Avoiding Trub

[Rafn Homebrewery]

I am planning on making an IPA that will be shipped to a competition within my state, so I want to make a good impression. My last batch turned out great, but had some sediment within the beer, such as trub and dormant yeast. There was also a large amount of trub in the bottom of my primary fermentor. Is there any good way to avoid this?

Sincerely,
Jack

 

[Mase]

You can rack to a secondary fermenter, and are you cold crashing prior to kegging or bottling? Cold Crashing will help with flocculating the yeast and other 'floaties". And unless you are planing on filtering your beer, sediment (dormant yeast, etc.) will settle on the bottom of the bottle.

 

[J A]

If you're bottle-conditioning, you're going to have some yeast sediment...that's life. Sediment in primary won't be a problem. Whether you secondary or not, cold-crash before transferring to bottling bucket so that you're racking only clear beer. Be sure that you're chilling for as long as possible once you're confident of the carb level.
Usually the beer will be kept cold and still for a while before judging and they know how to handle it to be sure they're giving your beer the best chance at a clean, clear pour. Also, as long as the flavor is good, a slight cloudiness won't count more than a point against your overall. Appearance is 3 points total and the more important thing is carb level and head. It would have to be a real mess to be knocked very hard. If it's good beer, you'll score well. Good luck!

 

[soccerdad]

IMO secondary fermentation is rarely needed and increases a chance for either oxidation or infection. I would Cold crash the primary ahead of bottling with the understanding that there are still sufficient yeasties on hand to naturally carb in the bottle.

 

[Nosybear]

If you're looking for great clarity, rack (carefully!), then fine with gelatin or isinglass. If you can cold-store, even better: Both of the fining agents work well at cold temperatures. Bottle conditioned beer will always have some yeast at the bottom, unavoidable, and judges (I've been one) won't dock you for it.