Coagulated Proteins

I just started using whirlfloc in my last few batches. But I'm having trouble with the coagulated proteins being transferred to my bottling bucket and eventually to the bottle.

My latest batch, I used whirlfloc on the last 15 minutes of the boil. This was a partial boil (3gal) extract brew with steeping grains (brown ale). I cooled the wort outside in the snowbank. It took about 30 minutes. I brought the wort inside and whirled the wort it to create a cone in hopes to avoid the proteins. I let it rest for 30 minutes to settle out. Then I used a siphon to transfer from the brewpot to the primary. It started coming out crystal clear. Unfortunatly, the bottom 1/4 of the pot was left with coagulated proteins (it looked like gelatin at the bottom of the pot). If I left that behind, I'd lose 1/4 of my wort.

How do I leave that stuff behind in the brewpot? Is it possible with a partial boil. Would I be better off straining it?

In the end, I decided to transfer everything to the primary. I just bought a secondary, so hopefully that will help clarify it a bit so it doesn't reach the bottle..

Any thoughts?

The cold break is rather 'fluffy'. Kind of hard to leave in the kettle for most of us. I read that one guy doing light lagers would let it settle in the primary before pitching and then transfer to a second primary to pitch so he could leave it behind. Pros use conicals so they can dump it and used up yeast out the bottom. This stuff will all make sense the more you do it. I used to end up with a lot of gunk in my secondary too.

After the primary though, most of this stuff will be pretty packed down and you can carefully rack from above it. I sit my carboy in a tilted position the night before now and it will creep to the back. I keep it that way as long as I can then tip it forward to get the last of the liquid.

If I do this and a lot of it is going to steal my wort, I toss it all in the primary. If it settled out in the brew kettle, it will settle in the primary. Unless you are sucking up the trub / yeast cake when bottling or racking you won't have to worry about that gunk getting in your bottles.

Perhaps don;t give it that final stir, even though you let it settle, as an hour settling rather than kicking it back up and letting it settle for a half hour is better to let it all fall out. Depending on the brew you sometimes have very little gunk and thus little loss, and sometimes not.

You can be fine with a partial boil, but I think it is best to dump more crud into the primary as losing a quart of partial boil wort is a bigger hit than a similar loss of full boil.