Feedback on first brew

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Fungus
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Feedback on first brew

Post by Fungus » Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:36 pm

Hello all,

This is my first brewing question after years of lurking!

I've brewed kits previously then got into the idea of all grain after doing a brew day at Wincle brewery in Cheshire.

Fast forward a few years, a brew day with a friends Grainfather and I've gone with a BIAB setup using a Burco 30L boiler.

This last weekend I trialed an American IPA recipe from the Greg Hughes book, scaled using the BIAB spreadsheet. Mashed at 65-66C for an hour. It had a vigorous boil for 70 mins, followed by a rapid cool back using my homemade immersion chiller (took less than 4 mins). What I was left with A huge amount of sediment in the wort. Leaving it for 10 mins or so it settled a bit, but not enough to be able to transfer any significant amount of sediment free liquor to the fermenter. So I transferred everything except a small amount at the base that looked thicker/different.

I'm trying to post a photo (!?), but my question is - is it normal to have so much sediment?

Thanks in advance

chefgage
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Re: Feedback on first brew

Post by chefgage » Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:02 am

Yes it is normal to have a lot of material in the bottom. I shouldnt worry too much about transfering any of the material to your fermenter as this will drop to the bottom of your fermenter anyway.

One other thing you could do depending on your setup is a whirlpool after chilling. Remove your chiller then stir the wort rapidly in a circle so it is spining round and round. Then stop and wait untill the wort has stopped spinning. This should bring a lot of the material into the middle in a sort of cone. This should allow you to remove less of the material. With rapid cooling like that you will see alot of cold break material floating about. I get loads of cold break floating about when transfering to the fermenter through the counterflow chiller. It looks like a lot of mashed up brains floating around in my fermenter :)

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Jim
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Re: Feedback on first brew

Post by Jim » Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:18 am

Perfectly normal. If you use whole leaf hops they help strain out some of the sediment, and as chefgage says, whirlpooling helps, as does using kettle finings such as whirlfloc tablets.

However, even if it all goes through to the fermenter, no harm will be done and it will settle out with the yeast.
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orlando
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Re: Feedback on first brew

Post by orlando » Tue Apr 10, 2018 4:07 pm

I would strongly advise kettle finings in the last 10 minutes of the boil. Don't use a whole tablet, I prefer granules so you can control the amount better. Try 1/2 a tablet in a standard 25l brew length and increase if you feel you have to. Just be patient, leave for 1/2 hour after you have removed the chiller. Whilst a little cold break going into the fermentor is little to be worried about, trub is different. This will contain stuff you do not want in the boiler, stuff like tannins and proteins that can influence flavour and clarity. Proatafloc encourages these things to combine and precipitate out when cooled. Using whole leaf hop helps to catch the trub, combine it with a good filter and you are well on the way to clear wort into the boiler with the unwanted stuff left behind.
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Meatymc
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Re: Feedback on first brew

Post by Meatymc » Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:07 pm

I use Irish Moss in the last 15 minutes and no-chill so transfer the entire boil over. All drops out in the fermenter.

Fungus
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Re: Feedback on first brew

Post by Fungus » Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:45 pm

Thanks everyone - helps calm me down :)

I used a 1/2 tablet of Protofloc at 15 mins before end of boil. And yes, the remains were very brain like!! Will give whirlpools get a go.

I've got a second boiler so I can have a look at transferring from the mash tun to the other boiler. I seem to remember the Grainfather pumped the wort back through the grain bed, so I'm assuming that the grain acts like a filter for this. So I might rig up a recirc through the BIAB which I guess will also improve my efficiency (which seemed a bit low based on the SG I achieved). Think a large colander is required in true Heath Robinson style...

Thanks for words of reassurance and will keep experimenting.

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