Dumping trub from conical

[ManseMasher]

Using a conical for the first time. What are people's thoughts on when you should dump the trub? I've seen everything from 30 minutes after transferring from copper to fermenter to 10 days?!

[orlando]

Using a conical for the first time. What are people's thoughts on when you should dump the trub? I've seen everything from 30 minutes after transferring from copper to fermenter to 10 days?!

My take is it depends on whether you are going to harvest the yeast or not. If you are I would let everything settle for 1/2 hour or so then dump, pitch yeast and away you go. If you are of the school that thinks a little bit of cold break is good for the yeast then don't bother.

[ManseMasher]

Using a conical for the first time. What are people's thoughts on when you should dump the trub? I've seen everything from 30 minutes after transferring from copper to fermenter to 10 days?!

My take is it depends on whether you are going to harvest the yeast or not. If you are I would let everything settle for 1/2 hour or so then dump, pitch yeast and away you go. If you are of the school that thinks a little bit of cold break is good for the yeast then don't bother.

I won't he harvesting the yeast from this brew. I just drained off some trub and it came out like toothpaste at the start. If I want to harvest in the future then I think I'll drain after thirty minutes, then pitch the yeast after that - see how it goes from there.

[guypettigrew]

I won't he harvesting the yeast from this brew. I just drained off some trub and it came out like toothpaste at the start. If I want to harvest in the future then I think I'll drain after thirty minutes, then pitch the yeast after that - see how it goes from there.

Seems like a lot of trub. And weird it's like toothpaste!

Do you use a plate chiller? Or pelleted hops? Otherwise I'm not sure how this much trub can get through.

I chill in the boiler and use whole cone hops. The wort from the boiler is always really clear.

Guy

[Chug]

Did it get thinner after draining off a bit of the toothpaste? with a conical the densest material will settle to the very bottom but it should soon run thinner.

[ManseMasher]

It certainly got thinner, quite quickly. I pulled off maybe 1/2 a litre before I started to get wort. I'm guessing it was compacted due to the volume of liquid above it...

[ManseMasher]

This is my second dump, prompted by when I took a sample in the hydrometer jar it had trub in it! Moved the racking arm to vertical, opened the bottom valve and this is what I got - consistency of whipped cream. I can see how easy it is going to be to harvest yeast next time around.

[GarethHW]

Sounds like your conical had a bit of constipation. Glad to hear the second dump was of a better consistency.

[ManseMasher]

Vindaloo brew next time around should sort that out then - perhaps a lower temperature around the bottom dump valve will be required though....or chilled starsan....

[ManseMasher]

Third dump - definitely a Mr Whippy.....

[npg]

I tend not to worry about cold trub but do a quick dump 3 days after pitching. For highly flocculating yeasts I tend to do two more dumps. Leaving it for too long can make it a difficult job as you've found out. It depends on your valve design and thickness though.

[ManseMasher]

A picture of my third dump! There are little volcanoes appearing where it is still fermenting. Happy with the colour, and it is clearing nicely. Dry hopping tomorrow....

[npg]

A picture of my third dump! There are little volcanoes appearing where it is still fermenting. Happy with the colour, and it is clearing nicely. Dry hopping tomorrow....

Do you intend to keep it?

If yes then the method I learned was to keep it under wort as of day 3.

A tried and tested method is to keep it under wort (preferably hopped) at 10% (10 deg Plato) at 3C. It will continue to ferment, albeit at slow pace, and keep it fresh for another 14 days. I'm sure they are other methods too. This method is described in a Bavarian textbook of mine. Since we learned yeast management from the Brits (late 19th century) I wouldn't be surprised to hear about other, equally effective methods here

[ManseMasher]

Not keeping this one as it was only dried yeast and I didn't bother sanitising the jar. If I use liquid or more expensive yeasts then I will harvest, but tbh I can't see me using liquid as my brew size calls for 4 vials, which makes for an expensive brew day!

[Chug]

But you'll only need to buy em for the first brew then you can harvest em.