"trub"

[bigvalen]

I brewed an all grain version of a Belgian triple today,and got to try my new chilling coil. For the first time, I got it from boiling to 30C in 15 mins or so. I also used a half of a whirlfloc tablet for the first time.

Usually, I pour the cool wort into the fermenter, sieving out hops. This time, I noticed loads of crap flocculates toward the bottom. It was on top of the hops, taking up maybe a quarter of the boiler.

So... A) what is that ? Proteins, I assume.
          B) how much do Iet get sucked into the fermenter?
          C) what happens when too much gets in ?
          D) how much wort is lost between boiler and fermenter, usually ?

[Alex Lawes]

Hi bigvalen,

Yep, that's the cold break. Made up of protein and hopefully not flour from your mash.

A) what is that ? Proteins, I assume.

It's made up of coagulated proteins, polyphenols and lipids.

B) how much do let get sucked into the fermenter?  C) what happens when too much gets in ?

None if possible. It affects lots of things like head retention, beer clarity, mouthfeel and bitterness.
Your yeast needs a small amount, but rather than worry about that, I'd recommend keeping as much of it out as possible and consider using some yeast nutrient like zinc to help your yeast.
What you'll notice the most about leaving it in is serious chill haze.

D) how much wort is lost between boiler and fermenter, usually ?

I never really know how much liquid is amongst the trub but it takes up about to the 5L mark with all the hop trub at the bottom of my kettle. the more you keep it out, the better and cleaner your beer will taste.

I hope this helps.

BTW i hope you're not pitching your yeast at 30 degrees. Even with Belgians, it's important to start at the 17-20 mark and let the temp climb over the fermentation. 30 is an absolute max but most Belgian breweries wouldn't go above 27.

Let me know how you get on!

[bigvalen]

It dropped to 30C with the chiller, so I brought it down a good bit lower, by leaving a meter of fall from the siphon to the fermenter, seems I pitched at 24C. It was happily bubbling away this morning. So, the only (small) screwup I made was to bring in some of the protein I worked so hard *not* to get. Are there any tips to make the trub....compact more ? I can't help feeling a centerfuge would have been nice!

With the new price of water, I think I'm going to invest in a counterflow chiller, and bring the water in through the old coil which I'll put in a bucket of ice. In summer, when the mains water seems to be 18C, its hard to get lower than 30C without a lot of spend.

I was most amused to find that the turkey frier I inherited has come in very handy as a boiler :-)

[Alex Lawes]

Yep. The way i do it is cool as normal with your heat exchanger. While that's going on, sterilise 2 fermenters, your siphon and your paddle.
When the kettle has cooled take out the chiller. Then pour the whole mix into one of the FV's.
With your sterilised paddle spin the whole mix hard for about 5 minutes and let it spin away. Put on the sterile lid and let it settle for about 20 mins.
You'll have then created a whirlpool. From that you can siphon off the clear wort into that second FV and yer done! Lovely clear wort that a professional brewery would be jealous of.

[biertourist]

Nice, Alex nailed it!
(Even though many homebrewers online will tell you that Trub isn't a problem; they're wrong.)

I really found I got a LOT of fusol alcohols and general "burniness" with my beers when transferring most of the trub.  Some of the literature that gets quoted says that some trub is good for yeast health, but it's quoting teeny tiny amounts; amounts that would appear to be clear. The problem is really breweries that filter out or centerfuge out basically all of the trub.


For an easy whirlpool at home while chilling this is what I started doing: Attach my plastic mash paddle to my cordless electric drill (ratchet it down hard), then just pull the trigger and get a HUGE whirlpool going while I chill. -Dramatically takes time off the chilling and gets you a bit of a trub / hop pellet pile in the center.


Adam

[delzep]

Yep. The way i do it is cool as normal with your heat exchanger. While that's going on, sterilise 2 fermenters, your siphon and your paddle.
When the kettle has cooled take out the chiller. Then pour the whole mix into one of the FV's.
With your sterilised paddle spin the whole mix hard for about 5 minutes and let it spin away. Put on the sterile lid and let it settle for about 20 mins.
You'll have then created a whirlpool. From that you can siphon off the clear wort into that second FV and yer done! Lovely clear wort that a professional brewery would be jealous of.

How well does this work with leaf hops?

[Alex Lawes]

Works grand. Only problem is that they don't compact down as well as pellet trub.
Depends on how hoppy your beer is.