water use

west1m

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I am still struggling with water volume into the fermenter. last batch too much this time not enough...
Anyway the big difference is last batch sat in the boil pot overnight as I had to go to work at the last minute. This time I cooled and tried to transfer to the fermenter but ended up with about 1.5 gallons of bottom stuff (not hops I used a spider).
How long after cooling is a good wait time after cooling before transferring to the fermenter to settle out the bottom stuff?
 
I transfer immediately, as I have a counter flow chiller and it goes from the kettle to the fermenter as it cools. So there isn’t any right answer for that- some cool immediately, some cool overnight, some whirlpool their cooled wort and let it settle and rack off of the trub, etc.

I’ve never had 1.5 gallons of “stuff” to throw out though! That’s a huge amount so you may want to consider not worrying about the break material as it will compact in the fermenter and you’ll have much less loss. I “lose” about two quarts total in the end (including the yeast trub).
 
I am guessing the proper name for "stuff" is trub , I kinda thought that was leftovers after frementing along with yeast.
The kettle was cooled immediately after the boil. I did try the whirlpool , all that did is mix it up. I am guessing had I sent it to the fermenter
I would have the two quarts extra trub (stuff) in the end.
 
I always make 2.5 gallon batches. 3.5 gallons in the brew pot, 3.0 gallons in the fermenter, and 2.5 gallons to the keg. I cool the wort in the keg and a lot of trub drops to the bottom. But it gets covered up with yeast as they drop out. No effect on flavor.
 
I usually transfer as soon as the wort cools to about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. And most of the time I dump the entire contents of the brew kettle into the fermenter. I do this for two reasons. One is that trub provides nutrients to yeast. I think FAN (Free Amino Nitrogen) is the primary nutrient. The other reason is that I hate to see any wort just because it's surrounded by trub. As long as I have room in the fermenter, I'll dump it all. Quicker and easier too.
 
I've got a bazooka tube in the kettle, I just chill it to 70, open the valve and let 'er run. Lose less with pellet hops than whole cones, but the cones don't get past the screen so I get a cleaner yeast cake if that matters to you.
 
Let the fermentor sort it out eh?

To the OP a whirlpool is useless if there are objects like hop spiders in the to interrupt the flow. Also you'll need to give the trub some time to draw into the center and drop down the bottom.

I try to whirlpool with my pump as I cool it works fairly well but my IC coil interrupts it mostly and I'm not concerned with that "stuff" going into the fermentor.
 
Let the fermentor sort it out eh?

To the OP a whirlpool is useless if there are objects like hop spiders in the to interrupt the flow. Also you'll need to give the trub some time to draw into the center and drop down the bottom.

I try to whirlpool with my pump as I cool it works fairly well but my IC coil interrupts it mostly and I'm not concerned with that "stuff" going into the fermentor.
 
There were no spiders blocking traffic and I used a paddle on a drill thing to spin it real good. I saw no signs of anything separating. BUT I only waited about a half an hour or so. From this conversation I guess the major consensus is just dump the whole thing to the fermenter and let it separate. I am sure I won't loose as much as I tossed from the boil kettle by not waiting over night.
 
There were no spiders blocking traffic and I used a paddle on a drill thing to spin it real good. I saw no signs of anything separating. BUT I only waited about a half an hour or so. From this conversation I guess the major consensus is just dump the whole thing to the fermenter and let it separate. I am sure I won't loose as much as I tossed from the boil kettle by not waiting over night.
Well you should see some break material for sure separating under your usually pretty clear wort especially if you used some seaweed late in the boil and if PH was in the right range. You'll see it more easily in your test sample for gravity reading that's how I guage how well the break has gone.

But yeah dont fear the truuubbb dude:).
 

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