Trub or cold break?

sn00ky

sn00ky

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Hello,
In the picture attached, am I looking at just trub or is that cold break coagulation? Considering that's the bottom of a 15 gal keggle, and I only used 2.1 oz of hops, seems too much trub to me.
2017-06-22 00.39.29.png

Real reason I am asking is because i can't seem to get a nice cone after Whirlpool, so end up sucking this up with my dip tube ( tried using a racking cane as seen this time).
I know it doesn't hurt, in fact one of my best brews just so happened to be basically a ktlle dump into fermenter.
Whirlpool while chilling with CFC, 16 minutes from 200F to 70F with 7 gal batch, pump on full. Let settle after chill for 25 minites.

Comments? Advice? Random puns or pokes? All welcome!

Thanks
 
That's how mine looks at the end of chilling I just rack it all into fermentor it hasn't seemed to cause any issues. I did this with a Pilsner and it got second in a brew comp being a fairly clean beer if trub was an issue I'm sure I wouldn't have scored as well? Good luck Snooky I don't get much of a trub cone.
 
I have a screen in my kettle, I too had difficulty getting a nice cone, I do get some in my fermentors but they are conical, so I let it fall out in there, it just means I have to wash my yeast a little more. Trade one for the other, in the end as long as your having fun, and enjoying your beer, it doesn't really matter what your process is, ours are all a little different.
 
I haven't been able to form a cone since I've started using an immersion chiller. Cones form much better in hot wort than chilled wort.
 
Hmmm when I'm at home and no chill I get a great cone of crud ....using a friends 20 gal 3V system I don't get quite as clean but he uses Conicals .

As long as it drops out during ferment and you're making clean stable beers it shouldn't really matter
 
Put it all in the fermenter...it'll sort itself out just fine. I end up with much less system loss by getting everything out of the kettle and letting the fermentation/crashing process settle everything into a tight cake. More clean beer into secondary or keg that way.
I use a hop-bag because I use pellet hops and usually want to keep residue out of the yeast trub I'll re-use at the end of fermentation, but the cold-break isn't going to hurt a thing and the protein amounts to yeast nutrient while the colony is getting established.
 
sn00ky said:
Hello,
In the picture attached, am I looking at just trub or is that cold break coagulation? Considering that's the bottom of a 15 gal keggle, and I only used 2.1 oz of hops, seems too much trub to me.
View attachment 1674
Real reason I am asking is because i can't seem to get a nice cone after Whirlpool, so end up sucking this up with my dip tube ( tried using a racking cane as seen this time).
I know it doesn't hurt, in fact one of my best brews just so happened to be basically a ktlle dump into fermenter.
Whirlpool while chilling with CFC, 16 minutes from 200F to 70F with 7 gal batch, pump on full. Let settle after chill for 25 minites.

Comments? Advice? Random puns or pokes? All welcome!

Thanks
Click to expand...
Trub. Looks like egg drop soup and tastes like unsalted, cooked egg whites, which it essentially is! I just dump it in. Hop debris are a different issue but this stuff essentially tastes like nothing and, as you can see, binds pretty well to itself, meaning it will just drop out in the fermentor.
 
The heating element may be a reason why the cone doesn't develop, the heating element is an obstruction to the whirlpool. Since you cooled in the kettle, the hot break and cold break are together. The hot break is mostly hops and the cold break is mostly coagulated proteins.

As Trilaben said, it's probably not a big deal. I have also brewed Pilsner, Helles and other lighter lagers that went on to win medals and the trub (cold break) was not an issue at all. The beer was clean and smooth and the judges make no mention of any flaws that would be related to the trub.

But....I do strain out the hops as much as possible to avoid any vegetal flavors from the hops sitting so long in the fermenter.
 
Mark D Pirate said:
What kettle finings are you using ?
Your element will make getting a nice nest trub / break cone difficult
Click to expand...
I used whirlfloc, 1.5 tablets for the 7 gal batch. Yeah, element, duh. I feel the size of a whirlfloc tablet after that question!
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. No doubt I can't argue about putting it all in the fermenter, i have had the same success, thought it was by accident at the time.
I look in there (as you can see in the picture) and see such crystal clear beautiful scrumptious wort, then bury it in trub, kind of heart breaking - even if it only takes 10 mins for it to settle to bottom of fermenter!

Anyone running electric ever consider transfer back to MLT (no element) right at flameout (200F still good to help sanitize MLT), then continue whirlpool / racking from there? I may try it just for experiment, though I think my "norm" will be just dump it all in and recover as much of the nectar as possible (as J-A states, great idea).
 
sn00ky said:
I may try it just for experiment, though I think my "norm" will be just dump it all in and recover as much of the nectar as possible
Click to expand...
You'll always throw away clear wort when you rack off of the break. It's all loose and takes up a lot of room. If you want to convince yourself, just pour off the break and save it in a clear jar after you rack to the fermenter. Let it settle overnight and you'll find at least a pint of clear wort that could have been beer. And it packs even tighter under the weight of the yeast that settles out of suspension.
I get greedy and want every single glass of beer I can get out of a keg. :)
 
I have an electric set up and I leave at least 1 inch in the bottom of my brew kettle and its 20" wide but I account for it in the recipe and chalk it up as a loss but I have an elbow down 1/2" off the bottom of the kettle connected to a ball valve then a trub shield mounted onto that elbow, 2" by 2" touching the bottom so as I’m whirl-pooling I slowly let the wort out, all hops and trub cone in the middle and the trub damn blocks the sediment and not all but most hop and trub are left behind, anything else that gets in I don’t worry about, maybe a cup in a 10 gallon batch gets in and it will just drop in the bottom of the fermenter anyway, some say amino acids in the trub help the yeast anyway
 
By chance you have a picture of that setup? Seems straight forward - do you end up aerating at all if you are whirlpooling while filling fermenter?
 
if you read the article based on what I taste with my batches the more you use the saved trub and yeast the sharper tasting and dryish it gets at least with a lighter pils beer, a hoppy or dark malty would be not as noticeable
 
We transfer everything (more beer!). But we do use a hop filter between the boil kettle and the fermenter.
 
Mase said:
We transfer everything (more beer!). But we do use a hop filter between the boil kettle and the fermenter.
Click to expand...
I do the same. I put a nylon bag over the fermenter and pour.
 
I've tried the old fine mesh bag over the end of the transfer hose I found she got all blocked up didn't work. I've yet to try head firsts stainless steel scrubber on the end of the pick up just keep forgetting to pop it on there before mash in.
 
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