Innkeeper Ale and trub

Hey all! I just bottled a 5 gal batch of Innkeeper today…first, let me say it tased awesome even right out of the fermenter…I think I’m really gonna’ enjoy this one. However…there was a LOT of trub with this beer (it was extract). I noticed it in the brew kettle when I brewed…in the fermenter…and even more than usual got into the bottling bucket and ended up plugging my bottling wand before I was finished! I’ve never seen a beer so heavy with trub…anyone else noticed this with Innkeeper…or was mine an anomoly?

Happy Brewing to All! :cheers:

We used hop socks for ours, and it turned out beautiful. Probably our cleanest beer to date.

Three ounces of hops will create a ton of trub loose though, so thats probably the situation.

As Taypo said, with three hop additions you will have a quite a bit of trub from the kettle. Either use a strainer to separate or practice your siphoning :slight_smile: I’ve done this kit many times and don’t notice any trub in the bottles. Do you have the ability to cold crash? Getting the beer down to near freezing for a couple of days after fermentation will help drop out a lot of crud still in the beer.

I can’t help but laugh. I’m a new brewer and just bottled the Innkeeper Wed of last week. It was my 4th batch. Before that my yeast strains went as such:

Thames Valley
05
05
the Innkeeper dry yeast option - Danstar Nottingham Ale

I know this doesn’t really have anything to do with your question but the first three yeast cakes were soft and sludgy in appearance and consistency. I had to hold the auto siphon up off the cakes so as to not transfer a bunch of crap to the bottling bucket, but when I was transferring my Innkeeper I was surprised at the fact I just dropped the auto siphon down into the bottom of the bucket and didn’t get a lot of junk. Clear as a whistle.

When I got all the beer out I realized that the Danstar Nottingham Ale yeast produced a different kind of cake than the first 3 beers. It seemed almost hard, and even when tipping the bucket to get those last drops of beer out, it didn’t ‘run’ towards the low side. It also looked like a bunch of bumps with holes in them. Reminded me of barnacles on a pier piling or something. It washed out fine but I actually liked the way it was somewhat stiff and hard (please no 'that’s what she said jokes… ha)

So anyway, that’s my Innkeeper story. Going to let her go till this coming weekend in the bottle before tasting her. Hope it turns out as well as most people say. Seems to be a popular kit.

As far as trub is concerned, after cooling to 80 degrees I pour my wort straight into the fermenting bucket that has a sanitized 5 gallon paint strainer in it. That helps to aerate the wort as well as get rid of all the crap I don’t want in there. I guess it’s a personal decision as some may like to ferment with all the trub from the boil.

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On another note, this beer is ready quick if its fermented correctly. We only did 10 days in primary before we got a consistent FG, so we went with a quick three day over gelatin. Carbed it on the light side (2 ounces of Corn Sugar) and bottled. A week later, the test bottle tasted so good my wife and I ended up knocking down 8 of them while grilling. Refreshing, citrusy (used West Yorkshire yeast) and light. One of my favorites so far - this is going to be brewed a lot in the warm months.

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I’ve brewed the Inn Keeper twice now, and like all the beers with more than a couple of ounces of hops, it did have a lot of trub. One trick I’ve learned after cooling the wort is to use my stirring spoon, and get a real wicked whirlpool going in the pot. This will actually deposit most of the trub into a nice mound in the middle of the pot. Then, I’ve used an auto-syphon (on the edge of the pot), into a funnel with the strainer in. Sure, you have to stop the flow a few times to dump the trub from the strainer, but it really works to keep all that unwanted stuff from the fermenter. Well, for me, anyway. Just my 2 cents.

Paul

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Just did my first BIAB a week ago (Innkeeper). Minus some newb hiccups I think it will turn out ok.

I have it fermenting in a 5 gal bucket in a round igloo with a water bath to keep temp down. Any tricks to auto siphon a sample for FG check without removing lid? Airlock hole is pretty small. Always terrified of oxidation/contamination after so much work.

Also, did anyone bottle straight after two weeks or let it go for a couple more? Should this one be bottled quickly? Thanks.

This kit is kind of what I had minus the book and whatever is in those little bottles. But basically a hydrometer, a column and a wine thief, which came segmented in three parts.

You could carefully crack the lid on the bucket, and use the wine thief to fill the hydrometer column. Never needed a racking cane or auto siphon for that function.

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Cool thanks!! I will have to check this out. I guess there’s nothing I can feed through the airlock hole to draw a sample, is there.

Probably, but I am not aware of what that might be. As long as you have a nice layer of CO2 in place, you should have minimal risk with a wine thief.

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Good to know! Thanks, can’t wait to try it out

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Take out the air lock slip your racking cane down in put your thumb over the end and withdraw with some beer into a taster. Sanitize the cane of course

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Wow thanks man! That sounds like a sound plan. Non intrusive, sanitary, and effective. I like it

Well, for reasons beyond my control, beer still sitting in primary coming up on 6 weeks. Checking gravity for first time tonight and bottling this weekend. Kept at a near constant 68F. No real questions here I guess, just an update. Can’t do much about anything now, just crossing fingers.

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I am sure it will be excellent… You certainly didn’t rush it! :stuck_out_tongue:

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Haha true! And it’s my first ferment that’s actually been at a relatively stable temp the whole time

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Lagering never hurts. Wish I had your patience

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My plan was really to get it bottled in the recommended two weeks to see how it would go. Oh well

So if it sits a wee bit longer, just some more stuff settles out of it… no way to carefully put it in the fridge? Remove the little trap gizmo off the air locker.
Sneezles61

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Man I wish! I really need a separate fridge, mine is so packed right now. Maybe in the future tho. Gravity test puts it at 1.008, og was 1.037 so 3.81%. Definitley the lightest beer I’ve ever made, but tasty and clear! Bottling commencing on Saturday, I can’t imagine it will progress any further but will still double check.

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