More leftovers than expected after primary.

[Mquezada]

I made an Amber Ale recipe from a kit as a base and modified it for an experiment. I added 2 pounds of toasted oats as specialty grains and both lactose and maltodextrine to thicken it up a bit. Anyhow, today I transfered to secondary and there was a lot of gunk left behind. I usually see about an inch or two at the bottom at the end of primary but this time there just over a gallon of it (see attached picture).

The beer is going into secondary for a couple of weeks but it tastes surprisingly good. So is the stuff at the bottom mostly yeast or did I lose the lactose or maltodextrine? Maybe the oats added to it?


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[RM-MN]

It's hard to tell for sure from a picture but it looks like you transferred your beer before the yeast all settled out. The lighter layer in the bottom is what the yeast cake should look like. How long did you leave this in the primary before you racked it?

 

[Mquezada]

It was in primary for two and a half weeks. You are correct, there is a small layer of yeast this morning in the bottom of the secondary. Like I said, this is an experiment and I am interested in what this is because although it does not seem to affect the flavor it did cut into my yield. In secondary I ended up with just shy of 4 gallons.

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[Conman13]

Did you tilt the primary vessel while transferring the last bit out? That helps me get the most liquid wort as possible out of there.

 

[Mquezada]

I did, in fact I am sure some small portion of the silt in the secondary came from that. I checked this morning and the yeast started up again. It is very slow but they are still cleaning up some sugars. I might have to do a tertiary....

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[renthispace]

Why even do a secondary? Yeast autolysis isn't as big as it was cracked up to be. Some (professional) wine makers leave their wine on the lees (yeast/trub) for over a year (source: a wine maker in Napa). I've left my beer in the primary for 63 days with no ill effects. I like keeping things simple

 

[Mquezada]

I agree, I was joking about a tertiary . I am doing a secondary to add some vanilla and licorice root for aroma and flavor. I was not expecting this much leftover to cut into my yield so I am trying to figure out what caused it to see if I can control it.

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[aryoung1980]

I checked this morning and the yeast started up again. It is very slow but they are still cleaning up some sugars.

It sounds and looks like you moved it out of primary too soon.

I think you would've yielded more beer to secondary if you would have waited an extra one to two weeks. Your sediment would have compacted making it easier to get the beer off.


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[Mquezada]

That's a good point. I saw that the fg was almost where expected and decided it was time. Next time I will wait longer.

I also did some more research and I think that much of that stuff could be starches from the loads of oats I steeped. Next time I am also thinking of adding some amylase to help convert them to sugar.

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[JBIII]

Oats are high in proteins/lipids, fat, waxes, gum and oil. Although 2lbs of oats in a 5 gallon batch is not excessive, it is a bit more than most brewers would use...most brewers try and stay between 5 and 10 percent. So the higher percentage of oats to your total grain bill added a good deal of the above mentioned stuff to your beer, which means you're basically going to notice a lot more 'gunk'.

Adding amylase won't necessarily help because it won't do anything to break down the proteins, fat, waxes, gum and oil. Next time after primary fermentation is complete add fining agents such as isinglass or gelatin, let sit for a few days and then cold condition to settle out as much of the leftover gunk as possible and you'll get a better yield. Hope this helps and happy brewing...

 

[Mquezada]

Yes, it absolutely helps. I will definitely use your advice on the next iteration of my experiment. I did not realize that oats came with so much extra baggage. But now I can take that into account.

Thanks!

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