Huge amount of sediment at the bottom of my fermenter

[hipertrofia]

Hi guys, I'm a newbie here. I'm starting to brew all-grain, as I have done it already with malt extract and want to head for more complexity.

My first attempt has been with Munich malt and Dark Caramel malt to yield an OG of 1.044. The fermentation took off rapidly and I think it's about to be over, although there has been a change in temperature (dropped) and I'm afraid the yeast might be taking a break.

Anyway, that's not my biggest concern. I got a huge amount of precipitate during fermentation to acount for about 15% of the volume of the fermenter right now! Is that protein or what? I was expecting some sediment but this is really a lot more than I thought it would be.

Is this normal for all-grain? Just wanna be sure before I start bottling...

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

If you dumped everything from the brew kettle into the fermentor, then that sounds about right.

If you strain out the hops or siphon your cooled wort into the fermentor, leaving behind the last half gallon or so in the brew kettle then you'll get a lot less trub. It doesn't really matter though and won't affect the flavor of your beer.

I usually just dump everything in unless the beer I'm brewing has a ton of hops, then I'll strain those out with a paint strainer bag.

 

[dmbGator]

Since you said you did all grain, most of that at the bottom of your fermentor is trub. Trub is left over sediment that has settled while it was sitting in the fermentor. Some of it is also dormant yeast. When you siphon out into the secondary, keg, or bottle, whatever you are doing you will just leave it behind.

 

[Torg]

The trub on the bottom s not a good indication of really anything. Well except that it is fermenting. The same batch with the same yeasts, fermented at the same temperature can have different sizes of trub.

It is a mixture of dead and live yeast as well as particulate matter (hop leaves, little dough flakes from the fine grain dust, any hulls you got in by mistake, etc). Really it is nothing to worry about. Just count on loosing some volume when you rack that or bottle it.

 

[Danbreeze]

I would try running your beer through a conical strainer to reduce the amount of trub in your primary. I typically pour my cooled wort through a strainer over an ale pail that then pours it through a tube to my carboy.

 

[hipertrofia]

Thanks a lot, that makes me feel safer about it knowing it won't affect the taste. I did indeed dump everything from the kettle into the fermenter after sieving it (removing every particle bigger than a half milimeter). I reckon now that might not be the best way to do it. Anyway, there is always room for improvement.

Is it possible for some of the sugar dissolved in the water to precipitate because of a drop in temperature? Has this ever happened to any of you?

 

[Torg]

To make things like rock candy from syrup requires super-saturation. I am talking about 65-70 Brix or about a SG of 1.300+. The only real way to get it that high is to heat it allowing most of the water to evaporate. This is how candy is made.

Beer at a SG of 1.050+ or even at a 1.100 is no where near close enough to precipitate out sugar without changing pressure as well. Besides as the yeast metabolized the sugar the gravity would go down and allow any sugar not dissolved to then be absorbed into solution. So you can even take table sugar and throw it in dry (not that I suggest you ferment that) and it will still ferment.

 

[hipertrofia]

Yeah, I've made syrup a couple of times for cooking purposes. Thanks for the answer, it really helps. So I guess I will be bottling soon enough!

I'm also planning to go to Belgium next month with a couple of friends just to drink beer and get lots of ideas for my next recipes. Hopefully I will grab one of those Westvleteren directly from the abbey or surroundings... can't wait...