Channeling when dumping yeast

[brewdaytoday]

How difficult is it to prevent channeling of beer through the yeast bed when dumping yeast on a stainless steel conical (10-15 gal)?

I'd like to cold crash and then dump nearly all the yeast and lose nearly no beer. Is this a struggle?

 

[odie]

ummm...isn't that why conicals are ummm "conical"?

 

[sicktght311]

ummm...isn't that why conicals are ummm "conical"?

Lol you'd think, but OP is correct. If you dump too quickly, you can actually punch a hole in the yeast bed at the bottom of the conical and the stuff on the sides sticks.

OP, just dump slowly. It should squeeze out slowly like a tube of toothpaste

 

[odie]

tap on the sides?

 

[sicktght311]

tap on the sides?

If its cold crashed, it can take a bit of time to resettle again to get a good flow without wasting beer

 

[odie]

should dump before cold crash...if the yeast is finished, 99% will already be at the bottom. dump then crash to settle out the "stragglers" who should all collect at the valve for a second dump.

 

[pvpeacock]

Also, try dumping until you get liquid and then stop and let it settle. Over time, the yeast/trub on the sides will settle to the bottom. You can then dump again until you get liquid. This may require a few dumps. As long as you can get the yeast/trub at the bottom of the conical below the level of your dip tube, you are good and can transfer clear beer to your keg.

 

[Brooothru]

Lol you'd think, but OP is correct. If you dump too quickly, you can actually punch a hole in the yeast bed at the bottom of the conical and the stuff on the sides sticks.

OP, just dump slowly. It should squeeze out slowly like a tube of toothpaste

Recently I've been pressure transferring to a serving keg before harvesting yeast. Usually my batch size is slightly above 6 gallons, so I can leave the racking cane arm nearly vertical after cold crashing and still get a full 5 gallon keg of clear beer. I was losing at least a gallon by blowing through the yeast cake anyway, so this method gets me the same volume of finished beer. Difference is, it's clearer with negligible yeast/trub ending up in the serving keg.

After the keg is transferred, I swirl the remainder in the conical to loosen and resuspend everything that's left behind. Then I dump and crash the trub/yeast/beer and recover the yeast harvest. Works quite well.

I'll add that I'm not worried much about off-flavors or autolysis. I do a small trub dump an hour or so after transferring from the BV to the fermenter. I chill the wort to slightly below target fermentation temperature which settles out a lot of the gunk from the boil. Then I pitch yeast and oxygenate, followed by a single stage primary fermentation to final gravity completion, normally 7-10 days for ales and 10-14 days for lagers. Then spund, crash, transfer and serve very clear beer in a shorter amount of time.

 

[Jag75]

Dumping / harvesting yeast is one thing ive not been able to do . Ive tried longer hoses , a little pressure , a lot of pressure, dumping at 70f , dumping at 40f and nothing works for me . Beer always blows through.

I use a Cf5 and can't get it . I may try leaving about 1/2 gallon of beer , swirl then crash .