trub in my primary fermenter

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muthafuggle

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I'm brewing my second batch ever (first post to this forum, too!) and I was so enthusiastic in getting my cooled wort into the plastic fermenter, I just dumped the whole damn thing into the bucket, trub and all.

That was about 5PM last night.

This morning I was thinking back over my brew procedure and had an "oh crap" moment. What should I do? If I had another fermenter I would just rack it over. I could rack it into my bottling bucket and then back to the fermenter, but that sounds like way too many opportunities to oxygenate my beer or infect it with something nasty.

If I leave the trub in am I going to mess up my Kolsch?:confused:
 
The trub is fine you will need longer to allow the beer to "clear" If you use a secondary when your fermentation is done rack it over and leave as much trub behind as you can. If not when you are ready to bottle try and leave as much behind when you move to the bottling bucket. Your beer is fine no worries.
 
Welcome to HBT!

Don't do anything. I always dump the whole pot into the fermenter and never had an issue in all my years brewing.
 
Seconded. Somtimes I strain, sometimes I don't. It all depends on my current level of laziness at the time. Either way, it'll all settle out during fermentation. Just keep that patience level high, and give the yeast lots of time to clean up after themselves.

And welcome to HBT! :mug:
 
You'll still make beer.

I try to limit the amount that goes in, but not eliminate it. It acts as a nutrient for the yeast.
 
Thanks guys! I guess I have beginner's panic. -so many things to potentially screw up.

My first batch (Raspberry Wheat) has been in the bottles for about 2 weeks and it tastes like soap. I'm hoping time will heal all beers, but I don't want to make any more stupid mistakes.
 
funny, this answers most of my questions too... I had a moment yesterday too where i neglected to cool my wort enough before transferring it into my fermenter. the result was alot of trub floating around.

i cant take all the blame, papazians book doesnt mention wort cooling procedures and methods for removing hot and cold break until the advanced section. He does assure me that trub in the beer isnt the end of the world. However I am slightly worried about some off flavors. Especially when friends of mine are brewing similar recipes so we can compare how slight alterations effect taste.

So I am planning on transferring to secondary after a week and probably straining it. A friend suggested i may be able to transfer it to secondary as soon as today and just add a new packet of yeast. Any thoughts on this? Like the person who posted earlier, I dont want to risk contamination if its going to be ok.

Regardless, this is my second brew also, so I am taking this as a learning experience and look forward to doing a better job cleaning out the hot and cold break from my next batch.
 
Give it a little extra time for the trub to compact. It tends to be fluffy at the end of the fermentation.
 
Your second batch ever was all-grain? Very impressive. Did you contain your hops in a bag of some sort?

I recently ran a double batch. One fermenter got the clean wort. The other got everything else. Since I dumped my hops in the boil kettle, the everything else fermenter was more hoppy but still good.
 
No all-grain for me yet, I need quite a few more batches under my belt. -Maybe in a year...

My hops were indeed in bags that got removed after the boil.
 
I am a brand new home brewer. Spent all summer collecting and building an all grain system (Sanke HLT, Sanke Boil Kettle, my version of a couter flow wort chiller, etc...).

I found a recipe for a scotch ale called Nancy's Hop Scotch.

I had that same Oh S%$^& moment regarding the trub and hot break in the primary. My first thought was to rack it into a secondary. Then I came across several posts stating that secondary fermenting is now regarded as not necessary and that most people leave their scotch ales in the primary for 3 to 4 weeks.

So, I concluded (and hoped) that I should be patient and leave the thing alone and let the yeast do their work undisturbed for 3 or 4 weeks. Then I will rack it into one of my corney kegs and let it condition for another couple of weeks before sampling it.

I also forgot to measure the O.G. as well. I did measure the wort as it came out of my mash tun. Cooled it first to about 62 degrees and the reading was 1.051. That was little lower than I expected but it was before the boil.

The only thing that concerns me now is it seemed to complete the vigorous fermentation within 48 hours. It is still bubbling at a rate of about 1 bubble every 1 to 2 minutes. Perhaps I should take some out and do a gravity reading?
 
You can't really ascertain all that much from your gravity reading, unless it was from the mixture of all of your runnings, pre boil, and you know the volume.

If you're going to leave it in the primary 3-4 weeks (which I recommend), then taking a gravity reading at this point is really unnecessary. If it isn't done at that point, then there isn't much that you can do, unless you're really determined to get .003 more off the FG. Besides, knowing the FG without the OG really won't tell you all that much--just take a reading when you bottle if you really want to know for next time.

Final Verdict: RDWHAHB.
 
I am one who usually dumps all the trub from the B/K into the fermentor. I don't know if it makes a difference or not. I have read from both camps and everybody likes their own way.
 
I really can't see what all the fuss is about.

Keeping the hops material out is a good idea. But anyone with a plate chiller - including every pro brewing gig I ever had - sent and sends break into the fermenter, unless you're whirlpooling, which I've never done and sincerely doubt anyone else is doing.

Cheers,

Bob
 
I did the same thing on my first batch.
Till this day my neighbor swears it's the best beer I've made.
Which sucks because I would have hoped that I am getting better at it.
 
Thanks for the great feedback on my concern. The reason I posted is because the fermenter is in my brother's basement 3 1/2 hours away and was not able to watch it. Had to rely on phone calls to my brother. It was not until yesterday did he tell me that it has a healthy layer of krausen. He only relayed to me that the bubling of the blow off tube had slowed to 1 per minute after 36 hours or so. That had me worried. Fortunately, I am going back this weekdend and will get to examine it myself.

Looks like November 1 before I will get to sample. That's what I get for making a scotch ale my first ever batch. Guess I'll just have to settle for Railbender until then;-)

Best Regards
Fred
 
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