Trub removal, is it critical to good beer?

[Silver_Is_Money]

My wort chiller is not very effective, and I do not achieve a very good break, and therefore I seem to end up with a lot of trub going into my fermenter. What improvement might I see via stepping up to an effective and efficient wort chiller, and reducing trub in my fermenter?

 

[Morrey]

I use a JaDed Hydra Immersion Chiller so that cools my wort down quickly for a good break. For trub management some say don't worry just dump it all into fermenter. I don't particularly care to do that since I want to harvest my yeast and don't want all that break material settling into my yeast cake. My first line of defense is to use a hop spider with a mesh bag like Wilser sells. For clear beers a Whirlfloc tab helps end of boil, then I use a 5G paint strainer bag from Lowes to catch much of the break materials going into fermenter.

 

[Homercidal]

First, IMO you should either try the No Chill method that some people use, or get a better chiller.

Barring that, you can also RDWHAHB and let the trub go into the fermentor.

I don't know what you use for a chiller now. I have a 20-ish foot CFC and it work ok. I'd rather have a 2-stage IC like one of the Jaded models, but that may be in the future when I get done with a few other projects.

Truth is, my anecdotal evidence, and a Xbeeriment, I believe, both conclude that putting trub into the fermentor doesn't really affect beer clarity as much as a good boil, plenty of calcium, the right yeast strain, and the right fining agent.

I believe the reason is because anything that will settle quickly in the kettle, is going to settle quickly in the fermentor (Once active fermentation is complete.) What might not settle well are the microscopic proteins and yeasts. Avoiding some adjuncts that contribute to protein haze (or even excessive dry hopping, but I wouldn't cut back just for a little haze) can help, but darn it, if you need those things to make the recipe, then you need those things to make the recipe, IMO!

Now if you really want to keep more trub out of the fermentor, I'd start by doing a chill, then allowing the wort to settle out some before siphoning into the fermentor. You will lose some of the wort because the trub won't settle compact enough to get all of the liquid off of it in a reasonable amount of time. But if you give it an hour or two, most of it should settle near the bottom and you can start siphoning at the top and work your way down. You will still get some break material, but you can avoid more of the hop debris this way.

I just don't think it's that big a deal, personally.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I don't think the trub changes the beer, however your skills at racking could be put to the test especially with dark beers fermented in a bucket. A glass carboy you can see the tip of the syphon much better. For collecting yeast, the yeast do typically settle in a layer that you can see.

 

[LostHopper]

According to Brulosophy experiments your beer shouldn't suffer but a lot of trub can affect other parts of your brewing as Morrey mentioned. I can't see that it hurts the final product if you are good at racking beer to your bottling bucket or keg.

http://brulosophy.com/2014/06/02/the-great-trub-exbeeriment-results-are-in/

Getting a good immersion chiller was one of the best brewing investments I've made for my setup and streamlining my brew day. I also use a JaDed chiller but one of their older models.

 

[Morrey]

Getting a good immersion chiller was one of the best brewing investments I've made

I cannot tell you how many times I have said the exact same thing. I was looking at my beginning IC sitting there beside the JaDed Hydra thinking what a good upgrade this was. Lots of the enjoyment of brewing (to me) regards the quality of the equipment I am using. Granted we could boil wort in a large tin can, but a good quality kettle sure makes me feel good about brewing. Guess it all depends on the excitement you have for brewing and the investment you are willing to make.

 

[Olive Drab]

I had the immersion chiller and then went to no chill overnight. I dont notice a difference at all and less risk of infection

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I had the immersion chiller and then went to no chill overnight. I dont notice a difference at all and less risk of infection

Are you merely covering your boil kettle and letting it sit overnight to cool on its own, with no active cooling?

 

[soccerdad]

Trub from kettle to fermenter is immaterial. You want it out to go to packaging though.

 

[soccerdad]

Agree with Homer. Try no-chilling .. or rather just let it cool overnight.

 

[Olive Drab]

Are you merely covering your boil kettle and letting it sit overnight to cool on its own, with no active cooling?

Yes. The kettle has a lip where the lid sits so If i wanted to get crazy I could split a tube and seal it futher with that, but its a pretty tight fit.

 

[soccerdad]

Or saran wrap the kettle top and recover with lid - but that's overkill. Just cover and walk away.