Whirlfloc question.

[camonick]

Hopefully this is the correct forum for this question...
I had never used whirlfloc before until I started buying ingredient kits from MoreBeer and a tablet is always included. I make 5 gallon batches and use 1/2 tablet at about 5 minutes left in the boil. I chill with an immersion chiller and can get my wort down to about 66-68° in ~15 minutes. I try to get a whirlpool started with a sanitized spoon and cover and wait about half an hour before racking to my primary. What my problem is, is that I’m not getting everything to settle out before I rack... there is about 1-2 gallons worth of goopy floating junk in the bottom of my kettle that still makes its way to my fermenter. I have done 2 BIAB batches now also with similar results. Am I using it incorrectly or do I need to wait longer before racking to primary?... it seems counterproductive to rack all that junk. I’m wanting to start reusing my yeast and would like the least amount of trub in my fermenter when primary is done. I’m thinking about leaving it out on my next few brews to see if there’s any difference in my fermenter and ultimately what I get in my glass.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Nick

 

[MaxStout]

What kind of bag are you using? A fine-mesh bag will reduce the amount of kettle trub.

 

[camonick]

What kind of bag are you using? A fine-mesh bag will reduce the amount of kettle trub.

My previous batches were extract kits with steeping grains and my two recent BIAB batches were with a wilserbrewer bag... no noticeable difference in appearance of “junk” in brew kettle. It’s a fluffy suspended material that never settles whether it’s in the brew kettle or fermenter before pitching yeast.

 

[Jag75]

I use a whole tab @15 min.

 

[camonick]

I use a whole tab @15 min.

Does everything settle to the bottom of your kettle before racking? If it does, what are you doing differently than what I describe above? Right now I’m not convinced it works. The top portion of the kettle is crystal clear but I always have to suck up the last gallon or so of wort with all that fluff in it.

 

[Jag75]

Does everything settle to the bottom of your kettle before racking? If it does, what are you doing differently than what I describe above? Right now I’m not convinced it works. The top portion of the kettle is crystal clear but I always have to suck up the last gallon or so of wort with all that fluff in it.

Yes it settles to the bottom . I do get some in the fermenter but its minimal

 

[camonick]

Until I recently decided to try reusing my yeast, it really wasn’t that big of a deal to me since it does ultimately all compact nicely with the yeast cake. My first BIAB was a cream ale and for whatever reason I ended up with very little trub in my primary and when fermentation was done I estimate that the cake on the bottom was 95% yeast. I have an Irish Red winding down right now that I had to rack a fair amount of that suspended fluff into the primary and the cake looks terrible on this batch, but I can’t tell you what was different between the 2 as far as my brew day was concerned.

 

[Jag75]

Not sure tbo. I dont use it on all my brews. If your doing extract kits its gonna have more suspended trub because you add water after to make 5 gallons. With an all grain you have a larger amount of water . That's all I can think of .

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Hopefully this is the correct forum for this question...
I had never used whirlfloc before until I started buying ingredient kits from MoreBeer and a tablet is always included. I make 5 gallon batches and use 1/2 tablet at about 5 minutes left in the boil. I chill with an immersion chiller and can get my wort down to about 66-68° in ~15 minutes. I try to get a whirlpool started with a sanitized spoon and cover and wait about half an hour before racking to my primary. What my problem is, is that I’m not getting everything to settle out before I rack... there is about 1-2 gallons worth of goopy floating junk in the bottom of my kettle that still makes its way to my fermenter. I have done 2 BIAB batches now also with similar results. Am I using it incorrectly or do I need to wait longer before racking to primary?... it seems counterproductive to rack all that junk. I’m wanting to start reusing my yeast and would like the least amount of trub in my fermenter when primary is done. I’m thinking about leaving it out on my next few brews to see if there’s any difference in my fermenter and ultimately what I get in my glass.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Nick

I use Irish moss, it is what is in whirlflock. You are getting a tab in the kit. What do your directions instruct you to do? Add the full tab at 15 minutes would be my guess. Just follow the directions.

 

[rlmiller10]

Hopefully this is the correct forum for this question...
I had never used whirlfloc before until I started buying ingredient kits from MoreBeer and a tablet is always included. I make 5 gallon batches and use 1/2 tablet at about 5 minutes left in the boil. I chill with an immersion chiller and can get my wort down to about 66-68° in ~15 minutes. I try to get a whirlpool started with a sanitized spoon and cover and wait about half an hour before racking to my primary. What my problem is, is that I’m not getting everything to settle out before I rack... there is about 1-2 gallons worth of goopy floating junk in the bottom of my kettle that still makes its way to my fermenter. I have done 2 BIAB batches now also with similar results. Am I using it incorrectly or do I need to wait longer before racking to primary?... it seems counterproductive to rack all that junk. I’m wanting to start reusing my yeast and would like the least amount of trub in my fermenter when primary is done. I’m thinking about leaving it out on my next few brews to see if there’s any difference in my fermenter and ultimately what I get in my glass.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Nick

What you are seeing is the hot break and cold break material. Don't worry about it, just let it go into the fermenter. Although it looks like a lot, it is protein which will compact in the bottom of the fermenter to almost nothing. It will not affect you saving the yeast

 

[camonick]

If your doing extract kits its gonna have more suspended trub because you add water after to make 5 gallons. With an all grain you have a larger amount of water . That's all I can think of .

I did full volume boils with all my extract kits and now I’m doing full volume mash/ boil BIAB.

I use Irish moss, it is what is in whirlflock. You are getting a tab in the kit. What do your directions instruct you to do? Add the full tab at 15 minutes would be my guess. Just follow the directions.

There is a whole tablet included with each kit and the instructions say to add 1/2 tablet for 5 gallons with 5-10 minutes remaining in the boil (which gains me 1/2 tablet for each kit). I’m moving away from kits and the last 2 brews have been AG recipes from this forum.
Either I’ll RDWHAHB and let it into the fermenter like rlmiller10 suggests or stop using it altogether.

 

[rlmiller10]

Either I’ll RDWHAHB and let it into the fermenter like rlmiller10 suggests or stop using it altogether.

If you stop using it you will find it much harder to get a nice clear beer. With all the protein still in the finished beer you will end up with protein haze. I have never noticed a taste difference but defiantly a visual one.

 

[Jag75]

Yup , what Miller said ^^^^^^^

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

If you stop using it you will find it much harder to get a nice clear beer. With all the protein still in the finished beer you will end up with protein haze. I have never noticed a taste difference but defiantly a visual one.

Agree with one additional observation I’ve made. When left out, some beer heventually clears, but who normally wants to wait that long? It all tastes good, mostly a concern if one is entering a beer in competition.