chrispykid
Well-Known Member
Hey guys,
I just upgraded my equipment and hoping that some advice from the board could help me improve/refine my technique and maybe my beer.
My new equipment includes a 10 gallon megapot with a ball valve and an immersion chiller. I still brew 5 gallon batches and ferment in 5 gallon carboys. My question is about the best way to use my equipment to get the hot/cold break trub out of the wort before it hits the fermenter.
I've done one batch in the new brewpot so far (the extract version of the 60 minute IPA clone from this site) and I ended up with a LOT of trub at the bottom of my carboy. My process was to do a full boil (although I underestimated boil off and still had to top off with water). Once the boil was done I killed the heat and cooled with the immersion chiller. When I hit my chill temperature I pulled out the chiller and stirred the cooled wort with a sanitized spoon for a minute or two. Then I opened up the ball valve and started straining the wort into the carboy.
I was hoping to see a cone of trub at the center of the brewpot, but no such luck. The hop pellets seemed to have all been caught in the strainer, but the trub flowed right through.
Should I have done the wirlpool before I cooled? (If so how do I sanitize the chiller? I thought the idea was to have it in the brewpot for the last 5-10 minutes)
Should I have continued to stir while the beer was draining out of the ball valve?
One of the primary reasons I bought the new brewpot with the ball valve was so that I could remove more of the trub so I'm really hoping to get some good avice from you guys. Thanks in advance for any feedback you can give.
I just upgraded my equipment and hoping that some advice from the board could help me improve/refine my technique and maybe my beer.
My new equipment includes a 10 gallon megapot with a ball valve and an immersion chiller. I still brew 5 gallon batches and ferment in 5 gallon carboys. My question is about the best way to use my equipment to get the hot/cold break trub out of the wort before it hits the fermenter.
I've done one batch in the new brewpot so far (the extract version of the 60 minute IPA clone from this site) and I ended up with a LOT of trub at the bottom of my carboy. My process was to do a full boil (although I underestimated boil off and still had to top off with water). Once the boil was done I killed the heat and cooled with the immersion chiller. When I hit my chill temperature I pulled out the chiller and stirred the cooled wort with a sanitized spoon for a minute or two. Then I opened up the ball valve and started straining the wort into the carboy.
I was hoping to see a cone of trub at the center of the brewpot, but no such luck. The hop pellets seemed to have all been caught in the strainer, but the trub flowed right through.
Should I have done the wirlpool before I cooled? (If so how do I sanitize the chiller? I thought the idea was to have it in the brewpot for the last 5-10 minutes)
Should I have continued to stir while the beer was draining out of the ball valve?
One of the primary reasons I bought the new brewpot with the ball valve was so that I could remove more of the trub so I'm really hoping to get some good avice from you guys. Thanks in advance for any feedback you can give.