Stuff settling at the bottom of fermenter?

[beerious]

Hi All,

I started my first brew (an amber ale) on Tuesday the 23rd... and I noticed that there's some stuff settling at the bottom I'm guessing it's the yeast... I went to the troubleshooting section of John Palmer's how to brew and it says to kinda shake the fermenter a little and move it to a warmer place, I wanted to get a second opinion though because it's my first batch and I have very limited knowledge.

thanks, I appreciate any help..

 

[scrambledegg81]

Completely normal. Mostly yeast & particulate matter (hops) that's settling. When you rack (transfer) once it's done fermenting, you want to avoid sucking that stuff up as much as possible. Makes for a cleaner tasting (and looking!) brew.

 

[ChshreCat]

It's trub. Settling is what it does. As the egg man (coo coo cachoo) says, you wanna let it settle out and leave it behind.

This is what was left behind in one of my batches after I racked it to secondary:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachments/f39/10964d1241065853-leaving-beer-behind-your-yeast-chocolate-yeast-cake.jpg

 

[marubozo]

Don't shake anything. The stuff that collects at the bottom of the fermenter is a mix of yeast, hops, and various particles from the brewing process. That's a good thing, so just leave it be and try not to suck too much of it up into the bottling bucket or kegs as scrambledegg said and you'll be fine.

 

[scrambledegg81]

This is what was left behind in one of my batches after I racked it to secondary:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachments/f39/10964d1241065853-leaving-beer-behind-your-yeast-chocolate-yeast-cake.jpg

Dirrrrty.

 

[beerious]

What about this much stuff at the bottom?? there's like a liters worth and its a 5 gallon brew? Is that still okay?

 

[duffman2]

Duffman says trub puts hair on your chest! Oh Yeah!

 

[SumnerH]

What about this much stuff at the bottom?? there's like a liters worth and its a 5 gallon brew? Is that still okay?

Yep, perfectly normal. Let it sit, and try not to stick your siphon in it when you rack the beer out of there.

 

[nebben]

In an all grain brew, all the hot and cold break material falls to the bottom immediately after I pour it into the fermenter. Sometimes it rises past the 1G mark.

Not to worry though. Over the primary fermentation, it will settle/compact, and eventually yeast will accumulate into the trub cake. Most of mine start out with a ~5.25-5.5G volume, and I will usually see about a half gallon loss due to settled trub in the end. The beer ends up fantastic!

 

[beerious]

okay, awesome! thanks guys for the reassurance... I was just worried about the fruits of my labor going to waste. All the info. is much appreciated!

 

[ChshreCat]

In an all grain brew, all the hot and cold break material falls to the bottom immediately after I pour it into the fermenter. Sometimes it rises past the 1G mark.

Hey, let's not start a "who's trub is bigger" argument here.