Cold Break and Hop Material

[djonesax]

I have read some posts that say to try and keep the cold break and hop material out of the ferementer. This last brew I ended up just letting it all go in to the fermenter, to really see if it really makes a difference. I use wirfloc and can chill 10 gallons to 70 degrees in 23 minutes, so it will be interesting to see if I trying to keep it out has made a difference, since it wastes a lot of beer..

Anyway, I was sitting here thinking about plate and counterflow chillers. I admittedly have never used either but it seems like anyone who does, is not concerned about coldbreak and hop material getting into the ferementer.

Do you guys try to keep it out or not worry about it?

Thanks,

David

 

[dobe12]

I don't worry about it. I leave as much as I can behind in the kettle, but don't stress if some makes it over to the primary. There is a write on here somewhere where a guy did a test to see what affect trub had on beer clarity. Basically it didn't.

 

[SnakeRidge]

I plan my recipes to have a quart extra after the boil (5.25 gallons) and everything but that last quart goes into the fermenter. That's usually mostly hops with some break material. If it's a big IPA with lots of hops, oh well, hops go in with the rest. I don't sweat it.

 

[Yooper]

I have a CFC, so the cold break all goes into the fermenter. As for hops debris, if I have whole hops in the boil, it will clog my pump so I try to avoid that but I don't have any issues with pellet hops clogging my pump so I don't sweat it. If I have a ton of them, I will sometimes leave the last quart of sludge behind in the boil kettle, but otherwise I make no effort to remove them.

 

[djonesax]

Thanks for the replies. I had stopped using my spigot to transfer the boiled wort after a conversation with my LHBS owner, and started using a syphon. The syphon adds time to the transfer and is a PITA because I have to try and hold it above the cold break as it settles down. I think I'll go back to the spigot because I think my clarity issues were related to not chilling fast enough, and cold crashing longer versus coldbreak in the fermenter.

Thanks,

David

 

[wildactbrewer]

I don't think it really makes a difference. Less trub makes for easier racking later on IMO. If you want to reduce hop material you could always put your hops in a mesh bag during your boil.

 

[helibrewer]

I have read some posts that say to try and keep the cold break and hop material out of the ferementer. This last brew I ended up just letting it all go in to the fermenter, to really see if it really makes a difference. I use wirfloc and can chill 10 gallons to 70 degrees in 23 minutes, so it will be interesting to see if I trying to keep it out has made a difference, since it wastes a lot of beer..

Anyway, I was sitting here thinking about plate and counterflow chillers. I admittedly have never used either but it seems like anyone who does, is not concerned about coldbreak and hop material getting into the ferementer.

Do you guys try to keep it out or not worry about it?

Thanks,

David

I use a plate chiller so I filter with a .5mm (500 micron) SS filter before if goes into the chiller, then into the fermenter.

 

[NTexBrewer]

Because my Father-in-Law loves it, the beer that I have brewed the most consecutive batches of is his Lighthouse Lager. This is a 3 SRM, lightly hopped bmc type of beer.

I have brewed this at least 4 times. I do BIAB so I usually have lots of trub in the fermenter and I still always get clear nice tasting beer.

The last time I brewed it the cold break was a dense ball in the middle of the kettle so I used my racking cane to siphon the beer into the fermenter. Lots less trub in the fermenter but my results were the same, clear nice tasting beer.

 

[worlddivides]

I always use mesh bags for hops in the boil and for dry-hopping. In my most recent Double IPA, I used six or seven hop additions in the boil and four hop additions in the dry-hopping (I'd have to check my notes and recipe and all that for the exact additions, but it doesn't really matter for this conversation). This doesn't necessarily keep ALL of the hop material out of the wort/beer, but it does keep the vast majority of it out.

After chilling the wort, when I transfer it to the fermenter, I try to avoid the very last trub getting into the fermenter, but don't really sweat it if it does get in. I've never used a colander or anything like that to filter the beer and I really don't see the point. I think the most wort I've thrown away after chilling the wort was a tenth of a gallon or less and I usually throw away close to nothing.

 

[Browningbuck]

i liked the supplied info in this
http://brulosophy.com/2014/06/02/the-great-trub-exbeeriment-results-are-in/

 

[Clonefan94]

I don't worry about it too much anymore, but I now design all my recipes for 6 gallons. Usually leave a quart or so in the kettle and then after all is said and done I get a perfect 5 gallons in the keg without having to worry about ever hitting trub at the bottom of the fermenter with the siphon. I never really noticed a taste difference and I know I still get plenty of break material in there. For me it was more about making sure I had full kegs than anything else.

 

[djonesax]

That was an incredible write-up! The second to last beer I brewed, which was the 5th iteration of the same recipe but slightly modified, got more trub in it than usual. Because the trub wasn't settling fast enough for me after whirlpooling. Well that beer was the clearest beer I have brewed to date and it was interesting to read this quote fro the articlw.

"The assumption that clearer wort in the fermentor leads to clearer beer in the end appears to be false, with all samplers agreeing that Truby was brighter than Non-Truby."

Thanks,

David

 

[joshesmusica]

thank goodness somebody else already posted the link to that article. +1 to that.

and

I don't worry about it. I leave as much as I can behind in the kettle, but don't stress if some makes it over to the primary. There is a write on here somewhere where a guy did a test to see what affect trub had on beer clarity. Basically it didn't.

if you're talking about the article that was posted on here, then it does make a difference in the clarity according to his research... by LEAVING it in!

but it does depend on what style you're going for i would think. because one thing he also found was that the one with the trub/break material in it often scored a dryer/crisper taste. so if you're going for a maltier flavor maybe this could work against you?