How much trub to leave?

Hey everyone,

I like to get as much beer as possible into the bottling bucket (or secondary), but I want my bottled beer to be as clear and yeast-cake free as possible. How much beer do you normally leave sitting on the trub?

Best,
Mark

I usually watch the wort as it goes through my auto siphon. As soon as it starts to get cloudy I lift it out. I would guess there is usually less than half a liter of liquid left as well as a couple centimeters of solids.

Depending on how long you have let the fermenter sit, your yeast cake should be well packed. I use my auto siphon and tilt the bucket. I usually leave just a small layer of liquid over the cake.

I use an autosiphon. I clip it to the side of the bucket and slowly push it straight down to the bottom. ( the autosiphon has a stanfdoff on the bottom) when I have racked 3/4 of the bucket I begin watching. When I see trub beginning to emerge, I will slowly and gently tilt the bucket towards the autosiphon and watch the tube. When i see the first sign of cloud, I lift the autosiphon and let the cloud run back into the bucket. 5 gallons in the fermenter consistently yeilds 52 bottles at 12 OZ each.

If you tip the fermenter so that there is a deeper area in the corner you can leave less beer. I usually have less than 1/16 inch of beer above the trub when setting the vessel back to level.