First All Grain Mini Batch

[SamInNJ]

Did 3 gal of a wheat beer in a paint strainer bag on my stove in my 5 gal kettle that I use for extract brews to try out all grain. Everything seemed to go pretty fine.
After pitching yeast it looks like the picture attached. It seems like a huge amount of trub.

Is this normal for AG? Is it because I used a paint strainer? Is this going to pack down over time?

I poured the wort through a strainer in a funnel into the fermenter to remove a lot prior to this photo. Not sure how there are so many solids.

Grain bill is mostly pale malt and wheat with some flaked oats.

 

[McKnuckle]

It looks like break material, which does usually compact quite a lot by the end of fermentation. Very normal, not due to your paint strainer, and - you can't stop it from getting in there without very time-consuming filtration methods. Don't worry about it!

 

[Feeny]

Looks normal to me. I would say relax, open a beer and start planning the next brew.

 

[Subdivisions]

You get a lot of trub doing BIAB. I usually increase my volume to account for it.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I have never used a paint strainer, but I'm told polyester voile fabric will result in less trub due to being a much finer weave and filter than a paint strainer.

Still a bit more trub than using my MT but it all settles out either way resulting in nice clear brew.

 

[tsheets]

I also just did my first all grain / BIAB 2.5 gallon batch. That night I was a bit alarmed at the amount of dediment compared to previous extract batches. Within a day it had packed down a LOT, and now, after a week in the fermenter, it appears to be a little more than extract, but, not too much. I'm betting it will be just fine.

 

[SamInNJ]

Thanks! It's already compacted quite a bit. Thanks for helping me not panic

 

[McKnuckle]

Break material is a puffy mass of very fine particles, so it looks like a huge pillow at first... As soon as you rack from kettle to fermenter, you can watch it start descending. It eventually compacts tightly into almost nothing from a volume perspective.

Note that break volume has nothing to do with the mash/lauter process; it occurs during the boiling and cooling steps as proteins become insoluble at different temperatures. You can't stop it - nor would you want to, because this dissolution helps stabilize your final product - and you can't really filter it out without a lot of hassle.

The only trub I bother to remove is hop debris, which is easy if you use a hop sock during the boil. From that point, I just dump the entire kettle into my fermenter after chilling.