I Made A Mistake Somewhere...Where?

Good evening,

Approximately ninety minutes ago, I racked my one-gallon original recipe (SMaDH - Maris Otter, Centennial and Australian Galaxy, Safale S-04), and ended up with this:



Obviously, I couldn't rack it into the secondary fermenter, but it begs the question: how did I end up losing 35% or so of my carboy to trub? What's worse: the trub wasn't even that dense - it was largely suspended. Well, you might be able to make that out in the photo.

I know I did something wrong; I just do. But, where did I make my mistake:

I brewed at the correct temperatures, and the correct proportions; kept it out of the light; and I still ended up losing almost a half-gallon of potentially tasty beer.

Luckily, no skunking (it smells rather neutral), no...thingies (my first beer had white, protein-laden strings floating in it), and the color looks right. Just a lot of trub, which is possibly good, but more than I should have, which is bad.

As I am a blithering idiot when it comes to matters brewing (to be fair, you all started this way, too), any suggestions are beneficial.

How long did you let it primary? Looks like it could have still been in active fermentation and didn't have time to settle out yet.

i agree with 501, next time try to wait longer and put your carboy in the fridge for 2-3days before racking, this trub would compact a lot

You could always put that container in the fridge, let it settle down, pour out the uncarbonated beer, drink it, and save the yeastcake for your next batch. If nothing else, you'll get to taste some green beer AND save some money for your next batch

501irishred said:

How long did you let it primary? Looks like it could have still been in active fermentation and didn't have time to settle out yet.

Click to expand...

Nine days. I hadn't seen any activity in the airlock for the last three, so I figured it was near the end of primary. I guess I was a little...wrong... Luckily, I can try again as soon as Friday.

andvari7 said:

Nine days. I hadn't seen any activity in the airlock for the last three, so I figured it was near the end of primary. I guess I was a little...wrong... Luckily, I can try again as soon as Friday.

Click to expand...

You probably aren't wrong that it was done fermenting in that amount of time, but as your seeing, thats only part of the story. Leaving in the primary longer gives the yeast time to clean up after itself then time to fully settle to the bottom. As has already been mentioned here, you can additionally cold crash for a while to help drop some more and to compact anything that has already dropped out.

Yeah, if it hasn't settled leave it for a week or two. If you're rushed, you could cold crash, but I would have given it more time. Also, you say you were thinking of racking this to a secondary. Why? Were you planning on dry hopping?

No dry-hopping. I just find that racking to secondary is a lot cleaner, come bottling time. But, if it isn't necessary, I could skip it on Friday, when I brew again.

I will adopt these techniques into future brews. Thank you, all; I will reveal the outcome of this beer, which I will taste in March.

Look forward to hearing how it goes!