Trub from kettle

[Gristandgrain]

Hey guys,

First time poster but a lonnng time follower and observer.

I recently brewed an all grain cream ale recipe and had an issue or at least what I believe is an issue when transferring from the brew kettle to the fermenter.

This is my second all grain batch, the first being a stout that went smooth with no issues. This time when transferring I was noticing a large amount of Trub or what I assume is proteins or something of that sort making it’s way into my fermenter from the kettle when transferring through the ball valve at the bottom of the kettle. I chilled the wort with my immersion chiller and transferred at 65 degrees. I tried to let the Trub settle but it still didn’t seem to work and now after pitching yeast and letting settle in carboy there is over 3 inches of Trub at the bottom of the fermenter which is much more then I’ve ever gotten before.

My brew day consisted of a mash at 150 for 60 min followed by a double sparge with grain temp at 170 for 10 minutes each time. Then a 60 minute boil for hop additions.

My question is, how do I get less Trub into the fermenter? Is this something that will create a slight off flavor having that much in there? Am I doing something wrong or missing something, and how can I adjust my procedures to prevent it from happening and cut the Trub down from entering the fermenter?

Thanks guys, any responses are much appreciated .

 

[mongoose33]

It'll pack down after the yeast get active and then go dormant. Don't worry about it.

You can whirlpool in the kettle to form a trub cone in the middle of the bottom and that will result in less transferred to the fermenter. You can also strain it through a sieve.

Early on, I thought it was important to get that trub out of there. Well, maybe. There's a school of thought that it's actually good for the yeast, and not a hugely important thing with which to concern yourself.

There was a Brulosophy experiment a number of years ago comparing two brews, one with a lot of trub, one without. People couldn't tell the difference in the beers. I have issues with how Brulosophy does their testing, but that aside, I decided I'd just toss all the trub in and see what difference it made for me. Answer? I couldn't see any issues at all.

 

[Gristandgrain]

Thanks for the response,

That’s what I figured, just thought Id reassure myself. Makes sense though and I appreciate the feedback!

 

[jrgtr42]

What were your hop additions? That's more of the trub than hot / hold break material.
Personally, I dump my wort in through a strainer. That removes most of the stuff out of there and also help aerate it.

 

[Gristandgrain]

Only a total of 1.5 oz that was into a hop basket so definitely not the hops. I would do that but going into a carboy the strainer is not possible. I’ve also tried through a hop bag and mesh at the end of the tubing when transferring but that doesn’t seem to stop that small of Trub for that matter. I think I’m more worried about the issue of transferring them over into the carboy and taking up room/ losing volume of actual transferable beer that would make it to the 5 gal keg. I guess I’ll have to give whirlpooling a try next time..

 

[grampamark]

I've used a piece of material cut from a paint strainer bag to line a funnel that fits in the neck of a carboy when transferring from the kettle to the fermenter. Works well for keeping much of the trub out of the fermenter but, like others have pointed out, in the long run it doesn't seem to matter how much trub goes in with the wort. Now I don't worry about it.

 

[NobleNewt]

I ran into the same problem yesterday. My 2nd BIAB brew back from a 6+ year hiatus of homebrewing. I have a bazooka screen in the kettle (left over from my last foray in brewing) but it was getting continuously clogged with trub in a moderately hopped saison as well as fine grist material and cold break.

My ultimate solution was to line my fermentation bucket with a sanitized paint strainer, pour straight from the kettle into the bucket and let the remaining wort drain off from the strainer bag. Worked fine, but in retrospect, I would line my kettle with the strainer bag during the boil and add my hop additions into it. Then I could use my ball valve as intended.