Need quick advice

[mjrodney]

Brewed an all grain batch but ended up with a disaster sparge. I failed to attach the short hose from the valve to the perforated false bottom. Duh.

Now, after fermentation, I have the normal sediment at the bottom of the carboy, but I also have 3" of floating tsunami debris above the clear beer.

My plan is to punch through the floating sediment and drain off only the clear portion.

Worth doing or should I dump the whole batch?

 

[IslandLizard]

No reason to dump it, the beer should be fine. Just rack off the clear beer between the 2 layers and package. That is as long as the beer is done and at it's predicted FG.

 

[Dynachrome]

How long has it been in the fermentor?

My Tsunami debris usually falls out and drops to the bottom.

Three inches seems like a bit much.

 

[mjrodney]

It's been in the fermenter a little over three weeks. I don't usually secondary.

Unfortunately, my error resulted in oatmeal oozing out of the valve, that at times had to be cleared with a sanitized wire to keep the dribble going.

Much of the oozed out spent grain stayed in the boil kettle, but since it fully permeated the wort, a significant amount rose to the top during fermentation and stayed there, making for a seriously cloudy top three inches.

 

[IslandLizard]

The cloudiness will settle out over time, particularly in the cold.

 

[cyberbrew]

Don't dump it. Rack it off, bottle/keg, and enjoy!

 

[Braufessor]

Never dump without tasting. I would attempt to rack and collect it, bottle/keg it, and see how it is. It may turn out great. If it ends up being foul, at least you tried, and it can always be dumped later. Very hard to "undump" a beer you should have given more time.

 

[jekeane]

Don't dump unless it tastes terrible. May be a good time to secondary and coldcrash for a few days to see what else you can drop out. If you have the ability to do so.

 

[mjrodney]

The jury pool has spoken.

I'll rack the middle layer, put it away for a bit, and get working on my next batch with my head on straight and my perf plate tight.

Thanks......

 

[Dynachrome]

Ask your LHBS about rice hulls. Any sticky grain bills, I put them over my strained hose.

 

[brewbama]

Ask your LHBS about rice hulls. Any sticky grain bills, I put them over my strained hose.

Warning Will Robinson; If you're going with rice hulls soak them in hot water first so they don't drink your wort.

 

[Dynachrome]

Warning Will Robinson; If you're going with rice hulls soak them in hot water first so they don't drink your wort.

Really? I've never noticed any problem. ....*noticed*.