Filtering Before Transferring to Conical

[madraso_]

First off, as a long time lurker, first time member-- thanks for all the wonderful information that's available on this site!!!

I have recently switched to using a 14G conical in a temp controlled fridge.

In the past, I would always go plastic to glass. Since all hop additions are un-bagged pellet, doing this allowed me to filter the wort through a 5G paint strainer before stretched over the opening of the bucket, and as a result I was able to achieve a pretty "clean" fermentation.

I'm not seeing a great way to do this with the conical (since it physically fills up the fridge it's in), and on a bigger/hoppier IPA I just made, the whirlpool generated hop cone was pretty ineffective at preventing the trub from making its way into the fermenter.

The idea I have is this: Using the pump to do a post-boil "recirculation", but instead of going back in through the whirlpool port, I would run it through a paint strainer back into the kettle to filter out as much of the trub as possible before transferring.

On paper, this seems like a pretty solid idea, but wondering if I'm overlooking something obvious. I know that if it's done pre-chill, there's a risk of introducing oxygen at a temp that it's undesirable to do so, and post-chill comes with the contamination risk (which was never an issue with strainers in the past), but other than that...?


Or, if anyone has a solution that works for them, I'd be all ears. I suppose the obvious one would just be to (loosely) bag the hops; though an under-utilization issue that I had years ago left a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to bagging hops in a boil.

Thanks in advance. I appreciate any thoughts/comments/criticisms etc on this idea.

Cheers.

 

[Bensiff]

I think you are too worried about trub getting into the fermenter. Since you have the ability to whirlpool, do the whirlpool for a few minutes, shut it down, wait 20 minutes and then rack off the clear wort. Even if a little gets in to the fermenter its not a big deal.

If it is still a concern to you, use your conical how it is supposed to be used. Rack the wort into it, let it settle, then open the bottom port and dump off the trub.

 

[GJOCONNELL]

gelatin fining is your friend!

 

[bajaedition]

gravity feed or pumped?

 

[madraso_]

Gravity from HLT->Mash, then a pump from there on. I did whirlpool gently throughout chill (for heat exchange purposes), and then vigorously for 15 min followed by a 30 min rest before transfer. The wort gets pulled through a 1/2" dip tube that meets the bottom outside edge of the keggle (attached pic). Wondering if this needs to be raised some, and then I can account for the additional loss in the recipe, or if perhaps transfer velocity had a dusruptive effect on the hop cone?

As for fining, the final clarity is what I'd expect for a beer of its stature (80->13), so I'm not worried about that - and there are no hints of any off flavors.

My real concern (aside from the usual OCD induced overthinking that accompanies this hobby) is the loss in volume. I'd estimate 11+G made it into the conical, and that I kegged somewhere in the mid/low 7s. Granted, almost 8 oz of dryhops played their role in this, as did the ease at which a few "QC" samples were pulled from the lovely racking port, but still... the volume of trub that came out of this beer was far more than what I am used to, so it'd be nice to be able to control what makes its way into this thing.

Thanks again for the replies!

 

[Dcpcooks]

Can you crash it? I'm not sure how your losing 3 gallons of beer. That's excessive in my experience. I never see anything close to that volume of loss. You don't really need to dump that much out at any point. Dump the break material if you really feel the need. After fermentation collect some yeast and dry hop. Then dump just enough yeast and hops to get clear beer out of your racking port. If you can crash it 24 -48 hours before you rack it to kegs it will compact nicely.

 

[madraso_]

It's in a temp controlled fridge, so I crashed in the mid 30s for a week - during which time, the clarity coming out of the racking port steadily improved to what I'd expect. Being my first time using the conical, I'd write off 7 or 8 12 oz QC samples, and under a pint of actual beer dumped through the bottom, so yeah, the amount of loss to trub seems quite excessive to me too. That compacting is no joke... I had to use CO2 on the top to get anything out at all. Thanks!

 

[bajaedition]

id it is a pump system, there are a number of inline filters on the market. Let the vendor know what you want to filter and he can suggest a micron level; That would be sweet filtering that way

 

[patthebrewer]

Why worry? using a unitank or conical make life much easier for (for certain things anyway) Not much need to filter before racking to fermenter.

Okay here is what I do with mine. I do the first dump 4 hours after I rack out of the BK to the fermenter, and before I pitch my yeast. This gets rid of a lot of the hop gunk, and break material that settles to the bottom. If you leave this in for a few weeks it'll turn to thick mud that doesn't want to move when you dump it. Then I'll dump it again after my testing indicates fermentation is complete for harvesting yeast( time varies based on yeast and style and there will still be some yeast in suspension). I will either then wash or simple jar and save the yeast. If I'm lagering I'll dump once more after diacetly rest, before racking to keg for lagering. That's pretty much it. Its not complicated.

 

[kh54s10]

Or bag the hops!

 

[madraso_]

I think a combination of the previous two suggestions is what I'll try next, rather than my original idea.
I would guess that utilization should not be affected too much (if at all) if an oversized bag is used per addition. Question for those of you who bag pellet: Do you guys pull (and wring out) the bag? Would seem like if this happens, it should be between chilling and whirlpooling?
Thanks again!

 

[Dcpcooks]

I think a combination of the previous two suggestions is what I'll try next, rather than my original idea.
I would guess that utilization should not be affected too much (if at all) if an oversized bag is used per addition. Question for those of you who bag pellet: Do you guys pull (and wring out) the bag? Would seem like if this happens, it should be between chilling and whirlpooling?
Thanks again!

Careful pulling and squeezing as you'll just oxidize your beer. A good bet is to tie the bag to the fermentor so it won't clog your pick up tube or dump port. Suspend it mid way in the conical and add a few sanitary bolts or stainless pieces to help pull it down into the wort.

 

[madraso_]

Was thinking of just bagging the boil hops, and leaving the dry hops loose. The racking arm rotates, so if it's aimed down during the dry-hop period and crash, it should keep relatively clean; if needed, a shot of C02 will push them out of the dump tube.
Since my biggest concern here is volume loss, I am kind of (over)thinking that they'll drink less of my beer if they're allowed to settle freely into the cone and get compacted.