A lot of wasted wort after transfering to fermertor ( hop trub )... any tip out there ?

[odie]

It’s not a biodiesel filter. It’s just a bucket strainer that is popular with some of the biodiesel crowd. So it’s become a popular name. It’s just a bucket strainer available in many micron sizes for many uses. I bought mine when searching for various ways to filter waste oil for my biodiesel experiments

 

[McKnuckle]

I may get a 75 micron even though McKnuckle reports it gets really slow.

Let me qualify this a bit. I'm not sure the wort will actually flow at all through the 75 micron filter once a layer of trub has formed across it. I have to continually push the trub aside with a sanitized spoon in order for the wort to find a drainage path.

This is tedious, but it does provide a good degree of aeration, so it's not all bad.

 

[odie]

Let me qualify this a bit. I'm not sure the wort will actually flow at all through the 75 micron filter once a layer of trub has formed across it. I have to continually push the trub aside with a sanitized spoon in order for the wort to find a drainage path.

This is tedious, but it does provide a good degree of aeration, so it's not all bad.

It will flow. Just slow which is what u want. The trub becomes the filter. Don’t stir it. Let it drip. Might take a couple days to finish. Clean wort is your reward

 

[seajellie]

I bought an additional 55 micron one because I couldn't find a 75 micron when I was ready to buy. I'll try to remember to update this thread with how long it takes on my next brew. Sounds like I better be ready to be patient.......

Here's what duda diesel says about the filter sizes, in case it's helpful. And yup, people use them also for paint, honey, etc..

Coarse sand is typically 500-1000um
Medium sand is 250-500um
Fine sand is 125-250um
Very fine sand is 62.5-125um
And silt is 4-62.5 um

 

[McKnuckle]

Just have a sanitized spoon at the ready. Unless you literally want to let the wort sit exposed in the filter for hours, you'll want to do some stirring and pushing the sediment aside. I also suggest doing the best you can to limit break egress from the kettle til the end of transfer. The filter itself can only hold a finite amount of liquid.

 

[odie]

DO NOT STIR IT...that just forces trub/silt/debris through the mesh screen. Here is how you do this...

1. chill the wort in the kettle as much as you can or feel like and then remove the immersion chiller.
2. leave the kettle covered and alone for a few hours. Covered it's not going to get anything nefarious into the wort. Give the wort time to drop all the trub below the spigot.
3. place bucket fermenter with bucket strainer inserted under the kettle spigot and drain clear wort through the filter into the bucket. I place my bucket & filter so the spigot flows onto the outer edge of the strainer frame and not directly onto the mesh screen. this seems to prevent any sediment from being forced thru the screen and instead retained in the filter.
4. after a few minutes when the spigot flow is done you may have a fine layer of trub forming the initial "filter bed" in the bucket strainer.
5. when the spigot stops flowing clear wort go ahead and either tilt the kettle to get the bottom trubby wort through the spigot or you can just pick up the kettle and pour all the dregs slowly into the bucket strainer.
6. all this trub from the kettle bottom will quickly clog up the strainer. The bucket strainers will hold the entire contents below the spigot on most kettles.
7. place your bucket lid on top of the bucket strainer and let time be your friend. All that nice wort will work it's way through the strainer into the fermenter below in a few hours or overnight.

Optional stuff:
1. pitch yeast before inserting bucket strainer just before opening spigot if your kettle has dropped to pitching temperature. Your wort will be aerated at this time
2. place fermenter with strainer in place and dripping in your fermentation chamber if you like or if it's still too hot for yeast. Let it drip and cool at the same time.
3. You could even leave the strainer in place for a little while during early fermentation if you have enough space below the strainer for the krausen. You might need a 6.5-7 gal bucket to pull this off or have less than a 5 gal batch.

 

[mbecker1765]

I end up with about 4l of wort left in my kettle which i pour into jugs. Once its settled i decant and dilute to 1040 for starter wort. There is no hop trub as i use nylon nut milk bags for all my hops.

Brilliant idea!

 

[Carolina_Matt]

My 200 micron biodiesel filter arrived recently, and I used it yesterday fore the first time. I severely underestimated how much it would leave behind, and how long it would actually take to filter everything out! I started with 5.25-5.3 gallons in the kettle, and for the first 40 minutes I was using a stainless steel spoon to move the junk out of the way. Otherwise, it was dripping down one drop at a time. After 40 minutes, I finally had poured everything out of the kettle, and the filter was at the very top.

