Excessive debris into fermenter

[cegan09]

So preparing for my 4th brew. The two BIAB i've done previously both had an enormous amount of debris at the bottom of the fermenter. Meaning that within 12 hours of sitting there was minimum 1" or more of debris. Looks all like grain debris (maybe proteins too?). I'm trying to work out how to reduce this going forward. I didn't think to grab a picture before dumping it on bottling day this weekend.

I don't currently use a filter anywhere. Just remove bag at the end of the mash, squeeze, boil, cool, siphon into fermentor, and let it go.

From what I can tell, my options look like add a filter somewhere before it goes into the fermentor (I do have a valve port on my boil kettle that I could use), or recirculate the mash to make use of the filtering properties of the grain bed. Anything else I might have missed?

The debris isn't really causing problems, other than wasted space in the fermenter. It's not getting into the end beer, in fact my Belgian Pale was decently clear with little effort on my part. It's more just me looking at how to improve process and get rid of that stuff before it sees the fermenter.

 

[GrogNerd]

it's hot & cold break material and hop gunk

I don't worry about it, dump it all into my fermenter and let it settle out on its own. many brewers do, some filter it out, it's personal preference

do it both ways, if you can tell the difference and prefer it one way over the other, continue doing it that way.

 

[kingmatt]

Yeah, it is likely break material and hop debris as stated above.

There is debate about whether it makes a difference (good or bad) in the end product but I personally try to limit the amount I put into my fermenter because it makes re-use of yeast easier/cleaner.

After I chill to my desired pitch temp I do a strong whirlpool, cover and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. I then rack to my fermenter with my autosiphon from the top on the side of my kettle...by the time I get to the bottom I have a small mountain of crud in the middle of my kettle

 

[wilserbrewer]

What type of bag are you using? A finer poly voile bag will help some, but more trub is inherent to BIAB, I don't think it's a bad thing.

A fine crush and a coarse bag is likely the worst combination I would guess???

 

[theseeker4]

So preparing for my 4th brew. The two BIAB i've done previously both had an enormous amount of debris at the bottom of the fermenter. Meaning that within 12 hours of sitting there was minimum 1" or more of debris. Looks all like grain debris (maybe proteins too?). I'm trying to work out how to reduce this going forward. I didn't think to grab a picture before dumping it on bottling day this weekend.

I don't currently use a filter anywhere. Just remove bag at the end of the mash, squeeze, boil, cool, siphon into fermentor, and let it go.

From what I can tell, my options look like add a filter somewhere before it goes into the fermentor (I do have a valve port on my boil kettle that I could use), or recirculate the mash to make use of the filtering properties of the grain bed. Anything else I might have missed?

The debris isn't really causing problems, other than wasted space in the fermenter. It's not getting into the end beer, in fact my Belgian Pale was decently clear with little effort on my part. It's more just me looking at how to improve process and get rid of that stuff before it sees the fermenter.

Are you having to dump wort out because there isn't enough room in the fermenter? If so, get a bigger fermenter. If not, it isn't wasting space at all. There is really no need to worry about getting rid of the break material, as it isn't going to hurt your beer. Leaving trub behind in the boil kettle also leaves wort behind, so I put all the gunk in just filtering my hops out when I want to save some yeast after fermentation.

 

[Mer-man]

After I chill to my desired pitch temp I do a strong whirlpool, cover and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. I then rack to my fermenter with my autosiphon from the top on the side of my kettle...by the time I get to the bottom I have a small mountain of crud in the middle of my kettle

I have had no success with a whirlpool and rest after chilling; I just get "fluffy" break material that occupies several liters at the bottom. So I either chill it separately in a bottle to settle out the gunk or I dump it all in the fermenter.

Any advice on achieving the small mountain of crud after whirlpool? I do use a whirlfloc-type product.

 

[cegan09]

What type of bag are you using? A finer poly voile bag will help some, but more trub is inherent to BIAB, I don't think it's a bad thing.

A fine crush and a coarse bag is likely the worst combination I would guess???

I have one of your bags (which is awesome by the way).

Like i mentioned, it's not really hurting anything, I just look at it and the engineer in me says "that's a waste of space". I'm only doing 3 gallon batches(final at bottling volume) at the moment, so seeing 3 gallons in a 5 gallon carboy plus the inch+ of stuff at the bottom makes it seem excessive.

I'll try a better whirlpool on my next one. I've been moving fast between boil and fermenter because I always thought post boil you wanted to wait as little as possible. So end boil, chill, into fermemter as soon as pitch temp is reached. I'll give it 10 minutes to settle next time.

 

[mongoose33]

You might be interested in this brulosophy exbeeriment:

http://brulosophy.com/2015/03/22/the-impact-of-kettle-trub-part-2-exbeeriment-results/

 

[GrogNerd]

I have one of your bags (which is awesome by the way).

Like i mentioned, it's not really hurting anything, I just look at it and the engineer in me says "that's a waste of space". I'm only doing 3 gallon batches(final at bottling volume) at the moment, so seeing 3 gallons in a 5 gallon carboy plus the inch+ of stuff at the bottom makes it seem excessive.

I'll try a better whirlpool on my next one. I've been moving fast between boil and fermenter because I always thought post boil you wanted to wait as little as possible. So end boil, chill, into fermemter as soon as pitch temp is reached. I'll give it 10 minutes to settle next time.

time between boil and chill is less critical than between chill and pitch, the former being at a high enough temp to keep the nasties at bay

 

[RM-MN]

I have one of your bags (which is awesome by the way).

Like i mentioned, it's not really hurting anything, I just look at it and the engineer in me says "that's a waste of space". I'm only doing 3 gallon batches(final at bottling volume) at the moment, so seeing 3 gallons in a 5 gallon carboy plus the inch+ of stuff at the bottom makes it seem excessive.

I'll try a better whirlpool on my next one. I've been moving fast between boil and fermenter because I always thought post boil you wanted to wait as little as possible. So end boil, chill, into fermemter as soon as pitch temp is reached. I'll give it 10 minutes to settle next time.

You might have better results if you let it settle for 10 hours.

I always think that those who whirlpool and leave the trub (which it mostly wort) in the pot are simply wasting beer. It isn't like you are losing space in the fermenter as the yeast will find the sugars and eat them, the trub will settle down and compact, and you will get more beer. I expect the trub layer to be about 1/2 inch thick when I bottle.

 

[TexasWine]

I always think that those who whirlpool and leave the trub (which it mostly wort) in the pot are simply wasting beer.

^^^ This. Any time you leave behind trub, you inevitably leave behind beer. You'll get more beer if you dump it all into the fermenter and give it all a few days/weeks to settle out, with a cold crash preferably.

How much more beer? Probably not a whole lot. But I like to maximize my yield.

 

[chickypad]

Like i mentioned, it's not really hurting anything, I just look at it and the engineer in me says "that's a waste of space". I'm only doing 3 gallon batches(final at bottling volume) at the moment, so seeing 3 gallons in a 5 gallon carboy plus the inch+ of stuff at the bottom makes it seem excessive.

As opposed to wasting that space with extra air? I think there are a couple good reasons to filter trub into the fermenter - i.e. for harvesting yeast, of if you don't have room in the fermenter for all your wort. In your case it seems unnecessary and you'll likely lose less overall beer just dumping it all in. I'm with the other guys, I see a bunch of trub left in the kettle and think "that's a waste of beer"!

 

[cegan09]

Ok OK, i'm worrying about nothing.

Thanks everyone.

 

[GrogNerd]

it's not just a saying, it's a guiding principle