Trub/Yeast In My Bottled Final Product

[m_abbatello]

I'm thinking that there has to be a solution to this that I'm either not doing well enough, or not doing at all.

Made my first all-grain batch: https://beerandbrewing.com/VvV1WCcAAFgR3g0e/article/lawsons-double-sunshine-ipa-recipe

I'm using a Midwest a 7-gal bucket primary, 6.5 gal glass carboy secondary system with a mod-cooler mash tun. Splurged on a 5-gal Ss BrewTech brew pot (yea, I know, should have gotten the 8[I ended up adding wort as it boiled off to keep the initial yield at 5 gal, making hop additions on schedule]). Wort drained clear and I dry hopped twice, one in primary, second in secondary. Used the instructed amount of hops and suggested yeast. Temp control was difficult, but kept it between 44 and 62 degrees. I bottle conditioned and am confident I didn't let my racking siphon dip into the trub (could have gotten sucked up though).

I end up with a ton of debris in the beer, which ends up crashing when it's cold, but I still waste 6 to 8 ounces per 24 oz bottle. The flavor was fantastic and has declined, in my opinion.

I've read about it not being harmful, and that beer sitting on trub starts to taste bad, and would just prefer to get a clean final product. I have a lot of ideas and hope somebody could shed some light on the results I got.

My ideas are:

-dry hopping in muslin bags
-investing in better temperature control
-filtering the beer when I aerate it (I have large fine-mesh bags for the cooler mash tun)

 

[mrgrimm101]

Hoppy flavors/aromas fade over time. Did you dry hop with pellets? Did you cold crash your secondary? Cold crashing will cause the dry hop particles to settle out with the trub. I do this, then I bottle and make sure to kick up a little trub, that way there's enough yeast in the bottles to still interact with the priming sugar and achieve proper carbonation.

Also, you will have problems with boiloff every time if you are trying to boil full volume for all grain in a 5 gallon kettle. That's why most people seem to upgrade to 10 or 15 gallon kettles for boiling full volume with AG brewing.

When I drain from kettle to primary, I run it through a mesh strainer (not really a filter) and it helps keep back the hop sludge. The trub mostly gets through, but it just settles out in primary. I do not use a secondary, I have found it is an unnecessary step for my setup. I just let primary ride out, dry hop with pellets (straight into the vessel, no muslin bag), and then cold crash for a few days before bottling.

Because the majority of homebrewed beer is not filtered and is bottle conditioned, you're always going to have some sediment in your bottles. It's typically just yeast, but if you're getting hop particles and/or actual truby particles, I think you would benefit from cold crashing for a few days before bottling.

 

[dwhite60]

1/4 of a bottle of sediment is not normal. How long are you letting your beer sit before bottling? You're not sucking sediment off the bottom of the fermentor into your bottles, are you?

At MOST you should have 1/8 inch of sediment in your bottles after three weeks of carbonating.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[Mainer]

How long were your primary and secondary stages? There's a possibility a slightly longer secondary rest would give more time for your trub and hop residue to fall out.

 

[m_abbatello]

Yea, I kept the siphon off the sediment. It is about an 1/8 inch of sediment. The 1/4 loss is because it all kicks up when I go to pour it

 

[m_abbatello]

How long were your primary and secondary stages? There's a possibility a slightly longer secondary rest would give more time for your trub and hop residue to fall out.

It was 7 days primary, 10 days secondary. Second pellet dry hope the last 4 days, cold crashed on the last day before bottling.

I'm gonna try to pour it through the mesh in between primary and bottling.

Thanks everybody!

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Wrong post - please delete

 

[d3track]

It was 7 days primary, 10 days secondary. Second pellet dry hope the last 4 days, cold crashed on the last day before bottling.

I'm gonna try to pour it through the mesh in between primary and bottling.

Thanks everybody!

Please don't pour it it through anything after primary fermentation.

Cold crashing longer would be the easiest solution.

 

[flars]

A smooth pour and pouring the entire contents of the bottle in one pour will control the loss of good beer. Unless the yeast used in the brew is a highly flocculant yeast it will not stick to the bottom of the bottle. Each time you pour the sediment is disturbed and will be resuspended when the bottle is set down. Have a friend around so you can pour a second glass to empty the bottle in a single pour or have two glasses for yourself. Keep the second one in the frig until the first one is finished.

 

[The_Bishop]

Cold crash for 24 hours, then gelatin fine it and give it another 48 hours at cold crash temps. You'll be amazed how clear the beer gets. Don't worry, there will be plenty of yeast left to carbonate in the bottle, and all you'll have in the bottle is a fine dusting of yeast on the bottom. It also sticks down pretty well depending on strain, which allows you to pour 99% of the beer.

 

[Aristotelian]

It was 7 days primary, 10 days secondary. Second pellet dry hope the last 4 days, cold crashed on the last day before bottling.

I'm gonna try to pour it through the mesh in between primary and bottling.

Thanks everybody!

No, if you do this put the mesh on the bottom of the racking cane, then it will do the filtering while completely submerged. If you are "pouring" through mesh at any point after primary ferm you are going to add oxygen.

The other thing you can do is bottle using a bottling bucket. You will leave most of the trub behind.

Also keep in mind, some amount of yeast sediment is simply part of the homebrew process when bottling. No way to avoid it with bottle conditioned beer.

