Trub settling tank

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

crippled1

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jan 12, 2021
Messages
30
Reaction score
12
I have decided to add an extra step in my brewing process after realizing just how much crap was getting into my fermenter.
Even though the cooled wort is wirlpooled, there is a ton of cold break still in suspension.
My goal is 3 gallons into fermenter so I wanted a vessel that would hold 4 gallons.
I finally found something that I think will work great.
Den Hartog 4 Gallon Square Rinse Tank w/5" Lid & 1-1/4" Spinweld Fitting | SPBM04-SQ5
I plan to add a spigot around the half gallon mark.
So the plan is to transfer from kettle to settling tank, then once it has all settled out, open the valve and transfer cleared wort to fermenter.
 
Seems a bit pricey. Have you thought about just adding a spigot to a 5-gallon bucket? I have tried this by transferring first to my bottling bucket. Then after a few hours I transferred into my fermenter. It worked okay, but I feel like I left behind too much liquid. Also I was not crazy about adding another step, more equipment to clean, another source for contamination, and a delay in pitching my yeast.

The biggest benefit I see for myself would be much cleaner yeast to harvest. I could use a little more headroom in my 3-gallon fermenters, but my 7-gallon fermenter has plenty. Even though I transfer quite a bit of trub into my fermenter, it will settle out below the spigot.
 
does your kettle have a spigot? just let it settle a couple-few hours and then collect your wort. You can even run that thru a screened funnel or bucket strainer to get extra clear wort...no trub
 
I have decided to add an extra step in my brewing process after realizing just how much crap was getting into my fermenter.
Even though the cooled wort is wirlpooled, there is a ton of cold break still in suspension.
My goal is 3 gallons into fermenter so I wanted a vessel that would hold 4 gallons.
I finally found something that I think will work great.
Den Hartog 4 Gallon Square Rinse Tank w/5" Lid & 1-1/4" Spinweld Fitting | SPBM04-SQ5
I plan to add a spigot around the half gallon mark.
So the plan is to transfer from kettle to settling tank, then once it has all settled out, open the valve and transfer cleared wort to fermenter.
The trub is not much different in density from the wort so it may take a long time to completely settle out. Meanwhile. any bacteria that settles onto the wort will have time to get established. Since there is no appreciable damage done to the beer from having the trub in the fermenter, a better bet would be to just dump it all into the fermenter and then siphon off the finished beer. If you want to end up with 3 gallons of beer, put in 4 gallons of wort plus trub into your fermenter. Make sure to have a few extra bottles in case you don't have to leave as much behind in the fermenter as you expect.
 
I brewed yesterday and tried this using a 3 gallon brew demon to settle the trub.
It worked great and I was able to see the trub settling.
I wanted something bigger and the 4 gallon tank will be perfect.
I am also pitching and oxygenating in the settling tank.
So it’s basically a short term fermenter.
And most importantly it will fit in my frig.
I may also use it to ferment, we’ll see.
 
I brewed yesterday and tried this using a 3 gallon brew demon to settle the trub.
It worked great and I was able to see the trub settling.
I wanted something bigger and the 4 gallon tank will be perfect.
I am also pitching and oxygenating in the settling tank.
So it’s basically a short term fermenter.
And most importantly it will fit in my frig.
I may also use it to ferment, we’ll see.
Clear wort into the fermenter does not necessarily lead to clearer beer or better taste. There is some benefit to trub in the fermenter. The question is how much.
 
I let my beer settle for awhile (1 to 2hrs) in the brew kettle with a lid on then siphon off the wort off of the break. Have not noticed any bad side effects.

I use whirfloc and most of the break has settle in about 30min but the extra time help hop particles to settle out and for the break to compact.
 
After whirlpooling in my kettle to increase the immersion chiller's efficiency, I remove the chiller and whirlpool another 3 minutes then kill the pump. I put the lid on the kettle and walk away for 1 hour, then rack almost perfectly clear wort into the fermenter with a small amount added back on purpose towards the end. There is no reason to foul up a completely separate vessel for this purpose.

Also, that's kind of what a conical fermenter is good at. Settle and dump prior to pitching.
 
I haven't worried about it too much yet. I do use a strainer sometimes when pouring to the fermenter. But so far all my ales with lots of pulp and juice from citrus or other additions, the extra stuff settles out in the fermenter. Might take 4 to 5 weeks, but the beer cleans up fine if you are patient.

If I had a valve on my boil kettle, then I think a nice little copper pot scrubber will make nice first stage filter for the bigger stuff if attached around the tube for the valve inside the boil kettle. But I haven't gotten there yet.

At bottling time it just takes minimal care to transfer without stirring up the trub. Though I was careless this last time and left a few bottles worth in the fermenter when I siphoned the beer. I probably could have filtered it.... which I've done before, but I had plenty of other beer ready to drink already.

I too would be worried about the time the wort is sitting there without yeast waiting for things to settle. But maybe not the issue I imagine it to be.
 
Last edited:
I have decided to add an extra step in my brewing process after realizing just how much crap was getting into my fermenter.
Even though the cooled wort is wirlpooled, there is a ton of cold break still in suspension.
My goal is 3 gallons into fermenter so I wanted a vessel that would hold 4 gallons.
That will be another item that has to be cleaned, stored and also a waste of cash. It looks like you are brewing small 3 gallon batches. After chilling, just put the lid on the kettle and let it sit there and settle. Put a funnel in your fermenter and carefully pour off the wort.
The trub material in the bottom will be about 1/2 gallon unless you are using a ton of hops.
 
I use a Fermzilla fermenter and was thinking about transferring the wort after cooldown to the fermenter. Let it settle out for an hour or so, close the dump valve and remove the collection jar to get rid of the trub. Sanitize the valve & jar and return it to the fermenter. Then pitch the yeast. This seems like a easy way to get rid of the trub and start the fermentation. Any thoughts? Are others doing something similar to this?
 
I don't really see why you would "need" to add another vessel to the configuration, to let things "settle" post chill. I always aim to get the yeast into the chilled wort as soon as possible. I also use a plate chiller so the cold break gets caught in there most of the time. I'm sure some gets into the fermenter as well, but it's never enough to really notice. I'm talking on batch sizes up to 12 gallons (out to keg/drinking volume).

I've added a wort strainer before the plate chiller to keep excess hop matter out of the chiller, thus preventing it from getting plugged up (works really well in the batches I've used it to date). I also use an inline oxygenation setup at the plate chiller wort outlet so that there's less steps needed once the wort is inside the fermenter. To be clear, I'm also using conical fermenters now. I dumped the yeast from both batches already and have kegged/canned the first one. I filled the keg first and the beer is really clear even a few hours later.

In the past I would put everything, including all cold break matter, into the fermenters I used. Zero issues and clear beer was had by all. IMO, the cold break is a null issue unless you make it an issue.
 
Back
Top