Pumpkin Ale - Excessive Trub

[Davida]

I brewed a Pumpkin Ale yesterday. I usually let my wort settle out in a settling tank before racking to the fermenter to eliminate the trub. This brew had excessive trub and would not settle out. I racked it to the fermenter and pitched the yeast (S-04) last night. It is quite active this AM.

Some recipes say to rack it after 4 days to a secondary, then after 7 days rack to a tertiary. Is it necessary to get away from the trub or will it settle out through the normal fermentation process if I leave it in the primary for 14 days?

https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/images/smilies/drunk4zc.gif

 

[BLACKHAWK007]

I made a double pumpkin batch about 9 days ago. After splitting them evenly one batch got Ringwood yeast and the other got American Ale 2. The Ringwood batch has settled out and is clear. The American Ale batch is still fermenting away and very little has settled out so far. So based on my experience it all depends on your particular recipe, technique and yeast strain.

 

[thedartedash]

After 8 days in the primary, when transferring into the secondary I had about a gallon (5 gal batch) of thick trub at the bottom...very little was floating. I used fresh pumpkin, and mashed it, but didn't puree it (as I will next time). I don't know if that's just the way it is, but is was a bit annoying.

 

[elproducto]

Oh ya.. mine always have TONS of Trub.

 

[jonmohno]

Depends how much you put in,and get out when getting it to your primary,if you have glass you can see how much trub you have, i have almost 2 inches at the bottem but i also almost maxed out my fermenter making up for the loss a little and luckily the krausen and fermentation behaved where i didnt need a blow off for it. I used t-58 for it. I did a rye ipa with coopers yeast and it went nuts and lost about 3 beers worth in a smaller batch. In fact i tried one @ 5 days bottled and it was great so im liking this disliked yeast so far.

 

[BLACKHAWK007]

Here is a pic of mine. Again this started out as one batch and was evenly split into 2 carboys.

 

[elproducto]

Looks identical to mine. I throw everything in the fermenter from the kettle, and they still always clear out fine, especially with Whirlfloc.

 

[crbrown25]

I brewed a pumpkin ale about 7 weeks ago. everything went from the kettle into the primary (which included about 5 lbs canned pumpkin). i didn't use a secondary or any clearing agents, and simply let it sit for 4 weeks at about 64degrees. then cold crashed for a few days & racked into corney keg where it sat for another 2 weeks in my beer fridge. i just tapped it last weekend and it couldn't be clearer. (and it smells & tastes pretty darn good too)

 

[Davida]

I was mostly concerned about any off flavors from leaving the beer in with the trub during complete primary fermentation.
Based on all the replies, I will let it go for the full 14 days in the primary then check SG.
I secondary and bulk age most of my brews for two weeks at a minimum.
Hopefully, it will clear by then. I'll post some photos along the way.
Thanks again for all the good advice!

This was my first attempt at a Pumpkin spiced ale.
Feel free to post other (partial / extract) recipes. I'm always up for different variations on a great theme.

 

[jonmohno]

I think your ok with primary most only rack when using something in secondary to rack on.The trub wont do anything but sit there and as long as your rack quietly it should be fairly clear.

 

[Davida]

Today I racked from the primary to glass secondary leaving most of the trub behind. The trub did mostly settle out and the beer looks great but there is not as much spice taste as expected. The recipe I used added cinnamon, all-spice & nutmeg during the boil.

I have seen other recipes out there that add spices to the secondary.
Is this a good idea?

 

[elproducto]

Today I racked from the primary to glass secondary leaving most of the trub behind. The trub did mostly settle out and the beer looks great but there is not as much spice taste as expected. The recipe I used added cinnamon, all-spice & nutmeg during the boil.

I have seen other recipes out there that add spices to the secondary.
Is this a good idea?

Yep, I'm doing the same thing. Just use sparingly, and make a spice tea. I would start with 1/4-1/2 tsp for 5 gallons.