 

[unionrdr]

I use half a Whirlfoc tablet some 15 minutes from the end of the boil. When chilling the wort, I stop stirring it when it gets a couple degrees away from my target temp of 75F. That keeps the whirl pooled sediment in a pile on the bottom of the kettle. I put it on my cart to roll it back into the man cave/brewery, so it doesn't get stirred up & I don't have to carry it at my age.
I sanitize my large, fine mesh strainer & pour the chilled wort slowly to aerate it as well as get the hop sludge, etc removed. When I get down to the pile of sludge, I stop pouring. Then top off with the couple of gallons of spring water that I had in the fridge for a couple days before brew day to recipe volume. This also brings that 75F wort temp down to about 65F, a very good ale yeast fermenting temp. The trick, as always, is to keep it there? Then take your hydrometer sample before pitching yeast.
Now, having done all that to minimize trub volume, as the beer ferments past initial fermentation, & the trub & yeast settle out, those layers will be no more than about 3/8" to 1/2" compacted on the bottom of primary by bottling day.
I also have spigots on my fermenters that make racking so much cleaner, quicker & easier. Tip the bucket gently, just enough to get all but about 1/2 a 12oz bottle's worth out. I use a bottling bucket I made myself with an Italian red/whiter spigot that takes a 3/8" ID tube on the end of the spout. I attach a bottling wand to that to fill the sanitized bottles with. This system gets only a tiny bit of grainy stuff in the bottom of the bottling bucket that settles out rather quickly. So when the beer is ready for initial fridge time, only a dusting of yeast is compacted on the bottom of the bottles. The last few bottles to be filled have a very small amount of trub with the yeast, unless there was a mishap when racking, which does happen occasionally. But mostly, this'll give just a dusting on the bottom, allowing most of the beer to be gently poured off.
Having said that, you have to pour slowly at first, with no " glug glug" to stir up the settlings. Then you can speed up a lil bit, straightening the glass to make the right amount of head. When you start to see the settled dusty stuff coming up to the shoulder of the bottle, stop pouring! Your glass of beer should be clear.

 

[PADave]

I use Whirlfloc, 3 weeks in the fermenter, and use a bottling bucket. In the glass beer is clear as a commercial brew, with very very little left in the bottle.

 

[jamina1]

I've gotten my best results with my last few brews using Irish moss in the last 10 minutes of the boil (same stuff as Whirlfloc, I think) and also trying to filter out as much brewing trub as possible into the fermenter. You do end up losing quite a bit in the bottling bucket, even if you're careful with siphoning some of that will end up in your bottles.

Make sure that your bottles are nice and cold before pouring and pour smoothly so it doesn't "glug" and most of the yeast (if there's any in there) should stay stuck to the bottom.

 

[unionrdr]

I don't loose more than a couple tablespoons of beer in the bottling bucket.

 

[addled_mind]

I'm far from an expert - only about ten batches in - but learning to pour a glass of bottle conditioned homebrew is one of the best skills you can learn. It doesn't matter how well you treated that beer before the pour if you stir up all that yeast and gunk (the exception would be a hefe where you want the yeast).

It took me at least three batches before I could consistently avoid that very first glug from the bottle that stirs everything up. From that point a nice steady speed seems to work for me. That being said, as soon as you turn that bottle upright again everything in it will be mixed up so maybe smaller bottles that you will empty in one pour will help.

 

[JJ900]

What kind of yeast were you using? The only time something like this happened to me was with 1st Gen Conan yeast. When I finished siphoning the carboy into the bottling bucket I realized that there was almost no yeast on the trub cake. It didn't cause bottle bombs but each time a bottle was opened, the bottom third of the bottle was filled with yeasty bubbly sludge.

 

[edb]

Transfer your wort from your kettle to your fermenter with a autosiphon. If you want you can use a bag at the end of the cane to help filter it if you think its needed.

On the fermentation side, dont use book / instruction values to determine your Primary / Secondary times. Most brewers skip the secondary by leaving their beer in the primary longer IE its not going to ruin your beer to have it in the Primary on the yeast and trub for an extra week when its fermenting. Let the primary ferment out all the way its also going to give it time to let everything drop out. Try not to move your primary when your racking to you next vessel, the slightest movements will stir up everything. If have to move it move it and let it sit for a hour or so to let everything drop back down before siphoning from that vessel. Also you could combine the secondary / cold crash and transfer to your bottling bucket. Rack from your fully fermented out primary to the bottling bucket, drop hop in a bag if needed, after your dry hop time is done pull your hops and put your bottling bucket in the fridge for a cold crash.

 

[GHBWNY]

I'm gonna try to pour it through the mesh in between primary and bottling.

No, no, no! Doing so is going to risk oxidation of your beer. From now on, strain through a mesh bag BEFORE primary (which will aerate it). If you insist on transferring it to a second vessel, do so very carefully so you don't suck up any sludge. After a week, stick it in the fridge for 24 hrs. (if you can), add gelatin and let it sit another 48 hrs. Carefully rack to bottling bucket. Super-clear beer!

 

[jabba11]

whirfloc, 4 weeks in ferment, rack to bottling bucket. I have never had what you are describing here. Don't pour it through a strainer youll introduce a ton of oxygen. Additionally you can cold crash which helps or use gelatin which I always found to be a pain and not necessary.