Trub Dump Issue

[ace0005]

I sincerely do not know that the F is wrong with me. Really could use advise of trub dump. I ferment, stuff settles.... sight glass is full of trub. I dumb the trub, but the sight glass never goes clear unless i dump more beer than i'm willing to part with. Am I alone here.... or am i doing something wrong? I'm dealing with a 12 gallon batch of my chocolate oatmeal stout... in my SS brewing 1/2 bbl conical. It has settled for 1 week, fermented (tastes delicious). I'm happy with the turnout, just cant seem to dump trub like the youtube pros.

 

[hotbeer]

What do you have connected below your sight glass?

Unless you are willing to flush a gallon of beer along with the trub, then you need to have a narrower connection to prevent the beer above from rushing passed all the slower moving trub.

A simple hose barb connection will work. I'm also assuming you are using a conical FV of some sort. Though I also have a reducer segment in between the hose barb fitting.

I still have to dump multiple times though with the little 3 gallon FV I use. Sometimes I only get a small amount of trub before the beer begins to flow passed the trub.

 

[ace0005]

What do you have connected below your sight glass?

Unless you are willing to flush a gallon of beer along with the trub, then you need to have a narrower connection to prevent the beer above from rushing passed all the slower moving trub.

A simple hose barb connection will work. I'm also assuming you are using a conical FV of some sort.

I still have to dump multiple times though with the little 3 gallon FV I use. Sometimes I only get a small amount of trub before the beer begins to flow passed the trub.

Wow, so much easier to type when I'm not drunk! it is a conical fermenter. i put a restricter that reduces my 1.5" port to 1/2 inch.... I open the valve just enough to get things moving, and trub does come out. I guess my issues is I want to see a clear sight glass, like the youtube videos, but that is never the case. The videos always seem to get it done in one shot. Maybe I'm asking too much from the beer gods?!

 

[Dland]

I don't have a sight glass, just a 1.5 inch triclamp elbow at bottom. But I suspect that some of the solids stick to sides, so your trub dumps are probably successful, there is just some left behind. Anything in site glass is below racking port right? so it is not going to get in your finished beer.

If you're worried about it, try doing a second dump a few days later, and more solids will have accumulated.

For what it's worth, my conical has no restricter, just 1.5 inch elbow and then large butterfly valve.

 

[ace0005]

I don't have a sight glass, just a 1.5 inch triclamp elbow at bottom. But I suspect that some of the solids stick to sides, so your trub dumps are probably successful, there is just some left behind. Anything in site glass is below racking port right? so it is not going to get in your finished beer.

Yes, it is below the racking port. I'm really splitting hairs with this whole issue, but I try to make sure I'm doing things properly since I see this "hobby" becoming my retirement job.

 

[hotbeer]

I guess another question is whether you've waited long enough for the trub to be compacted somewhat. It should come out almost as thick as toothpaste. I do my dumps with the main valve between the FV and sight glass open and all the weight of the beer pushing on the trub.

 

[ace0005]

I guess another question is whether you've waited long enough for the trub to be compacted somewhat. It should come out almost as thick as toothpaste. I do my dumps with the valve open and all the weight of the beer pushing on the trub.

It's been settling for a week. I didn't cold crash it before dumping, but it was definitely like tooth paste. I think I'm going to cold crash and try again to see what happens. Afterall, I brewed a 12 gallon batch with a 10 gallon target anticipating losing some beer!

 

[Dland]

I never cold crash before dumping, I rack to kegs with a little fermentation left to go to naturally carbonate via "spunding". Right now I'm on my 10th batch with the same pitch of yeast in same sealed conical, so solids management and trub dumps are important. But it is not that complicated, and there is more than one way to make good beer.

 

[SonomaBrewer]

I like to soft crash to 60, dry hop at that temp x 2 days.

 

[hotbeer]

I didn't cold crash it before dumping

I don't ever cold crash. I don't think that's important to the dumping process itself. Cold crashing AFAIK is more just for causing the yeast and other stuff to fall out of suspension faster so you can bottle sooner.

So if your trub was as thick as toothpaste, then maybe it's just you need to be more patient and do multiple small dumps till the sight glass is as empty as you'd like it.

I have the butterfly valve above the sight glass. A reducer below the sight glass with a 1/2" hose barb attachment. And a pinch clamp on a 6" length of tubing. I leave the butterfly open or slightly open as I'm currently trying to figure out what works best. Then I'll open the pinch clamp to let the trub out until the beer pushes through. Sometimes all I get is one little... turd, for lack of a better description. And it takes me a half dozen or so drops about a day apart to get it all out.

You can get clear beer and all the trub out if you are patient enough with small victories.

 

[k-daddy]

I like to soft crash to 60, dry hop at that temp x 2 days.

Are you using a conical and, if so, do you recirculate the hops? I've been dry hopping at 58-60F and believe that left alone, the hops will quickly settle to the bottom cone, restricting hop utilization. I currently recirculate for 5 minutes, once per day for 2 days before cold crashing but would consider eliminating the recirculation step if there was supporting evidence. There are several papers/articles regarding the benefits of recirculation but thought I'd ask to see if you have any additional insight you could share. Thanks.

 

[SonomaBrewer]

Yea, I soft crash to 60 to drop out more of the yeast and create a greater mass to dump from my conical, and also because I like the hop oils extracted better at this temp. Have read and thought about recirc but just another way for things to go wrong .. O2, infection, clogging, etc. So can't speak from any experience with that process.

I do sometimes bubble CO2 up from the dump port to "rouse" dry hops but typically just shake the fermenter in circles to circulate worts around hops. Even when they layer down at the bottom (valve closed), I suspect hop compounds still extracted -- not sure they need to be suspended in the wort.

 

[k-daddy]

Yea, I soft crash to 60 to drop out more of the yeast and create a greater mass to dump from my conical, and also because I like the hop oils extracted better at this temp. Have read and thought about recirc but just another way for things to go wrong .. O2, infection, clogging, etc. So can't speak from any experience with that process.

I do sometimes bubble CO2 up from the dump port to "rouse" dry hops but typically just shake the fermenter in circles to circulate worts around hops. Even when they layer down at the bottom (valve closed), I suspect hop compounds still extracted -- not sure they need to be suspended in the wort.

Thanks for your reply. I’ve tried co2 hop rousing as well but concerned about purging all that hop aroma out of the conical. I ferment under about 10 psi, have a short path from the racking arm (beer out) through the pump (Topsflo TD-5) to the dump port (beer in), I purge the line with co2 and use tubing with low o2 permeability so I’m fairly confident that I’m keeping o2 to a bare minimum. I also give enough time after the hop drop to allow sufficient breakdown of the pellets before circulation to avoid clogging. It’s just another step in the process that I’d gladly omit if there was sufficient evidence to do so. I can’t help but feel that hop utilization is diminished when they quickly settle in the cone during a cool dry hop. The quest for better beer seems an ongoing work in progress.