I have been trying to get the most from the grain and my brew system as I can and it drives me nut when I see liquid left in the lauter tun or boiler. The question I pose here is ...How about draining all of the contents from the boiler (hot break, cold break and hops ) then let it sit for a day then rack it out of the carboy when I can see it. My boiler is a 15 gal keggle and I have a drain tube which comes off near the bottom. I can't drain completely because I use a immersion chiller and then the drain tube would get in the way. I would leave about 2 or 3 quart of liquid with the 90 degree drain tube the way it is set up. I have tried whirlpooling. I don't get good whirlpool action with the temp probe and drain tube. , and lots of liquid still left. I tried using the stainless steel tube mesh.........not good, or should I say too good. The cold break rendered it useless in less than a minute.
I read in the "Bock" book by Darryl Richman about racking the beer off the trub before the primary starts. Something like 12 to 24 hours. How do you know when to do this? Would pH be a good indicator? If I am doing a lager and they are bottom fermenters am I leaving behind yeast with the trub?
Any Ideas besides saying "dont worry leave the liquid".
I read in the "Bock" book by Darryl Richman about racking the beer off the trub before the primary starts. Something like 12 to 24 hours. How do you know when to do this? Would pH be a good indicator? If I am doing a lager and they are bottom fermenters am I leaving behind yeast with the trub?
Any Ideas besides saying "dont worry leave the liquid".