Nothing settled out in kettle... ?

[Rick500]

I previously posted this as a reply to a different topic, but it was kind of a hijack so I moved it to its own topic here:

This past weekend, I brewed an IPA. All went pretty much as planned, except that although there's already 4 oz. of Centennial hops in there, there was no sediment in the kettle as I was transferring the wort to the primary.

What's up with that?

I cooled the kettle to 70F pretty rapidly in a sink of ice water. I figured I'd get a good cold break. And even if not, I expected at least to see the remains of the hops at the bottom of the kettle.

Without splashing it around, I got a pretty good whirlpool going when it was down to about 75 degrees, and when it got to 70, siphoned into the primary from the side of the kettle, an inch or so from the bottom. (First through a funnel with a strainer, but it would have taken forever to get through the thing, so I gave up on the strainer.)

So I guess the hops (pelleted) stayed in suspension despite all that?

I left the last half inch or so of wort in the kettle anyway for good measure (now I'm thinking I should have just put it in the primary; it looked exactly the same as the rest).

I'm sure it'll be fine, and I'll be transferring to a secondary fermenter in a week or so anyway, but I wanted a nice clear IPA and I have a feeling this will contribute to some cloudiness.

Any thoughts or suggestions for either this batch or next?

(I forgot to measure OG before I pitched the yeast, but after the yeast, it was 1.057.)

This was the NB Three-Hearted Ale kit, except I used White Labs California Ale yeast rather than the Wyeast Irish Ale yeast that came with the kit.

Specialty Grains
* 1 lbs. Briess Caramel 40 [I steeped at 160F for 20 minutes]
Fermentables
* 9.15 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup
Boil Additions
* 1 oz. Centennial (60 min) [all hops are pelleted]
* 1 oz. Centennial (20 min)
* 2 oz. Centennial (5 min)
Special Ingredients
* 1 oz. Centennial Hops (dry hop)

 

[david_42]

Once you have the wort cooled, whirlpool it. Just stir it fast, then let it sit for about 20 minutes. There should be a pile of hop particles in the middle.

 

[BierMuncher]

4 ounces of hops should have left a crap load of material behind.

Like David said...key to whirlpooling is letting the beer settle for at least 30 minutes.

If you siphoned right away, you were siphoning beer with all that stuff in suspension.

Fear not...it will all settle out in the fermenter and you can rack off from there.

 

[Rick500]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

I'll leave the next batch alone for half an hour next time before I siphon it out of the kettle.

Easy fix. Cool.

 

[WBC]

Trub does not harm the beer if in the fermenter. It just looks bad. If you cooled quickly and used a fining agent in the boil your beer will be perfectly clear.

 

[cd2448]

i generally don't bother to whirlpool, but i strain all of the wort and collect hop residue that way. i've wondered about it too but it never seems to affect the clarity of the beer, so if it ain't broke, i'm not fixing it.

 

[Coastarine]

It doesn't get any easier than this:

 

[SporkD2]

Thats what I use, it works great

 

[Rick500]

Looks like it's turning out fine so far. I just checked the SG, and it's 1.019, down from 1.058 OG.

Beautiful color, too. Maybe a little dark for IPA, but I guess it'll lighten up as it settles out and carbonates later.

I'll take another reading tomorrow, then Sunday and if it's the same Sunday I'll rack it to the secondary. :rockin:

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Looks like it's turning out fine so far. I just checked the SG, and it's 1.019, down from 1.058 OG.

Beautiful color, too. Maybe a little dark for IPA, but I guess it'll lighten up as it settles out and carbonates later.

I'll take another reading tomorrow, then Sunday and if it's the same Sunday I'll rack it to the secondary. :rockin:

Looks good but I gotta rib ya' a bit.

Using the hop bag in the video above, kettle finings, a hop taco (for trub filtering) and a plate chiller (the speedy gonzales of chillers), you could have read the hydro in that picture it would have been so clear.

edit:but then theres no money left for the batteries in the camera after buying all that stuff.

 

[Rick500]

Yeah, I know. Next time.

 

[Rick500]

Bottled my IPA just now. Cleared up nicely.