How to dump trub out of a conical without making a mess

[Sbe2]

Any suggestions? I have a Spike cf5 with a 2-inch butterfly valve and a 90 attached to the bottom. When I open the valve into a 5 gallon bucket, shiatzu sprays everywhere.

I have thought about putting on a reducer, say a 2 to 1/2”. Eventually I will get the yeast brink from NorCal, but am wondering what everyone does to mitigate the mess?

 

[tll77]

You are already on the right path.
On my cf10, I orient the butterfly valve vertically rather than horizontally and use a 2"TC x 1/2"mpt when dumping trub/yeast harvesting.
The reducer on the butterfly valve will tame the flow out of the valve.

 

[Granite03]

Yeah, I'm looking for advice on this too. I have 3 SS Brewtechs and when I open the bottom valve I get a little bit of trub and then it starts spraying liquid. It seems like the trub doesn't completely fill the bottom elbow and some sticks above and allows liquid to pass through. I'm wondering if vibrating would get it to properly settle and get a clean dump.

 

[Jako]

i have a SS brew tech. i read some will use a rubber mallet and tap it a few times to help settle in the cone of the fermenter. i noticed with mine i have to open it slow and let it run out untill i get beer flowing. then a day or so later i will crack it once more. you really have to let it settle out i made the mistake of running of to early.

 

[Sbe2]

Whenever I dump I get a little bit of sediment and then some beer. But when I am done transferring there is a ton of hops and it oozes out.

Maybe I need to cold crash before I dump. Which I may have to wait until I get my temp control unit.

 

[Jako]

Whenever I dump I get a little bit of sediment and then some beer. But when I am done transferring there is a ton of hops and it oozes out.

Maybe I need to cold crash before I dump. Which I may have to wait until I get my temp control unit.

definitely.. i had the same exact problem my first time. i would wait to dump once you are going to pressure transfer over or secondary after 2 weeks in the fermenter. if you want to save the yeast i would honestly top crop it better yeast health.

 

[Sbe2]

definitely.. i had the same exact problem my first time. i would wait to dump once you are going to pressure transfer over or secondary after 2 weeks in the fermenter. if you want to save the yeast i would honestly top crop it better yeast health.

I don’t dump until I am ready to transfer, but the beer seems to “cut” the hops and trub. I have only done two batches in it so I just have to work on it.

I usually overbuild my starters, so the yeast harvesting isn’t the issue. I am just looking to get “cleaner” beer when transferring. The most recent batch had lots of issues with clogged poppets being the number one. According to my wife, it would have been the mess I made

 

[pvpeacock]

I have the reverse problem. The trub, hops and yeast get so thick in the bottom of my SS Brewtech Conicals that it won't come out. I usually wait a week or more after pitching the yeast before I dump. When I do have a problem, I sanitize a spare corny keg beer out dip tube and jam it into the valve and up into the elbow. That gets the flow going sometimes faster than I want. I use a pitcher to catch what comes out.

 

[Sbe2]

I have the reverse problem. The trub, hops and yeast get so thick in the bottom of my SS Brewtech Conicals that it won't come out. I usually wait a week or more after pitching the yeast before I dump. When I do have a problem, I sanitize a spare corny keg beer out dip tube and jam it into the valve and up into the elbow. That gets the flow going sometimes faster than I want. I use a pitcher to catch what comes out.

Haha. I don’t have that problem yet...

 

[pvpeacock]

I once put a site glass fitting between the elbow and the valve to see how the trub/hops/yeast build up with the idea that I would know when to dump. It was interesting to see it go from liquid wort to thicker and thicker trub/hops/yeast over time. It was clear that the liquid finds its way out of what settles over time until you have only really thick sediment left. The trick is not to dump too soon and loose beer or wait too long until you have to use something to unblock it. I never used the site glass again because it made the bottom valve stick out too far, but it was interesting the one time I did.

P.S. I have ball valves, not butterfly valves which allows me to test the waters so to speak by opening them slowly to get a feel for what is going to come out or not come out.

 

[SanPancho]

A more typical schedule is dump trub and dead yeast day 1. Then pull yeast every other day, or 3rd day, until FG.

