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Transferring to primary

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 4:32 pm
by Broob
I've just been playing around with Beersmith and I came across something. When imputing the info about my equipment there is a section about Trub Loss - it defaulted to 1 gallon. I always thought trub was the yeast and shit left at the bottom of the primary, but in this case I think it's referring to the shit left at the bottom of the kettle after the boil. So that lead to a big question for me, am I supposed to leave something behind in the kettle while transferring to the primary? To this point I've been using my chiller in the kettle to cool to pitching temp and then pouring pretty much everything (through a fine strainer to get rid of the hops) right into the primary. Is this bad practice? How do you guys transfer to the primary? Is this where a false bottom would come in handy? Thought I was done with the rookie questions but you could write a long book about all the stuff I haven't learned yet. Any help would be appreciated.

Re: Transferring to primary

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 4:34 pm
by Jimmy
You're essentially removing the trub by running it through the strainer - so your loss to trub is basically zero.

I've stopped removing the trub and just transfer everything from the kettle into the fermenter.

Re: Transferring to primary

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 5:03 pm
by kenny10
Broob, this is a question I have been wondering too as I am learning the roaps AG and BS. I agree with jimmy if you are using a strainer. I don't and I have some wort and trub left over in the kettle...I use an immersion chiller and I get great results when moving it around during cooling (ie everything settles to the bottom). As far as having stuff left over depends on the brewer from what I have read (anyone can correct me). The more u have left the better chance of the trub not making it to the primary and thus a clearer beer. I did a brew last night and collected the amount left in the kettle to see how much trub was left so I could update this in BS. When I updated this it only decreased my water vol by that same amount (I do biab).....not sure if other vitals are affected or not.

Re: Transferring to primary

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 5:07 pm
by Jimmy
Transferring trub to the fermenter will not result in a cloudier beer.

Re: Transferring to primary

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 5:09 pm
by LeafMan66_67
Jimmy wrote:Transferring trub to the fermenter will not result in a cloudier beer.
I agree with Jimmy - Trub in fermenter doesn't affect the clarity.

Re: Transferring to primary

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 5:21 pm
by mr x
Here's some trub that settled out fine.

http://www.brewnosers.org/forums/viewto ... ?f=4&t=178" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Transferring to primary

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 5:25 pm
by Broob
Cool thanks for the quick replies. If I use a strainer then I should set my trub loss to zero? That will likely mean less sparge water.

Re: Transferring to primary

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 5:28 pm
by Jimmy
That's correct. What beersmith is doing is calculating the loss to trub, and adding that to your total water requirements to meet your target volume in fermenter. If you lose 2 liters to trub, you will need 2 extra liters of water in your calculations to meet your target fermenter volume.

Re: Transferring to primary

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:50 pm
by Keith
I dump it all into the primary. No straining, etc. It makes the brew day easier, however I do lose a fair bit of volume by doing this in the end. I've noticed in around a 15% reduction.

However now that you mentioned this. I just had to run a bottle carb calculation again on these. I used .8 a cup on 19L. Apparently I did it right the first time.

Derek. I'd place your bottle in a bag just to play it safe haha. :cheers2: I'm going to put my stacks in some garbage bags.

Re: Transferring to primary

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 2:20 pm
by Jimmy
Keith wrote:I dump it all into the primary. No straining, etc. It makes the brew day easier, however I do lose a fair bit of volume by doing this in the end. I've noticed in around a 15% reduction.
It's volume you'd be losing anyway (provided you've got enough room in your fermenter). My fermenters are big enough to hold a full 5g batch with the extra trub from the kettle, and still end up with more than enough beer to fill a keg.

Re: Transferring to primary

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 2:31 pm
by Keith
Jimmy wrote: It's volume you'd be losing anyway (provided you've got enough room in your fermenter). My fermenters are big enough to hold a full 5g batch with the extra trub from the kettle, and still end up with more than enough beer to fill a keg.
Yea I normally get 19-20L after all the trub settles out. I just fill the keg and normally dump the rest. I'm contemplating moving away from bottling all together, and saving my current bottles for when I need them. Wife would be thrilled if I stuck them out in the shed lol.