Pale ale - Too much trub??

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

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Dutchbrew
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Pale ale - Too much trub??

Post by Dutchbrew »

Tried to use my strainer which usually works fine but the 3oz of hops i had in the boil this time clogged my strainer when i poored it to the primary. So i got all this trub in my primary and even though i had the cap on my racking cane when i racked it to the secondary, it seems alot has racked over to my secondary also. I drank the sample i used to check the gravity once i racked and even though the beer was excellent it had an inch of sediment/trub that settled to the bottom of the cylinder that tasted like sh#*. after a week in the secondary , is this trub going to stay when i rack it to the bottling bucket and into my bottles??
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Mesa Maltworks
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Re: Pale ale - Too much trub??

Post by Mesa Maltworks »

"Tried to use my strainer which usually works fine but the 3oz of hops i had in the boil this time clogged my strainer when i poored it to the primary."

Did you whirlpool the wort and let it settle before transfer? If you did, this it was a waste of time since you are pouring the contents into the fermenter. It is the best practice to whirlpool the wort, let it settle covered for 15 minutes and siphon the wort out of the kettle (without tilting it!) or better yet from a valve on the side of the kettle. This way you will eliminate virtually all hot break trub.

The remaining sediment in your primary will mostly be cold break proteins precipitated by your irish moss addition (you are dosing Irish Moss into the boil, right?) and yeast.

The best possible practice is that once you see fermentation, transfer it again off all of this trub so it doesn't stir into the beer by convection and CO2 production. This extra step pays off big time when you condition the beer as it will settle much quicker and have a much cleaner flavor. Any yeast you are leaving behind would not be of concern because they are the least vital and viable among the population so they do you no good anyway.

When the beer hits final gravity, transfer it again off the trub for settling. If you can, place it under refrigeration as close to 32 deg. F as possible. This speeds settling, stabilizes the beer flavor by arresting all yeast action including autolysis (yeast death) and will precipitate chill haze that is caused by proteins that are invisible above 55 deg. F, but begin to break out of solution when below 50 deg. F. You have to be cautious with this practice when using lager yeast though and if your fermentations are below 60 deg. F with any yeast. If you "crash" cool beers made in this way you risk trapping diacetyl in the beer. The way you can still use this technique in these cases it to allow the beer to rise in temperature to around 62 Deg. F and then crash cool them. This will allow the yeast to re-absorb the diacetyl.

"...after a week in the secondary , is this trub going to stay when i rack it to the bottling bucket and into my bottles??"

The point is to settle to clarity, not just wait a week. Yes, the trub will settle, but it may take more time than a week with as high of a trub load as you describe. With this level of trub, you have the likelihood of carrying over vegetal flavors from hop matter into the finished beer as well as yeast autolysis flavors.

Your best bet is to rack it again, but only place your racking cane such that it is above the trub level and not sucking any of the accumulated trub into this transfer. Don't tip the vessel to collect any more beer or you will recreate the problem. Once transfered, follow my refrigeration directions and you will mitigate most of any potentially damaging effects from this trub carrover.
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trub

Post by Dutchbrew »

Ok thanks for the great info. I do have a spigot on my kettle so i will whirlpool and then drain through it next time. Sounds like I am going to need some patience though while I siphon and wait for the beer to clear. I'm looking forward to giving it a taste while i rack it the 3 time though :P.
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