How much wort to leave behind?

[GrumpyOldGit]

I'm only on my second brew (both 5 gallon extract and specialty grain beers with pellet hops) with ice bath to cool. When it comes time to siphon it to the fermenter all is fine until I get to the last few inches when the crud from the boil starts to show.

My plan this time was to whirlpool the kettle to gather the kettle snot in the middle and then siphon the wort from the edge (and so leave only a small amount of wort with all the junk in the kettle). The boil itself seemed to go just fine - it boiled, it frothed up (but didn't boil over this time), and then settled to a nice rolling boil with what looked like bits of dark flecks of leaf glittering and roiling away (hot break?). The cooling was OK if laborious (keeping the ice topped up outside the kettle and replacing the warmed bath water with fresh cold water). An hour later the wort had cooled from ~200 to 65 so time to siphon.

Again, all OK until the wort level dropped to the last few inches and the gloop (which obviously hadn't been reading up on how whirlpooling works) just started to spread out and flow toward and into the siphon (see the photo below).

As per John Palmer:

It is a good idea to remove the hot break (or the break in general) from the wort before fermenting. The hot break consists of various proteins and fatty acids which can cause off-flavors, although a moderate amount of hot break can go unnoticed in most beers.

But the next line has:

The cold break is not considered to be much of a problem, in fact a small amount of cold break in the fermenter is good because it can provide the yeast with needed nutrients. The hops do not matter at all except that they take up room.

How to Brew S1 C9.1 Transferring the Wort

So how much is 'a moderate amount'? On the one hand I don't want to overload my beer with break material that will add off-flavors (I can do that perfectly well myself) but I also don't want to leave wort in the kettle and prejudice my OG. This second batch I passed the wort through a (sanitized) sieve to get the worst of the material out before I hit the dregs, but how much break should I even allow into the siphon?

Should I avoid as much as possible and just take the hit on the OG, or just pass it all through the sieve and use that to mechanically filter the material?

I took a couple of shots of the last few inches as it spread out toward the siphon. Are these hot break proteins I should avoid, or cold break that I can allow more of through?

***having some problems linking to the pics which are at http://1drv.ms/1G9bQe8

 

[pablosbrewing]

So how much is 'a moderate amount'? On the one hand I don't want to overload my beer with break material that will add off-flavors (I can do that perfectly well myself) but I also don't want to leave wort in the kettle and prejudice my OG. This second batch I passed the wort through a (sanitized) sieve to get the worst of the material out before I hit the dregs, but how much break should I even allow into the siphon?

Should I avoid as much as possible and just take the hit on the OG, or just pass it all through the sieve and use that to mechanically filter the material?

I took a couple of shots of the last few inches as it spread out toward the siphon. Are these hot break proteins I should avoid, or cold break that I can allow more of through?

***having some problems linking to the pics which are at http://1drv.ms/1G9bQe8

IMO, don't fear the trub.

Some experiments indicate clearer beer and lower off flavors are achieved if you dump it all in the fermenter:

http://brulosophy.com/2014/06/02/the-great-trub-exbeeriment-results-are-in/

edit: that's cold break in the photos.

 

[unionrdr]

I use a dual layer, fine mesh strainer to get the hop, etc gunk out when pouring the chilled wort into the fermenter. With my latest, a hot pepper IIPA, it had some 7-8ozs of hops in it. 12ozs with dry hop later. So I wound up straining some 4-6 cups of gunk out of the beer. Straining also helps aerate the wort nicely. By bottling day, I wind up with about 3/8" of compacted yeast & trub on the bottom of primary. Tipping the bucket gently toward the end of siphoning gets all but a few tablespoons out. no more than about 6ozs wasted.

 

[brewbama]

I leave all the break material - like in your photo - in the kettle. I plan that there will be about half a gallon of crap that I do not transfer - again, like in your photo.

 

[slym2none]

If one is really worried about not getting that break material in the FV, but they don't want to waste wort, try taking your last 2-3 quarts of wort in the BV and putting it into a sanitized container with a lid, then setting that in the fridge overnight. The trub will compact and you can carefully pour off the clearer wort from the top into your FV. I have done this once when I had an excessive amount of trub (my barley-wine) after I had dumped some of the break into the FV, and saw how much was still left.

I put 2Q of mixed wort/break into the fridge, poured off about 6 cups of wort the next day. Since everything was sanitized, I had no worries, and everything came out fine.

 

[C-Rider]

I strain the wort going into my fermenter, but then I'm trying to squeeze 1.9 gallons into a 2 gallon bucket and really there is no room for trub. This filter fits exactly right into a 5 or 6.5 gallon bucket. It's made to strain paint.

[url=https://www.homebrewtalk.com/photo/paint-strainer-60936.html] [/URL]

 

[unionrdr]

I should get one of those. Big beers make big trub. Sure would be easier than my 10 1/4" strainer.

 

[Mexibilly]

In my limited experience it simply takes finesse.
The more you rack, the better you get at racking.
Never stop trying to improve on your method.

 

[kh54s10]

I tried to strain my first couple of brews... What a PITA! Since then I pour all but the very thickest trub into the fermenter. It all compacts to the bottom by packaging time. Siphon carefully and there is not much that gets to the bottles or keg. I do use a 5 gallon paint strainer to contain the hops though.

 

[wizzzard]

look at the conical,there designed to dump this ,on purpose

 

[unionrdr]

I wish, that's purty!:rockin:

 

[wilserbrewer]

I ferment everything in the kettle, right in the kettle.

Works well for me, let gravity and time sort it out IMO. While the break may look nasty, it is inert proteins that have little effect on your beer IME.

Straining wort is a strain, and I don't like leaving drinkable beer behind, hence I ferment it all and let gravity sort it out.

Ymmv

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

Thank you all for taking the time to post on this, I really appreciate the helping hands. It's been a week since brew day so I'll be moving it to the secondary soon - which frees up the Primary to play again.

Based on the feedback I'm going to relax a little about letting more of the cold break get through and let the sieve take out what it can and leave just the last dregs in the kettle. If I do get a really heavy load in the kettle then I'm going to try the overnight in the fridge trick.

I guess at this early stage I should be more concerned about the basics (sanitization, consistency, plenty of oxygen in the fermenter and as little as possible in the secondary or bottles, etc.)

 

[unionrdr]

Well, as you progress in learning from every brew, you should try to learn something new. Add one more element to your process as you find out what works for you, & what doesn't. I got into the habit of straining to get less compacted trub & yeast by bottling day early on. It also helps aerate, which when pitching is a good thing. Topping off with chilled spring water to recipe volume has produced cold break for me, so I have to let it settle out. Just learning little things as you go along will greatly improve your beers.

 

[GrumpyOldGit]

Just a quick follow up. The brew was bottled a couple of weeks back and on drinking yesterday the family agreed it was a good brew.

More germane to this thread - the beer is clear as a bell!

I meant to post a picture but I drank it before I remembered.

Again, thanks to all for the feedback.