My first 5 gallon batch is giving me fits. Basically all the hops stayed suspended, fooled me into thinking there was more trub in the pot then there actually was, and now I have a lowish OG wort sitting on 3 fingers deep of trub in my primary. Can I leave it there? This recipe, Extra Pale Ale, calls for secondary time. Can I just pitch as normal and rack to secondary at the right time? Or should I get it all out of there first?
Thanks!
Gonzo
Go ahead and pitch. That trub is less than you think since its very loosely packed.
Plus, if it’s an extract kit and you did a partial boil and topped off with water it probably wasn’t mixed up, that’s why you have the low OG.
Dump it all in, add the water and pitch the yeast below 70°, all that stuff and the yeast will settle out to an inch or so.
[quote=“Glug Master”]Plus, if it’s an extract kit and you did a partial boil and topped off with water it probably wasn’t mixed up, that’s why you have the low OG.
Dump it all in, add the water and pitch the yeast below 70°, all that stuff and the yeast will settle out to an inch or so.[/quote]
Ahh. but what you don’t know is that I left almost a gallon in the brewpot. My siphon clogging with Hops fooled me into thinking I was at the trub layer, when I was not. Now I know, after doing all the research I should have done earlier, is that leaving it all in there and pitching is not a bad thing. NB’s directions would have you think different though…
So, I added about a 1/3 of a cup(all I had left from making my starter) of DME dissolved in water with some yeast nutrient(2 teaspoons in a 5+gallon batch, didn’t want to overdo it), and pitched it. It is now sitting in a corner of my Den. We shall see what transpires.
I find it much easier to just pour my wort from the brewpot directly into my primary using a food grade funnel. Sometimes I use a SS strainer if needed.
[quote=“Gonzo”]Ahh. but what you don’t know is that I left almost a gallon in the brewpot. [/quote]What was your boil volume? If you left a gallon out of a 2.5 gallon partial boil you’re going to be quite low on your OG, even with your leftover DME. If you were able to do a full boil, that wouldn’t be as bad.[quote=“Gonzo”]NB’s directions would have you think different though…
[/quote]Don’t even get me started on this :evil: Their instructions are ambiguous at best.
If you’re a new brewer doing partial boils, dump the whole thing in to your fermenter after it’s cooled and top it off to 5 gallons. Once you get a few batches under your belt you’ll begin to see where you can improve your process.