I put a lid on it, then came back 50 minutes later. It was done, about 90 minutes from start to finish. The resulting cake was impressive - it was at least 1/2" high, spanning the entire bottom of the filter.

I used 5 ounces of hops, which is a lot for me. My next batch will be a lightly hopped Blonde Ale, so I assume it'll be faster. I plan on seeing if I can use my original colander as a pre-filter, to get most of the bigger stuff. Then the biodiesel filter can just focus on the smaller stuff. It'll be a little bit of trial and error, but overall I couldn't believe how much it filtered out.

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

Dump it all in

 

[seajellie]

Carolina_M, you could also try just running your clear wort into the primary as you normally do, and when it starts to get cloudy, stop the run. Then insert the bucket filter, and either restart to run off the wort, or gently dump the rest of the wort directly into the filter.

I've done the "dump once cloudy" method twice now with my 55 micron filter, and it finished draining in very short time. Not sure exactly, but under 30 minutes for sure. Both batches used just under 2.5 oz of hops (lagers). One was all pellets, other batch was mix of leaf and pellet. I did not have to use a spoon, just let gravity and the filter do the work.

I assume dumping in like this does allow more trub into your primary, because you're only filtering the last gallon or so, and a lot will rush in before the filter bed is completely set. But it's not terrible, judging from how the yeast cake looked afterwards. I felt fine with harvesting the yeast and reusing without washing, despite a bit of obvious hop and trub bits. (I don't really believe in yeast washing anywho.)

I might try running the whole batch through the 55 filter when I can watch it. In all, I've used the 200 and 55 filters twice each. I think this is a standard brewing procedure for me from now on.

 

[Snuffy]

Here's a crazy idea... hang the hop spider over the side of your kettle during the boil and toss all your hops in there.

 

[seajellie]

It's not just about the hops. I repitch my yeast ten times or so; I'm trying to keep out break as well. And I've already proven to myself that *my* beers are markedly improved when trub and hops are kept out of the primary (see previous). YMMV.

 

[Snuffy]

It's not just about the hops. I repitch my yeast ten times or so; I'm trying to keep out break as well. And I've already proven to myself that *my* beers are markedly improved when trub and hops are kept out of the primary (see previous). YMMV.

Repitch? Is that a thing or do you just really enjoy adding yeast? What do you see as the unique benefit of this method? I am intrigued.

 

[khannon]

Snuffy,.
I'm guessing re-use, or put fresh wort on the yeast cake..

Seajellie,
I'm not going to argue whether *your* beers are better keeping the hops and trub from the primary. Just like I'm not going to argue (outside a few styles) that LODO makes enough of a difference to invest tons of effort into.. This being said, once I figured out CO2 transfers, LODO or not, the back savings alone are worth it.. I whirlpool and transfer most of it.. Using a hop spider helps.
A suggestion though.. If you save and do starters, just overbuild the starter, pitch what you need save the rest.. Unstressed yeast for the win.

 

[odie]

I started with 5.25-5.3 gallons in the kettle, and for the first 40 minutes I was using a stainless steel spoon to move the junk out of the way. Otherwise, it was dripping down one drop at a time.

you are doing it wrong. never scrap or stir the trub in the bucket strainer.

1. You must let the kettle settle an hour or so. absolutely no disturbance.

2. then place the bucket strainer/fermenter bucket combo under the spigot with the spigot at the very edge/side of the strainer. carefully and slowly open the spigot. you want a very slow/weak pour. this will prevent most of the trub layer from being pulled into the spigot. depending on how much grain, hops and other stuff that went into your kettle will determine just how fast you can run the spigot. all you want is clean settled wort which will flow thru the strainer fast and easy depending on what spigot setting keeps the wort clear.

3. After a short while the spigot should run dry and leave you with a gallon of trub in the kettle. tilt the kettle to start getting the trub out the spigot until the bucket strainer clogs up. then pick the kettle up and dump EVERYTHING in.

4. The bucket strainer will hold that last gallon of pure nasty trub. Cover it up or place inside your fermentation chamber and tomorrow you will have a solid pack of trub in the strainer and ALL the clean wort in the bucket below.