I'm going to stick with what has worked for me from now on

[zacster]

I made my first batch in about a year today and tried a few new things for me. First the recipe called for whirlpool/steeping hops, so I added those. I had bought a joint compound mixer to use for whirlpooling yesterday after testing out the mixer I actually used for drywalling in an old bucket with rice. It worked beautifully in the test and I had a tight cone of rice. The problem with using it in actual wort though is that it completely stirred up the wort and while it maybe left a cone of hops, the break didn't settle. Maybe I need to let it settle for a bit but I was getting tired of the process. Anyway, my usual method is to NOT whirlpool and empty the kettle through the valve, hops, break and all, into a 6 gallon carboy, let that settle and then siphon from that into 2 3 gallon Better Bottles, leaving behind all the trub. Instead, since I whirlpooled, I put it directly into the 3 gallon bottles, but had almost as much trub anyway. It's a lager and in the fridge anyway so I'll put it into a secondary for dry hopping and D-rest and leave the crud behind then.

For my yeast starter I used Propper, which sounds good on paper but in practice isn't any easier than just boiling up some light wort. I had to boil water anyway and then cool it, which is the part of using DME I was trying to avoid. Why bother? 7oz DME for a 2L starter has always just worked.

But even worse is that for some reason I thought to weigh the bag of crushed grain before I started and it was a pound short. I measured it myself in the store so I don't know what happened. Even my wife had commented the other day thinking that the grain bag looked small. And like a dolt I didn't think to reduce the water. It'll be fine beer but not the higher alcohol lager that I like to brew.

 

[eric19312]

For me every new process involves a learning curve and first try is not always better than what I was doing before.

On your comments regarding whirlpooling I don't think you need some sort of an aggressive mechanical mixer. Just a big spoon or your mash paddle should be sufficient to spin the wort a bit and then leave it alone and let the break settle. For me I am getting much better whirlpool separations since switching to a counterflow chiller and doing my whirlpool before chilling. Almost all of the hops and hot break are easily left in the kettle, but of course the cold break does make it into the fermentor. I've got a conical fermentor so I will usually dump a bit off the cone after a few hours which I think removes at least some of the cold break.

 

[hotbeer]

3rd times a charm seems to be true more often than not. Similarly trouble comes in 3's.

 

[zacster]

I guess I always just found that letting it settle in a capped, clear carboy was a better option than having it settle in the open kettle where I can't see anything. I can then direct the siphon accordingly.

And that's a question I have, if you have a conical fermentor where you can drop the trub easily why even bother with whirlpooling? That's kind of where I was anyway, no reason if I could siphon it off the trub that hard settles at the bottom in a few hours. I would do it before the yeast was added and sometimes cool both to cold pitch and sometimes just pitch at room temp.

In the meantime it is getting down to cold fermentation temps where I start at 45 and ramp up a few degrees at a time and I already see a bit of krausen in one bottle. The other won't be far behind.

I still expect it to be a very drinkable beer, no matter what I did.

 

[madscientist451]

Just chuck the whirlpool hops in, you can create a "whirlpool" by stirring with a spoon. I don't worry about trub in my fermenter, but when I dump from the kettle to the carboy I do leave the hop sludge at the bottom of the kettle.

 

[Nate R]

I used Propper, which sounds good on paper but in practice isn't any easier than just boiling up some light wort. I had to boil water anyway and then cool it, which is the part of using DME I was trying to avoid. Why bother?

With Propper Starter you can use store bought distilled water. (Usually $1.15 a gallon or so). No need to boil the water you add. It should be much easier and quicker BUT more expensive for sure.

 

[zacster]

Just chuck the whirlpool hops in, you can create a "whirlpool" by stirring with a spoon. I don't worry about trub in my fermenter, but when I dump from the kettle to the carboy I do leave the hop sludge at the bottom of the kettle.

The problem was always that my kettle has a probe that sticks out and I never could get a good whirlpool. I did just put the hops in and gave a stir. The joint compound mixer was cheap so I didn't invest much in it. It worked so well when I tested it out with my existing mixer that I was surprised it didn't work. Maybe in my next batch I'll just use the bag for the hops

 

[zacster]

With Propper Starter you can use store bought distilled water. (Usually $1.15 a gallon or so). No need to boil the water you add. It should be much easier and quicker BUT more expensive for sure.

I suppose I could but I tend to either boil or sanitize everything. And that would require a trip to the store.

 

[Bobby_M]

Even if I don't have a bottle of sterile water available and have to boil sanitize it, it's way easy to put the can of propper in the freezer and get it down to near freezing. That way when I boil the 16oz of water in the flask (which steam sanitizes it too), I just have to chill the flask to about 140F and then the near freezing propper brings the mixture down to 70 and ready to pitch. That time savings alone is enough to warrant the cost of the propper for me.

Regarding the whirlpool, whatever time you leave it in that carboy for settling could have been spent leaving it in the kettle with the lid on. It takes about an hour for the fines to settle. That's one less vessel to sanitize and clean.

 

[eric19312]

And that's a question I have, if you have a conical fermentor where you can drop the trub easily why even bother with whirlpooling?

It has to do with volume I'm willing to dump to get rid of kettle trub. I try to start with enough volume in the fermentor to let me dump cold break, then yeast, then dry hops, and still end the batch with enough to completely fill 3 corny kegs. I know I'm leaving perfectly good wort in the kettle, I've seen examples where people save that stuff overnight what looked like mostly trub is half or 75% good wort, but by end of brew day I'm getting tired and want to get my yeast pitched and kettles cleaned before dinner.

 

[zacster]

It has to do with volume I'm willing to dump to get rid of kettle trub. I try to start with enough volume in the fermentor to let me dump cold break, then yeast, then dry hops, and still end the batch with enough to completely fill 3 corny kegs. I know I'm leaving perfectly good wort in the kettle, I've seen examples where people save that stuff overnight what looked like mostly trub is half or 75% good wort, but by end of brew day I'm getting tired and want to get my yeast pitched and kettles cleaned before dinner.

That's where I was yesterday. And dinner was take-out!

And again, having a glass carboy to let it settle allows vision into what you are doing too. Conicals should have a glass panel to let you see, but I'm sure that increases the cost of an already expensive item.

But I shouldn't complain too much because here are the results. My only concern now is head space. Note the can of Crisp on the far left in the door, that's what I'm trying to clone. And at the bottom of the door you can see what I had to cut off.

 

[eric19312]

what is your recipe for Crisp? I have trouble with lagers cause the jam up my pipeline but I've put a commercial keg of that on when I want a lager tap on the keezer.

 

[zacster]

Crisp recipe I used

I can't say how close it is because this is the first try for me. My pipeline is one at a time, from brewday to kicking the keg. I don't have room for any more than that.

 

[Brooothru]

And again, having a glass carboy to let it settle allows vision into what you are doing too. Conicals should have a glass panel to let you see, but I'm sure that increases the cost of an already expensive item.

I got some 1.5" TC mini sight glasses (less than 3" in length) and attached them to the bottom dump port of my conicals just above the butterfly valve. I can see when the trub has all dumped as well as tell when the yeast harvest is complete. Not very expensive and very useful.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/s...blIokcJePOdM3HjrreX1dFTc5lzE5fYIaAljJEALw_wcB

 

[zacster]

9 days later and time for D-rest. One of the carboys was way ahead of the other.

I'm going to transfer to the keg before I go away for 5 days with the dry hops, put it under pressure, then pull the hops when I return. Or maybe just skip the dry hop as I did whirlpool hops too.