Massive trub, low efficiency

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gelatin

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I made the below beer today (batch #10!) and encountered massive trub for the first time. There are multiple possible culprits, and they may be collaborating: I used a bit more whirlfloc than I usually would, a little over a half tablet for 2.75gal batch, I kept a more roiling boil going than usual, my cold break was particularly fast, and I used marris otter for the first time.

My hopes are that it will compact, but I see mixed feeling about this as some say that the whirlfloc trub is fluffy and easily disturbed even when settled, while other say it's not an issue. I wonder if the fluffy side doesn't do long primaries? At any rate, I'm interested on opinions why this is so trubby and whether this will compact firmly in 3 weeks.

6lb Marris Otter
8oz Caramel 40L
8oz Victory
7oz Carapils

7 hop additions, but basically 0.5oz Magnum and 3oz East Kent Goldings

BIAB style mash, which was a bit of a cluster****, as the calculator said to mash in at 166 for a target of 154, when this actually gave me 158-159. I was able to bring it down over 15 minutes. Mashed for 75 minutes, staying 153-154 for the last 60 minutes. I squeezed the bag a lot. Took a SG from a cooled sample, kettle efficiency at 57%, calculated brewhouse at 64%. Added 1lb DME at 15 minutes to make up for it. OG 1.072.

I'm thinking my high mash-in may have denatured too much beta amylase, and my mash PH may have been a touch high at around 5.5. Any thoughts on improving efficiency? I did adjust my mash water with 2g CaCl2 and 1g Gypsum, so I know the water nutrients aren't the problem.

5 min after pitching and 5 hours after pitching (72 and 68 degrees, heading for 64 degrees in a timely manner):

cold break.jpg


cold break2.jpg
 
Looks pretty normal for biab that I have done on that scale. Next time you may want to give it some time in the kettle after cooling to let some of the trub settle before going into the carboy. Give it 4 weeks to ferment and there should be a solid layer of trub and yeast at the bottom. Let us know how the beer turns out.
 
Thanks for the vote for it compacting firmly. I'm not worried about the trub in the fermenter though. I just pour the whole thing through a funnel with a strainer to get out the hop matter.
 
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