How long do you leave in brew kettle before moving to the fermenter?

Most of my brews are extremely cloudy in the fermenter, and I think I should be leaving it in the brew kettle longer to drop out solids. I try to move it quickly to protect the wort from potential infection...am I being too hasty?

I use irish moss and a chiller, plus a paint stirrer on my drill to aerate. I remove the chiller and create a whirlpool to try to move sediment to the middle. I end up moving the wort within 5-10 minutes, and i get a Huge trub in my fermenter plus a cloudy beer.

Going to cold crash, but wondering how long you let the proteins settle in your brew kettle before you siphon off to the fermenter.

Thanks in advance for your input. Just looking to get better.

I have had beers with 3-4ltrs of sediment. But after leaving them for two weeks in primary, they are always clear on bottling day.
I have racked to primary from the pot after 30 mins, a few hours and 10 hours. I have yet to see the time impact the end product.

badlee said:

I have had beers with 3-4ltrs of sediment. But after leaving them for two weeks in primary, they are always clear on bottling day.
I have racked to primary from the pot after 30 mins, a few hours and 10 hours. I have yet to see the time impact the end product.

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Looking at my batch today...if I had the patience to wait 2 hours i think i would have had a relatively clear wort in my primary. You are saying that it really doesn't matter...let it settle out in the primary? I brewed for 3 gallon jugs...think it will be 2.3 gallon jugs in secondary based on the trub.

So safe either way...just a question of whether you want to drop solids in brew kettle or primary?

Thanks for responding...been thinking about the batch all night.

Do you use a strainer when transferring into your primary? Also do u use a hope bag for your hop additions? With those two things and Irish moss or worfloc tablets I get a nice clear beer little settement besides the trub and yeast cake. Hope this helps.

derbycitybrewer said:

Do you use a strainer when transferring into your primary? Also do u use a hope bag for your hop additions? With those two things and Irish moss or worfloc tablets I get a nice clear beer little settement besides the trub and yeast cake. Hope this helps.

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No, i have not used a strainer or a hop bag. Worried that the nylon bag would burn. Is there any trick to the nylon bag, or does the water turbulence keep it away from the bottom?

twalte said:

Looking at my batch today...if I had the patience to wait 2 hours i think i would have had a relatively clear wort in my primary. You are saying that it really doesn't matter...let it settle out in the primary? I brewed for 3 gallon jugs...think it will be 2.3 gallon jugs in secondary based on the trub.

So safe either way...just a question of whether you want to drop solids in brew kettle or primary?

Thanks for responding...been thinking about the batch all night.

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You shouldn't let your beer sit in the kettle. It's a danger zone. When your boil is done you have to rapidly cool the beer to get your cold break (or you'll have a chill haze) and to prevent other infections and stuff. Then once it's done you should get it to your fermenter as fast as possible to again reduce the risk of contamination.

my last brew was perfectly clear and I didn't let it sit or strain it or anything (though for less crud in my primary I'll strain in the future) The 2-3 weeks you leave your beer sitting in your primary will let most of the stuff settle and then racking or siphoning to your bottling bucket will handle the rest.

twalte said:

No, i have not used a strainer or a hop bag. Worried that the nylon bag would burn. Is there any trick to the nylon bag, or does the water turbulence keep it away from the bottom?

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Personally I tie my Nylon bags (steeping grain) to the handle on my kettle, keeps it a perfect height. Lighter stuff like hops should more or less float.

twalte said:

No, i have not used a strainer or a hop bag. Worried that the nylon bag would burn. Is there any trick to the nylon bag, or does the water turbulence keep it away from the bottom?

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I don't use a nylon bag I can't currently think if the name of it. Sorry. But you usually use them to steep specialty grains. The come with most kits. Or the other option you have is to make a spider rig. The grain bag I was explaining is kinda like a sock. There disposable and only cost like 25 cents at your LHBS. I'm gonna find a pic of this spider rig and post it for you so give me just a sec.

hoppyhoppyhippo said:

Personally I tie my Nylon bags (steeping grain) to the handle on my kettle, keeps it a perfect height. Lighter stuff like hops should more or less float.

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That's all I do too. Hops tend to stay up top anyways. Great point hoppy

Here's ya some pics.

derbycitybrewer said:

Here's ya some pics.

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Thanks Derby. Going to build something like that next week.

twalte said:

Thanks Derby. Going to build something like that next week.

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It's very simple as u see in the pic. Just get u a PVC reducer and put a few long bolts in it. Get you a few clips to hold the bag and your good to go. Glad I could help. Cheers my friend.

derbycitybrewer said:

Here's ya some pics.

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Is that a piece of 3" PVC and some all-thread? I think I could make that for $5 in an hour.

thadius856 said:

Is that a piece of 3" PVC and some all-thread? I think I could make that for $5 in an hour.

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You can get what ever size reducer you want. 3" or 5". Just depends on personal choice and the size of your kettle. And yes some all thread would work just fine.

Post some pics when u get it done. I'd like to see it. Cheers.

derbycitybrewer said:

You can get what ever size reducer you want. 3" or 5". Just depends on personal choice and the size of your kettle. And yes some all thread would work just fine.

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Awesome. I'll put that on my project list.

Making a hop spider is one of the best upgrades I've made!

I don't bother with the hop spider myself anymore as I just put a nylon paint strainer bag into my FV, dump the wort into the FV and that strains out the hop junk. Or most of it at least. I didn't like the hop spider I made because the bag seems to twist together and reduce wort flow. I may go back to it when I get my valve installed on my BK and build up my CFC though, or build one out of some stiffer SS screening to mitigate that.

I just fasten the bag to the rim or handle. The hops float; I don't worry about burning the bag.

Many BIAB folks also cool their worts overnight instead of using chillers. Not transfering the wort as soon as you can doesn't necessarily lead to infections. You just have to mitigate the risks. How you do that is up to you.