Trub/sediment

[naa10104]

Already posted in the Gluten free brewing area but did not get many responses. Thought I might get a few more here. I brew Gluten free due to Celiac disease so on this batch I used 6 lbs. of white Sorghum syrup and 1 lb. of Clover Honey along with 2 different Hops. 1 hour boil and fermented for 19 days at app. 69 degrees in a Carboy. I did hit the FG of 1.013 as indicated in the recipie. OG was 1.059, I used 11 g of Nottingham Ale Yeast. Hops were pellet style ... All the hops were placed into muslin/mesh bags before being placed in the kettle during the boil. When the wort was poured from the kettle into the carboy it was done so via a large funnel with a mesh screen. The bags were not poured into the Carboy. Is there anything else I can do to reduce the sediment/trub ? Curious if more yeast would help clean things up better, less trub etc. ?Issue I am having is what I would call excess Trub. When the fermentation was done I had a solid 3 inches of Trubb at the bottom of the Carboy. 3 inches = app. 1 gl. of wort. This prevented me from auto syphoning the last 3 inches of wort as it would have put too much Trubb/sediment into bottling bucket. Is that smount of sediment/Trubb excessive ? Is there anything I can do to reduce it ? ie. adding more yeast etc.

As always, thanks for your opinion !

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Before " When the wort was poured from the kettle into the carboy it was done so via a large funnel with a mesh screen. " was the wort cooled to at least 78F?

Will always get trub.

After cooling try filtering thru a paint strainer bag (that's NEVER been used for anything other than brewing). You will catch a LOT of trub, but there will still be a collection of trub in the primary.

 

[naa10104]

Hello,

Yes the wort was cooled to app. 75F ... the screen in the funnel is very fine and catches some solids but not much. I feel that the sediment/trub is more of a product of the fermentation process. Any way to reduce it at that stage ? Thanks !

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

We really want it to fall out and separate from the wort. The trub is made up of yeast, hops, malt, etc from the brew.

The trub is normal.

 

[McKnuckle]

The portion of trub that's avoidable is comprised of hot side solids only - hops and cold/hot break from the boil. That's the only stuff you can avoid transferring to your fermenter. Yeast is rather essential to the brewing process.

It's easy to keep hops out. Just use an appropriate stainless filter or bag in the boil. Check.

Next we have the break, which is impossible to filter effectively while transferring. Instead, find a vessel that's relatively tall for its volume, and rack the entire chilled wort into it gently (no aeration yet). Let the wort settle for a few hours, preferably in a refrigerator or cool place. The fluffy break material will flatten down dramatically, revealing clear wort above it.

Rack the clear wort with an auto-siphon into your fermenter, making sure to stop short of transferring any trub. Feel free to splash away now, because you're about to pitch the yeast.

When this is done, the clear wort that you left behind will occupy a tiny, trivial volume in the settling vessel. I have experimented by moving all of the leftovers to a small vessel, allowing it to settle again, and there is no truly recoverable wort left (see pic for one example).

Hot side trub kept out of the fermenter, with trivial volume of unrecovered wort on top:

Trub in fermenter at end of fermentation is only yeast (WY1469):

 

[naa10104]

Hello,

In the picture of the trub in the fermenter, app.how deep is the trub pictured ? Any suggestions on what container I could use to rack app. 3 gallons of chilled wort into that is tall for it's volume ? As always thanks for the advice ?

 

[McKnuckle]

Good question. It just covered the bottom. Tilting the fermenter caused it to slide over and immediately reveal the steel surface. The entire contents of what you see there did not even fill a one pint Mason jar.

Now, full disclosure, this was a one gallon batch. But this result does scale, and the point I was really trying to show was that it's essentially all yeast. Nice and clean.

I find that a very clear 3 gallon plastic carboy works well, although I wish it were taller. It's still easy to rack out of with an auto-siphon.

3 Gallon Vintage Shop Carboy

 

[naa10104]

Hello, thanks very much appreciate it.

 

[Dinadan]

Three inches is a lot more trub than I have ever had. I always get less than an inch in a six gallon Bigmouth bubbler fermenter. I have never used Sorghum syrup - maybe it has special properties that lead to trub formation.

 

[Bassman2003]

As stated, the best method is letting the cooled wort settle for at least 30 minutes before racking over to your fermenter. This can be in your boil kettle (best if possible) or by transferring to a separate holding vessel. I think it matters quite a bit to send clear wort to your fermenter even though it is easier to just let it flow.

 

[marc1]

Already posted in the Gluten free brewing area but did not get many responses. Thought I might get a few more here. I brew Gluten free due to Celiac disease so on this batch I used 6 lbs. of white Sorghum syrup and 1 lb. of Clover Honey along with 2 different Hops. 1 hour boil and fermented for 19 days at app. 69 degrees in a Carboy. I did hit the FG of 1.013 as indicated in the recipie. OG was 1.059, I used 11 g of Nottingham Ale Yeast. Hops were pellet style ... All the hops were placed into muslin/mesh bags before being placed in the kettle during the boil. When the wort was poured from the kettle into the carboy it was done so via a large funnel with a mesh screen. The bags were not poured into the Carboy. Is there anything else I can do to reduce the sediment/trub ? Curious if more yeast would help clean things up better, less trub etc. ?Issue I am having is what I would call excess Trub. When the fermentation was done I had a solid 3 inches of Trubb at the bottom of the Carboy. 3 inches = app. 1 gl. of wort. This prevented me from auto syphoning the last 3 inches of wort as it would have put too much Trubb/sediment into bottling bucket. Is that smount of sediment/Trubb excessive ? Is there anything I can do to reduce it ? ie. adding more yeast etc.

As always, thanks for your opinion !

If you consistently get ~1 gallon of trub in your fermenter with your process after fermentation is done, you can plan on that loss and make more wort to start with.

You could also try cold crashing to compact the trub layer.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Really need to determine what works for you, what works with your setup.

Some whirlpool.

Some filter.

Some do both.

I have a strainer in my brew kettle. I also filter thru a nylon paint strainer bag (that's never been used for anything except straining wort). Between the 2 (the kettle strainer and the paint strainer bag) I probably eliminate most of the trub in the primary. Most, but not 100%.

What works for me may not work for others. What eventually works for you, may not work for me. Experiment and find what works for you.

 

[Beermeister32]

I typically build the recipe one gallon larger than needed. That way you transfer the first clear 5 gallons into the fermentor. The last gallon has the majority of the kettle trub. You can ferment it separately, use it for experiments or starters. The gallon jug will provide about 5 beers once clarified. Sometimes good, sometimes weird, but always beer!

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Yes, recipes are created on final (bottling or kegging) volume. More goes into the primary accounting for loss.

 

[JimRausch]

You could also try cold crashing to compact the trub layer.

Agreed. I'll bet if you chill that product between 33-40 for 3-5 days before packaging, the trub layer will compact down to an inch or so.

 

[naa10104]

Got it ... thanks all for the info.

Steve