Too much trub to take O.G. reading??

[gleemonger]

So I'm still a newbie, and just brewed up my third batch yesterday. For now I'm trying to do something different each time (that is, that involves at least a couple new processes).

My first was a super simple IPA with just LME and a few hop additions to the boil - no steeping, dry hopping or anything like that. The second was a porter, that involved some steeping. Both turned out pretty great, other than being a tad yeasty maybe. I didn't use a secondary or filter in any way. I use a 6.5 gallon plastic bucket with a spigot at the bottom. Thanks for forums like this, I'm pretty sure I know what I could've done with each of those to make them come out totally perfect (perfect as designed of course, I'm not to the stage of designing my own yet...)

The batch I just did yesterday was a Pliny the Elder clone from More Beer. I wanted to try one that had a TON of ingredients, the possibility of blowoff, dry hopping, etc etc. Brew day went pretty flawlessly except for the very end, when I noticed how much trub there really was! My first two batches kind of settled out while I was using the wort chiller, then when transferring from the kettle, which has a spigot at the bottom, it seemed to avoid a good amount of the trub. This time, though, I guess there was just so much crap floating around in the batch, even after having the chance to settle while cooling, that a ton of it got into the primary. Like I said, I don't do any sort of filtering while transferring to primary (I'm thinking I should now, at least make SOME sort of attempt if doing big ones like this).

OKAY SORRY, NOW THAT I'VE SAID ALL THAT, HERE'S THE MAIN QUESTION, WELL TWO QUESTIONS:
1. I tried to take the O.G. reading but there was so much trub floating around in the cylinder that it didn't seem like it could possibly take an accurate reading. I let it settle out for a while before taking the reading, but the trub filled up half of the cylinder. So when I dropped in the hydrometer, it seemed to pretty much rest on top of the trub. The estimated O.G. per the kit was 1.070-74, but I was getting a reading of 1.084 - no way! I had to go ahead and just pitch the yeast and start the fermentation process, so have I missed the boat on taking an accurate O.G. reading?
2. I was hoping I could at least wait an hour or two for it to settle and take a reading then, catching it before fermentation started, but then I was starting to notice that there's so much trub that it's settled well beyond the spigot on the bottom of the bucket. So the spigot is pretty much useless at this point, since it's completely submerged in gunk. There's like a gallon of trub at least at this point. It looks like it still hasn't started fermenting yet, but I don't have a wine thief, so I can't take a reading out of the top. I don't have time to go to my local homebrew store to get one either, but I do have a hardware store a block from me where I could maybe find a turkey baster. Think that would be worth it to go grab one of those and try to get an accurate O.G. reading, or just forget it? I'm pretty sure I'd need to open the top to be able to get it in there and to reach the wort...

Thanks for your help!

 

[jonnyp1980]

Did you mix it well prior to taking the reading? Did you taste it? I have a batch that read 1.091. I had to pitch more yeast to battle the abundance of sugar so I can hopefully get it down to 1.020.

 

[dwarven_stout]

You don't really need to worry about trub getting into the primary. It'll settle out and the yeast will cake down on top of it at the end of fermentation.

As far as taking a gravity reading, it's not truly necessary when brewing extract. If this was a partial mash, then it might be worthwhile, but with extract, as long as you mix the correct amounts of water and LME/DME, you will always have the right starting gravity. It might look like you don't, but that's invariably due to poor or incomplete mixing of the wort.

And yeah, get a turkey baster. I got mine from a grocery store for $1.29 or something, and it's lasted me 3 years now.

 

[jonnyp1980]

I also I use a turkey baster. It works very well just sanitize before use. Also you will get an off reading because the OG is supposed to be before yeast pitch. Perhaps someone with more experience could explain more. I'm only on my second batch.

 

[gleemonger]

Mix what, the wort in the kettle, the bucket, or the sample cylinder? I did taste it, it tasted fine, but I was of course getting lots of hop particles in my mouth, which wasn't super pleasant...

 

[amandabab]

there is nothing you can you.

Next time you brew it, take a sample before you pitch and put it in a tall hydrometer jar. Take your OG reading from the jar anytime after it settles.
this is a lost non-sterile sample, don't return it.

I have a few recipes that I have to do this. you get an accurate reading and can still pitch fast.

 

[jonnyp1980]

Mix what, the wort in the kettle, the bucket, or the sample cylinder? I did taste it, it tasted fine, but I was of course getting lots of hop particles in my mouth, which wasn't super pleasant...

After cooling the kettle to 70 degrees you pour it into your fermenting bucket then add cold tap water to top it off to 5gallons. After you stir till well mixed. Get a reading then taste your reading. Pitch yeast then cover.

 

[gleemonger]

So what would you say I did wrong here? I saw a couple comments about mixing the wort. I'm not aware of any step I left out other than maybe doing the whirlpool before transferring to primary to avoid some of the trub. I've seen plenty of people who say to not worry too much about getting the trub in there, and I'm thinking it's probably good to get some in there - but maybe not THAT much. And the fact that there was so much in my sample was pretty shocking.

Maybe run it through a strainer next time?

I did take the sample prior to pitching the yeast, but like i said, there was so much trub, that I couldn't really take a good sample. It's just your typical hydrometer cylinder - about the height of the hydrometer itself. Are there super tall ones I can get somewhere?

