Conical dumping?

[xaugievike]

All -

Was setting out for my first trub dump / yeast harvest in my new chronical fermenter....but no joy. Left the dump valve open for about 30 minutes and got squat. Obviously the trub is compacted enough to hold.

I'm sure there's a lesson here...wondering what the veterans have to say? I had actually originally intended to forego the 90 elbow and just do a straight downward shot, but put the elbow back on.

 

[Wolfbayne]

Sanitize a wire coat hanger or something that will reach the bottom. Come through the top and create a void in the trub/yeast cake. Open bottom valve and watch for drip. Then it will come out.

Warning...don't leave valve open and then try to push it from the top. A human is not fast enough to shut the valve closed as it is spewing out!

 

[Wolfbayne]

Also with conical you can drop the trub out before pitching yeast. Definately decreases the chance of a concrete dump/harvest.

 

[xaugievike]

Sanitize a wire coat hanger or something that will reach the bottom. Come through the top and create a void in the trub/yeast cake. Open bottom valve and watch for drip. Then it will come out.

Warning...don't leave valve open and then try to push it from the top. A human is not fast enough to shut the valve closed as it is spewing out!

Thought about this, but was gonna go through the valve at bottom)

 

[pvpeacock]

I had this happen to me when I first started using a conical. In the end, what I learned is not to let too much trub go in the conical in the first place. When I started, I did what I had always done with carboys: dump everything from the kettle in. However, when the trub settles the bottom and is left for a few days, it can get a thick as cement and simply not come out at all, even with a sanitized coat hanger. Now that I am more careful about what goes into the conical, I don't have any problems. After about a week of fermentation, I just open the dump valve and the yeast comes out like toothpaste, no problem.

 

[BlueHemlock]

Push CO2 in the top.

 

[xaugievike]

Thought I'd follow up.

Tried the coat hanger (stainless kabob skewer) trick with no luck. I didn't get super aggressive bc I didn't want to risk disturbing the beer.

Transferred to keg tonight and scooped trub with my stirring spoon to try and save/wash yeast that way. Figured I'd give it a shot. Worst I could do is have dead/bad yeast.

Turned out there wasn't a "ton" of trub. Enough to clog that 90 elbow, but not much beyond that. The trub dam in my SSBT kettle does keep a lot out.

Thnking next time I'm gong to install the dump valve vertically and eliminate the elbow. Might also do a slower drain of kettle to hopefully keep a rush of crud out of fermenter.