham yeast and most of the time it compacts down really well, but not every time.

MacBruver

Recipes 

Your biggest problem is pouring the beer from your fermenter after it is done fermenting. You want to use a siphon so that you don't disturb the trub at all. No matter how careful you are with pouring, you're still going to get a LOT more trub that way.

In addition, pouring the beer is going to incorporate a lot of oxygen, which is something you want to avoid.

If you don't want to buy an autosiphon, search for $3 autosiphon here. I have an autosiphon but I built the one described in that thread, and it works great.

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ChshreCat

Recipes 

um........

Though, running it through a strainer at bottling is going to introduce a lot of O2 as well.

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