The Impact of Kettle Trub - Part 2 | xBmt Results!

[Brulosopher]

I put the kettle trub issue to the test again, only this time I used the data collection method I've honed since performing the first trub xBmt. Check it out

http://brulosophy.com/2015/03/22/the-impact-of-kettle-trub-part-2-exbeeriment-results/

 

[vwmasstransit]

Nice!

 

[SnakeRidge]

Thanks!

 

[masaba]

Interesting. This article notes that the cold-break material in the trub can aid yeast during the reproductive phase (similar to what O2 does for yeast reproduction). Perhaps this could explain the difference in the fermentation of the two beers.

http://www.morebeer.com/articles/oxygen_in_fermentation

 

[falkaveli]

@brulosopher....just want to say how much I enjoy your site and experiments. Hating dogma is one of my favorite pastimes and it's nice to know it can be done empirically.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Thanks I won't bother filtering trub again!

 

[Natdavis777]

Excellent write up. I sympathize with your hypothesis and appreciate the results of both experiments.

 

[d3track]

Interesting. This article notes that the cold-break material in the trub can aid yeast during the reproductive phase (similar to what O2 does for yeast reproduction). Perhaps this could explain the difference in the fermentation of the two beers.

http://www.morebeer.com/articles/oxygen_in_fermentation

Chris White talked about it on the BN way back when.

I think the key takeaway is to not stress about eliminating trub into the fermentor as having some can be beneficial to the yeast.

 

[BrotherBock]

Didn't notice any mention in the write up. Are the hops part of the trub you transferred or were they in a bag/spider/whatever?

 

[PGEduardo]

Interesting! I definitely won't worry too much about trub anymore, although I still want to start managing hop gunk...


Question - how much trub/break material do you estimate was in your "high trub" fermenter? From the picture, it looks like it could be ~1/2 gallon? Could this contribute to you effectively having a higher yeast pitch rate, therefore explaining the more vigorous fermentation?

 

[Gavin C]

Are you using different smaller range hydrometers in this exbeeriment? It was much harder to read in the pictures. Thanks again for all the great stuff on the site.

 

[thekraken]

How hoppy was your trub? I'm curious what the effects are of hoppy trub vs no-hoppy trub... For that matter, what would we concider a lot of hops into the fermenter?

 

[kev211]

This is awesome! I usually filter off the trub from the kettle into the fermenter. Which is a pain seeing as how I have to constantly stir the funnel/screen to keep any liquid flowing through. This last batch I brewed I got impatient, and I was tired, so I just dumped everything from the kettle in. So, we'll see if it improves anything. Ive brewed this recipe multiple times (its my simple IPA recipe that produces some pretty killer beer) so it can be used as a good benchmark. Either way, awesome write up!

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

awesome as always. great read. I've been not worrying that much about trub for 6 months now and my beer couldn't be clearer or taste better.

 

[SnakeRidge]

Interesting! I definitely won't worry too much about trub anymore, although I still want to start managing hop gunk...


Question - how much trub/break material do you estimate was in your "high trub" fermenter? From the picture, it looks like it could be ~1/2 gallon? Could this contribute to you effectively having a higher yeast pitch rate, therefore explaining the more vigorous fermentation?

I didn't see where he said specifically, but judging from the pictures, all the hop debris was in the 'trubby' ferment.

 

[PGEduardo]

I didn't see where he said specifically, but judging from the pictures, all the hop debris was in the 'trubby' ferment.

My comment about managing hop debris specifically was meant for my process only. My question was about general volumes of fermentable wort in the carboys. Did the trub-free carboy have 5.0 gallons of clear wort, versus 4.5 gallons of clear wort in the trubby carboy? That would be about 5% higher yeast pitch rate effectively if you ignore the volume occupied by trub...

 

[SnakeRidge]

My comment about managing hop debris specifically was meant for my process only. My question was about general volumes of fermentable wort in the carboys. Did the trub-free carboy have 5.0 gallons of clear wort, versus 4.5 gallons of clear wort in the trubby carboy? That would be about 5% higher yeast pitch rate effectively if you ignore the volume occupied by trub...

