Letting the boil kettle settle

[jeffpn]

After using my immersion chiller, both the hot and the cold break are in the kettle. I pulled out the chiller, and stirred up the wort for my whirlpool. I let it sit about 20 minutes. It's a brown ale this time, but the wort looked very clear before I started to rack. I pulled probably close to half a gallon before I put the tube in the carboy. It was still very sludgy into the carboy, but I didn't want to lose any more wort. Eventually, the siphon was running crystal clear. When I got near the bottom of the kettle, I could see that no cone had formed. Has anyone ever let the wort sit in the kettle for a long period of time before racking to the fermenter? How long could I let it sit in the kettle for the trub to settle, and siphon more clear wort? I really don't want to use any sort of a strainer just yet. What if I let the wort sit in the kettle for 4 or 5 hours? Does anyone do anything like that?

 

[Nosybear]

That works, it settles most of the trub out but before you get too clean on the wort side, there's research out there that indicates some trub in the fermentor is beneficial. I really never pay any attention to how much trub I get in the wort. And using my immerson chiller I've never gotten the legendary cone of trub in the center of my kettle. I use a bazooka screen and the wort comes out fine, unless I don't have enough in the fermentor, then I dump through a screen collander.

 

[jeffpn]

I'll have to look up bazooka screen. There's a picture in Charlie P's old book where he uses a strainer in a funnel to fill his carboy. Maybe I'll end up doing that. Gotta love it. 4 hands in that picture, and 2 of them are holding beers!

 

[jeffpn]

Okay, I looked up bazooka screen. I actually have a copper one that a friend gave me a long time ago. It clogs up a lot. I rarely use it. Also, I now use an auto siphon, so it would not work in the kettle. I wonder if it would work on the other end?

 

[Nosybear]

Hard to argue with Charlie.... And I do things that way fairly often, since all the other methods just leave too much hard-earned wort behind in the kettle. With my next batch I'll start bagging my hops so less gunk to worry about there, the trub isn't so much of a factor in beer quality so I may be a certified "dumper" in the near future, at least once I've run enough out using the valve in my kettle that I can pick the kettle up!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I currently have a pretty good filtering system with 2 separate screen filters but still end up with some hops in the bottom of my fermenter, its perfectly fine, not even noticeable in the final product

the only issue would be if im saving yeast

Tri Clover Compatible Strainer/Filter
http://www.brewershardware.com/FILTER1.html
and
Hop Stopper
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/hop-stopper

 

[wolfie7873]

another vote for screen and funnel. I never mess with a whirlpool and between the ice bath and immersion chiller, things are fairly clear. If you don't disturb it much when it's time to pitch you can pour almost all of it as if you were decanting it, leaving most of the trub in the kettle. What does get through is (mostly) caught in the screen.

Added bonus - pitching through the screen works like the aerator on the faucet and helps oxygenate your beer on behalf of your yeast.

 

[jmcnamara]

the few times i've tried to run it through a funnel, the dang screen gets so clogged i end up just pouring it in the bucket anyway. maybe i need to be a bit more careful with my pouring, but when i'm so close to the end of a brew day, i just want it to be over and done with (so i can clean up and start planning the next one )

 

[UgliestLemming]

I use a bag for hops and pour everything else into the fermentor. I use gelatin fining with cold crash before kegging, and haven't had any issues.

 

[jeffpn]

Thanks for the input. I just want to clarify that when I started this thread, it wasn't beer clarity that I had in mind. It's wort loss. Even with all of the trub I get, most of my brews are pretty clear. A few are spectacularly clear.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

the only way to compact all sediment is to cold condition for at least 3 days at just above freezing, this compacts everything to the bottom leaving more liquid to pull out and I strongly agree to not disturbing even cold it will shake up some

 

[jeffpn]

I brewed a batch today. I didn't wait for any settling to occur after using my immersion chiller. Took about 8 minutes to chill to 63°. I'm very pleased with that chiller. I got a cloudy mess in my fermentor carboy. I also got more volume than I usually do. If it wasn't a lager, I'd worry about it going through the airlock. When I transfer to the secondary, I'll be very careful not to bring any sediment along. I should have more than enough to fill my 5 gallon carboy. I did buy a funnel with a strainer in it that I'll use next time I brew. I love this game!

 

[Tar and Feather'em]

I pour the whole batch into a large fine mesh hop bag then let it filter through. Works great every time, catches all the trub and hops.

 

[jeffpn]

I brewed a Scottish Ale on Sunday. I let the boil kettle settle for maybe half an hour while I washed all the things I would need to transfer the wort to the carboy. I used my autosiphon and held it off of the bottom. It looked pretty clear as it siphoned. When it got too low for the autosiphon, I pulled it out. Then I filled the strainer funnel and let it go through. It immediately clogged, so I had to constantly scrape the strainer to get the wort to dribble through.

An hour after I was done, I could see a 4" or so stack of trub at the bottom of the carboy. It looked very loose. By morning, it compacted to maybe 1/2". I was pleased to see that.

I had airlock activity within about 5 hours after filling the carboy. I was very happy to see that. The dry pitched yeast was already multiplying. There was a small cake floating on the top of the wort. By morning, it had grown considerably. There is decent airlock activity, but no flocculation yet. I started a time lapse video today. I wish I had started it last night.

I think I'm pleased with the process of straining, as long as I can siphon most of it. It would take forever to run the whole batch through that strainer.

 

[jeffpn]

Well, I did run today's whole batch (5.5 gallons) through the strainer. Took maybe 25 minutes, I don't know. The very fine stuff made it through. Time will tell if it's worth the effort. I wouldn't be surprised if it's not. I rinsed the funnel 3 times in the process.

 

[Head First]

I guess I must be a wort waster as a quart or 2 left in the leaf hops in the bottom of the kettle doesn't bother me. Leaf hops get thrown in the kettle. Pellet go in a bag. The pellet do clog my SS scratchy scrunchy placed under the drain valve pick up but the leaf hops help with the filtering. Then I attach a fine mesh hop bag on the end of the hose going into the fermentation bucket, and drain very slowly. Some fine trub still gets through and I'm good with that. In a keggle the shape is hard to get all the wort out anyway but the recipe is set so I still get 10 gallons of wort. RDWHAHB

 

[jeffpn]

I'd be thrilled if I only lost a quart or two to trub. That's the reason for this thread. I bet I lose over a gallon. I think I have a good handle on it now, as I described in my last couple posts.