But yes, reduce the line size, go slow and dont punch thru the yeast cake or you waste beer. If your rig holds pressure then 1-2 psi will help push it down when it gets thick. But you still wanna go slow.

 

[Qhrumphf]

A more typical schedule is dump trub and dead yeast day 1. Then pull yeast every other day, or 3rd day, until FG.

But yes, reduce the line size, go slow and dont punch thru the yeast cake or you waste beer. If your rig holds pressure then 1-2 psi will help push it down when it gets thick. But you still wanna go slow.

What he said.

Cracks me up that a 10 gal homebrew fermenter has a bigger dump valve than a two thousand gallon commercial fermenter.

CO2 pressure is your friend. Without it one of two things happens- you bring in air to displace the dumped volume (and it takes forever), or you pull a vacuum and nothing comes out.

Also, it's a lot like lautering. If you pull too fast you create channeling. Drop slow and steady. Hook up some narrower tubing and watch the flow. Once it starts flowing freely (well before clear beer) you're good. Wait a couple days and do it again. Otherwise you're knocking off too much.

I also typically won't do it until it's done (I also cap it off before it's done to build pressure), ie at FG and fully conditioned, plus 24 hrs crash time. And then that's typically drop cold break, harvest everything I will be able to use, and drop the rest until it's flowing thin, add biofine, give it 48 hrs then package.

 

[SanPancho]

Seriously. Both times we ordered 30s we had to specifically say 2” outlets.

The ratio is seriously insane.

 

[Jako]

I don’t dump until I am ready to transfer, but the beer seems to “cut” the hops and trub. I have only done two batches in it so I just have to work on it.

I usually overbuild my starters, so the yeast harvesting isn’t the issue. I am just looking to get “cleaner” beer when transferring. Th most recent batch had lots of issues with clogged poppets being the number one. According to my wife, it would have been the mess I made

hah its like you are telling the story from my first batch with my fermenter. clearing the keg was a nightmare. very sticky floor...

 

[Jako]

perfect timing.. i follow this channel on you tube called Brewery life. he talks about the industry and how to use pro equipment. he just posted a video today about dropping the cone on a fermenter. super good video and talks about this topic in detail.

 

[Homergah]

Open valve, dump on floor, squeegee to floor drain, rinse.

Ah crap, I'm dreaming again.
I use a desposable aluminum roasting pan under the valve to catch, and another pan upside down on top of the outlet to direct trub into lower pan. Not perfect, but it does work.

 

[Sbe2]

perfect timing.. i follow this channel on you tube called Brewery life. he talks about the industry and how to use pro equipment. he just posted a video today about dropping the cone on a fermenter. super good video and talks about this topic in detail.

Great video! I think I may go with a sight glass and ball valve after my butterfly valve. The diaphragm valve looks way too expensive for my home brewery.

 

[augiedoggy]

I have the reverse problem. The trub, hops and yeast get so thick in the bottom of my SS Brewtech Conicals that it won't come out. I usually wait a week or more after pitching the yeast before I dump. When I do have a problem, I sanitize a spare corny keg beer out dip tube and jam it into the valve and up into the elbow. That gets the flow going sometimes faster than I want. I use a pitcher to catch what comes out.

what size opening? if your using the old 3 piece stainless ballvalves like mine came with thats your problem.. get a larger valve. I use butterfly valves now with a reducer to tame flow. the 3/4 one piece TC valves my stout and chinese conicals came with worked well but were kind of a pain to clean all the time (not anywhere as bad as the SS 3 piece though)

 

[pvpeacock]

I swapped my SS Brewtech ball valves with Stout 2 piece sanitary valves because they are easier to clean. I have the 1" dump valves and the 3/4" racking valves. I disassemble the valves every time I clean my conicals and soak the pieces in PBW. I then run them through my dish washer's sanitize cycle.

 

[millsbrew]

The point of a conical is let everything settle out. You won’t get off flavors from trub or hops in 10 to 14 days of fermentation. Cold crash after FG and you’ll get everything to solidify at the bottom.