Interesting question, but I believe the non-trub batch had a longer lag time and didn't attenuate as well.

 

[dfhar]

My comment about managing hop debris specifically was meant for my process only. My question was about general volumes of fermentable wort in the carboys. Did the trub-free carboy have 5.0 gallons of clear wort, versus 4.5 gallons of clear wort in the trubby carboy? That would be about 5% higher yeast pitch rate effectively if you ignore the volume occupied by trub...

11% higher pitch rate, actually. Pretty significant.

 

[j1n]

TY for doing this. Since your first experiment on trub, i stopped giving a sh*t about trub and been dumping it all in my fermentor.

 

[PGEduardo]

11% higher pitch rate, actually. Pretty significant.

^You are right. Fat fingered that back-of-the-envelope...

 

[jethro55]

Huh...and all this time I thought that the first result was that non-truby was better in flavor by a 2:1 margin.

 

[KeninMN]

I have a title suggestion:

The Impact of Kettle Trub - Part 2 or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Trub

Good stuff!

 

[Brulosopher]

Didn't notice any mention in the write up. Are the hops part of the trub you transferred or were they in a bag/spider/whatever?

Yep, I don't filter hops, just toss them directly into the boil. To be honest, I'm not sure that has much to do with the observed impact of the trub, my guess is it has more to do with me break material.

 

[Brulosopher]

Interesting! I definitely won't worry too much about trub anymore, although I still want to start managing hop gunk...


Question - how much trub/break material do you estimate was in your "high trub" fermenter? From the picture, it looks like it could be ~1/2 gallon? Could this contribute to you effectively having a higher yeast pitch rate, therefore explaining the more vigorous fermentation?

Goodness, maybe 1-1.5 quarts more trub, best guess.

Are you using different smaller range hydrometers in this exbeeriment? It was much harder to read in the pictures. Thanks again for all the great stuff on the site.

I use a FG hydrometer, but it is only capable of measuring gravities under 1.020, hence the reason I used the standard hydrometer on the no-trub batch for that first picture.

How hoppy was your trub? I'm curious what the effects are of hoppy trub vs no-hoppy trub... For that matter, what would we concider a lot of hops into the fermenter?

Moderately hoppy? I posted the recipe in the article and don't strain my hood during the boil (or anywhere else).

11% higher pitch rate, actually. Pretty significant.

I'm not convinced it is all that significant...

 

[wobdee]

How do you all feel about harvesting yeast from a trubby fermenter?

 

[joshesmusica]

How do you all feel about harvesting yeast from a trubby fermenter?

i'm guessing he doesn't feel that great about it. or, in different words, if you do a quick search around his site, he doesn't harvest yeast after fermentation. he harvests yeast by building up double the amount in his starter, harvesting 1/2 and pitching the other 1/2.

 

[blackbeer]

i did the full dump on my last batch as an experiment as well. it is a low gravity, blonde 2nd runnings beer and if there is any effect on flavor or clarity it will be evident. i didn't split the batch and don't plan on anything more scientific than, "does this look clear" and "does this taste good" to make my determination for future batches. i am leaning towards becoming a dumper from now on. i think it adds to the aeration as well.

 

[JKoravos]

The main reason I worry about trub in the fermenter is to keep the yeast relatively clean for repitiching. If lots of trub gets in the fermenter it's difficult to get a good handle on the level yeast solids in the recovered.

Awesome experiment, though. I'd love to see it done multiple times with the same methodology. Obviously it's a lot of work, but the engineer/scientist/QC guy in me wants more data!

 

[Gavin C]

I use a FG hydrometer, but it is only capable of measuring gravities under 1.020, hence the reason I used the standard hydrometer on the no-trub batch for that first

Thanks.

 

[ten80]

What about leaving beer on trub with a high hop content, such as trub from an IPA? I wonder if direct contact of yeast on a large quantity of hops would have an effect on flavor or yeast health. Any thoughts?

I tend to let a fair bit of wort trub enter my carboys and my beers turn out great, but I'm paranoid about hop material.