Sediment in secondary?

[Shambolic]

I recently purchased a nice glass carboy to use as a secondary, so I can get my brews off the trub and leave them to age and clear for a while.

So two days ago I transferred my pale ale to my new secondary, leaving the thick layer of sludge in my primary. But lo! after an hour or so, there was about a centimetre (1/2 inch) of sediment on the bottom of my secondary.

Is this normal? The gravity was down to 1020 (anticipated FG ~1015), and the airlock was only bubbling about once a minute, so I thought it was a good time to transfer...

 

[Rhoobarb]

Yep, very much so! Shows you just how much yeast and 'stuff' is still left in your beer after a week or so in the primary!

 

[Shambolic]

Another quick question about this. My lastest brew has even more trub that has settled in the secondary.

When you experienced brewers leave brews in the secondary for ages (say, 2 months), is it sitting on a layer of trub all that time? If so, has that ever resulted in an 'off' beer?

I ask because I'd like to leave this one in there for at least 3 weeks...

 

[homebrewer_99]

You're transferring too much trub from the primary.

I always recommend adding about 1/2 lb of malt and raising your water level to about 5.5 gals so you can afford to lose some brew in the process and still end up with 5 gals to bottle.

You should use one of those spring loaded cloths pins (or a small clamp) to keep your tube off the bottom and out of the trub.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

Do you boil the malt or just add it?

 

[Shambolic]

Do you boil the malt or just add it?

He means at the very start of the process, not when you're racking.


Thanks for the advice, hb99. My siphon actually has a little thingy on the end that stops it sucking the trub straight in (it effectively bends around the very tip of the hose so that it points up, not down).

However, I have been lazy, and transferred (through hose) via the tap at the bottom of my primary.

 

[Walker]

that stops it sucking the trub straight in (it effectively bends around the very tip of the hose so that it points up, not down).

That little cap on the end of the cane helps a little, but you still have to keep the thing up away from the bottom of the carboy. It will still suck up trub from the if it's low enough.

I usually start my racking with the cane only 3/4ths of the way down in the carboy. As I get near the end, I keep pushing it further down to keep the flow going. Only at the very end do I have it near the bottom. I suck up a small amount of trub, but nothing major.

-walker

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

However, I have been lazy, and transferred (through hose) via the tap at the bottom of my primary.

That's what I do, as well. On bottling day I then siphon out of my carboy back into my plastic fermenter for bottling. There's always a thick layer of trub at the bottom of my primary after I drain it through the tap and it runs clear, so I'm not too concerned about it.

 

[david_42]

Shambolic I tend to go directly to kegs from the primary. After about a week, I'll draw a pint which will remove much of the secondary trub. I'll let that settle out and check for gravity and taste. If you are using carboys and have a lot of trub, you might have to rack it again.