Sucking up the trub?

Has anyone tried sucking trub off the bottom of a carboy without disturbing the beer on top of it?

In my last transfer I accidentally sucked a ton of trub up into the secondary. I was just curious if it'd be possible to use a long turkey baster or racking cane to pull some of the excess trub off the bottom.

I know autolysis isn't really a worry - even at the 8 weeks I'll be lagering - but I'd like as clear a final beer as possible. And because I'm and engineer and questions like this haunt my mind at night

-Joe

nostalgia said:

Has anyone tried sucking trub off the bottom of a carboy without disturbing the beer on top of it?

In my last transfer I accidentally sucked a ton of trub up into the secondary. I was just curious if it'd be possible to use a long turkey baster or racking cane to pull some of the excess trub off the bottom.

I know autolysis isn't really a worry - even at the 8 weeks I'll be lagering - but I'd like as clear a final beer as possible. And because I'm and engineer and questions like this haunt my mind at night

-Joe

Click to expand...

Im not sure what your trying to do here. Are you trying to suck the trub up to get clear beer? If you are it seems like a lot of work and I dont think it will work anyway. Its a hell of a lot easier to let it sit in the secondary and clear out.

+1 I would not sweat it. it will sink to the bottom.

I think the idea is a poor man's conical. You've got me thinking now...I have ported better bottles, so if I point the racking outlet to the lowest position and tilt the carboy I could probably suck out the trub. I could also probably clog my racking outlet.

Coastarine said:

I think the idea is a poor man's conical.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm not worried about the trub being in there, I just thought with less crud in there to begin with I'd be able to more easily avoid it when racking to the bottling bucket/keg later.

-Joe

nostalgia said:

That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm not worried about the trub being in there, I just thought with less crud in there to begin with I'd be able to more easily avoid it when racking to the bottling bucket/keg later.

-Joe

Click to expand...

Well, as long as you have a redirection tip on the end of your racking cane, and as long as you crash-cool it prior to racking, you should have no problems with the clarity. The crash-cooling will help drop as much out of suspension as possible, and will also help compact the cake even more. The redirection tip will allow you to rack as much beer as possible while getting minimal trub transference. As long as you have the redirection tip, it doesn't really matter if you have 1/2" of trub or 3"...just keep it above the trub level and it won't pick up much particulate.

Evan! said:

As long as you have the redirection tip, it doesn't really matter if you have 1/2" of trub or 3"...just keep it above the trub level and it won't pick up much particulate.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's my problem really I assume a redirection tip is that black nub that sucks liquid in from the top instead of the bottom? My autosiphon has one of those. I was using it to rack with the carboy tipped a bit and didn't realize the trub would slosh down over it when the beer level got low- it really caught me by surprise.

I'll know for next time though

-Joe

crash-cool? What's that?

FSBrewer said:

crash-cool? What's that?

Click to expand...

Considering my lager is already at 37 degrees F, a moot point

I kid. My understanding is that it's a rapid drop of temperature that shocks yeast and other solids out of suspension. The pros will chime in and let me know if I'm way off base, though.

-Joe

FSBrewer said:

crash-cool? What's that?

Click to expand...

nostalgia is right. Crash-cooling is essentially a quick lagering process for ales, for anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks or more, after fermentation is finished and you're ready to keg/bottle, etc. The precipitous drop in temps causes much of the particulate that is in suspension to drop to the bottom of the vessel; it aids in clarity and often in taste as well.

What are the best ways to crash cool? I know in the winter you can just put it outside, but if I don't have a fridge to put it in, what would you recommend? Just fill my sink with ice and sit the carboy in there?

ryscott said:

What are the best ways to crash cool? I know in the winter you can just put it outside, but if I don't have a fridge to put it in, what would you recommend? Just fill my sink with ice and sit the carboy in there?

Click to expand...

If thats all you have the means to do then it could work. Not as easy as putting it in the fridge but if you can do that then filing a tub with ice is probably the next best thing. I would keep it on ice for a few days though. Keeping up on the ice level would be a pain though.

Coastarine said:

I think the idea is a poor man's conical. You've got me thinking now...I have ported better bottles, so if I point the racking outlet to the lowest position and tilt the carboy I could probably suck out the trub. I could also probably clog my racking outlet.

Click to expand...

I can tell you that more than once I have had problems dumping from the bottom of a conical with a full 5 gallons pushing down on the 1/2" ball valve orifice. I think the BB
swivel tube looks like an awesome idea, but I wonder if it will actually work for a
trub /lees dump. I just got one and am eager to try it.