Help! Quick!!

Ok just finished brewing my holiday spiced ale. After transferring it to fermenter, adding yeast, I let it settle for about 15 minutes while cleaning up. I then tried to use the spigot to take a starting gravity hydro reading. Sludge came out! I looked at the bottom and there is a good 2 1/2 inches of what i guess is trub on the bottom? The thick stuff is just about to the top of the spigot. So when I try to use the spigot all I'm going to get is sludgy trub. What do I do? should I leave it? Try to drain out some of that crap and then add more cold water to top it off?

I also do not have an auto siphon to get some of the good stuff out for testing.

Thanks

It should settle further with time. Just make sure the stuff from the spigot is sludge-free before you actually take any readings.

That does sound like a lot of trub, but you're probably fine just to leave it and see what happens. If it doesn't settle out further, then consider buying an auto-siphon

I would say its about 4/5 of a gallon of trub, in case that's important to know.

Wait, wait... Let me get this straight...you went from the boil pot into the fermenter, left it for 15 minutes and now have 4/5 of a gallon of trub? Something isn't right with that...4/5 of a gallon, and it all collected that quickly? Did you completely boil out your extract (assuming it is extract)? What else is in this thing that could have collected to the bottom?

It's RDWHAHB time here fellows, I wouldn't be surprised with that much trub after 15 minutes what with the hops, hot break, cold break, etc.

To sample you can simply sanitize a cup and dip a sample from the top, also the OG sample should be taken before the yeast is pitched.

What COLObrewer said.

That stuff will compact down like crazy, no worries.

Yup not that bad. In the future you should try a strainer, or filter on the siphon, to help keep the break material out.

Ok so I just woke up, let things settle overnight, then jumped back on this site for feedback.
Couple things. This is my 3rd batch. First time using grains. The recipe i followed was 9lbs extract, plus a pound of grain. As per the instructions from Billy from Williams Brewing, I heated up 6 gal water, when it got to 80 degrees I steeped the grains in a bag, in the brew pot until it reached 170 degrees (about 45 min). rinsed the grains with cool water over the pot (just a little bit) tossed the sack. Then waited for boil, added malt. Recipe called for whole hops. Added those, blah blah boiled for about 60 minutes, maybe 70 minutes actually. added whirlock last 15. Chilled wort with wort chiller to about 80 degrees. I used a strainer, poured wort through it into fermenter.

The weird thing was the other 2 times i brewed it was obvious when pouring into fermenter where the trub started. This time not so much.

Had to add about a gallon of cold water. The yeast I used was 2 packets of Safale s-04 dry british ale yeast. Hope 2 packets wasn't too much? Its what the recipe called for. I put yeast in a glass cup of about 1 1/4 80 degree water.

This morning, the yeast was quite active overnight! The foam has risen to the top of inside of bucket lid. So it seems it might be difficult to dip a glass to test it in. I tried using the spigot (the trub seemed to have died down), but still the beer is SUPER cloudy and thick. I can see all sorts of little things floatin around in there. Definitely can't see through the beer at all.

Ideas??

You are not going to get an accurate OG reading anymore. It has already started fermenting. Let it sit for a while and most of that stuff should settle out. Since it is fermenting I would let it sit for a week before doing anything with it. I usually pitch then check the gravity 2 weeks later. I only check to make sure fermentation started within a few days after pitching then nothing.

Can you post a pic?

Also, regarding the hydro reading. I had a similar experience the other day - the spigot reading was way high (and had lots of debris) and the scooped sample from the top was low. Had to mix it around and then obtained an accurate reading (meaning it matched the recipe target). I did add more than a gallon of water though - may not be such an issue if only adding a gallon.

Definitely need to do reading before pitching.