I don't know, I guess I won't worry about it - like you said Dwarven Stout, since it's just extract, and I know I did everything else more or less right on task, the OG should be around what they said it should be. I'll just need to get a turkey baster or something to make sure it's fermenting and doesn't get stuck, since the spigot is useless at this point.

Thanks for the quick tips!

 

[gleemonger]

After cooling the kettle to 70 degrees you pour it into your fermenting bucket then add cold tap water to top it off to 5gallons. After you stir till well mixed. Get a reading then taste your reading. Pitch yeast then cover.

Ah, topping it off, yes - that's the other thing I had to do that I didn't expect. I did a full 6 gallon boil, but I guess since it was a 90 minute boil, I really lost a lot, because I had to add about a half a gallon to top it off. I didn't mix it after I added the purified water to top off. The sample came from the bottom, via the spigot. I still haven't mixed it in fact. I don't remember reading this anywhere, but do you think I should mix after pitching the yeast? Basically, I topped it off with water, took the reading (off the bottom), then pitched the two vials of yeast (recommended because of the OG), then sealed it up...

 

[jonnyp1980]

So what would you say I did wrong here? I saw a couple comments about mixing the wort. I'm not aware of any step I left out other than maybe doing the whirlpool before transferring to primary to avoid some of the trub. I've seen plenty of people who say to not worry too much about getting the trub in there, and I'm thinking it's probably good to get some in there - but maybe not THAT much. And the fact that there was so much in my sample was pretty shocking.

Maybe run it through a strainer next time?

I did take the sample prior to pitching the yeast, but like i said, there was so much trub, that I couldn't really take a good sample. It's just your typical hydrometer cylinder - about the height of the hydrometer itself. Are there super tall ones I can get somewhere?

I don't know, I guess I won't worry about it - like you said Dwarven Stout, since it's just extract, and I know I did everything else more or less right on task, the OG should be around what they said it should be. I'll just need to get a turkey baster or something to make sure it's fermenting and doesn't get stuck, since the spigot is useless at this point.

Thanks for the quick tips!

I used a large strainer. Need two people one to pour the other to stir the strainer so it doesn't over flow. Getting an OG at this point won't happen. But if the kit says the FG will be around 1.016 at the end of your week or two take a reading once for three days. If it stays at that number You should be all set.

 

[amandabab]

Are there super tall ones I can get somewhere?

look around online for graduated cyilinders. try glass suppliers, lab supply houses.
Homebrew suppliers seem to carry less varied equipment these days.

 

[jonnyp1980]

Ah, topping it off, yes - that's the other thing I had to do that I didn't expect. I did a full 6 gallon boil, but I guess since it was a 90 minute boil, I really lost a lot, because I had to add about a half a gallon to top it off. I didn't mix it after I added the purified water to top off. The sample came from the bottom, via the spigot. I still haven't mixed it in fact. I don't remember reading this anywhere, but do you think I should mix after pitching the yeast? Basically, I topped it off with water, took the reading (off the bottom), then pitched the two vials of yeast (recommended because of the OG), then sealed it up...

Ok so if you did not mix and you took from the bottom your reading will be high it will prob be around what the recipe has like a 1.050 or something. Some people I've heard mix after yeast and some leave it ontop of the foam. I after the hard pour into the primary to introduce oxygen I pitch the yeast then stir. Just feels and sounds better to me

 

[Fid]

I would stop worrying. In the future I'd say its good idea to try to filter the hops from your boil kettle out but thats mostly just to make racking the beer easier when it comes time to move to secondary or bottle (less crap floating around to clog up your racking cane). It is also a good idea to shake your wort around in your bucket or carboy before pitching the yeast but if you didn't do it this time... its likely not going to make any difference. Once the yeast find the sugar they will start mixing everything together for you. As for the OG reading... Here's some advice from Revvy:

Hi, welcome.

You probably came here today because you just got your first kit, and you did what it said it all the books and all the forums, and you tried out your hydrometer for the very first time...and the reading makes no sense.

Yes it is important to get in the habit of using one, especially if you start brewing all grain. But when you start with extract brewing, like most of us did, the first reading can be a bit on the confusing side.

You didn't do anything wrong. In fact nothing's wrong at all.

We get this question 3-4 times every day, so you're not alone. And in reality, nothing's wrong.

It's a pretty common issue for ANYONE topping off with water in the fermenter (and that includes partial mashes, extract or all grain recipes) to have an error in reading the OG...In fact, it is actually nearly impossible to mix the wort and the top off water in a way to get an accurate OG reading...

Brewers get a low reading if they get more of the top off water than the wort, conversely they get a higher number if they grabbed more of the extract than the top off water in their sample.

RM-MN has a great analogy;



When I am doing an extract with grain recipe I make sure to stir for a minimum of 5 minutes (whipping up a froth to aerate as well) before I draw a grav sample and pitch my yeast....It really is an effort to integrate the wort with the top off water...This is a fairly common new brewer issue we get on here...unless you under or over topped off or the final volume for the kit was 5 gallons and you topped off to 5.5, then the issue, sorry to say, is "operator error"

More than likely your true OG is really what it's supposed to be. And it will mix itself fine during fermentation.

And just use the number it says in the instructions as the true OG, because it will be.

So the answer is, relax and do nothing.

Like 99% of everything else in brewing. Just relax, and everything will be fine.

 

[gleemonger]

Awesome, super glad I posted this one - lots of great stuff. Thanks for all the help!!