Tons of Cold break into Fermenter

[Northbanu]

Brewed my third all-grain batch last night and after running the wort into the BetterBottle fermenter, I was shocked by the amount of cold break. After it all settled it was 4 inches of the stuff.

My other two batches had nowhere near the amount of goo of this batch. Then I remembered... Previously after cooling with an immersion chiller, I waited 20 minutes or so to let stuff settle before running it into the fermenter. But this time I stirred the chiller one last time and then ran it into the the fermenter. Duh.

Not wanting to handle the cooled stuff more than I needed, I simply let it settle out and pitched the yeast. The more I thought about it, the more it bugged me. So this afternoon, while fermentation seemed to be rolling pretty good, I racked it into another freshly sanitized carboy, leaving the crud behind. My thought was that If I racked it while a decent fermentation was in progress I'd avoid oxidation, as the yeast would be happy to use any oxygen I introduced.

So my question is (finally)... Should I have racked it off or did it really not matter much? And If I should have racked it, did I pick the right time to do so?

 

[cullen]

It's my understanding that a little - or even a lot - of cold break in your wort will not particularly affect your final product.

 

[brdb]

Not sure about racking during fermentation, but anytime you rack a beer you run the risk of oxidation and the risk for infection is greater when fermentation hasn't completed due to the lower levels of alcohol. I'm not sure what you were trying to accomplish by racking the wort/beer off of the trub early because at the end of the day you probably would've ended up with more beer had you waited it out and let all the trub really compact over the course of the 1-2 weeks (that 4 inches probably would've turned into about 2 inches) and then racked it off. So no I wouldn't have racked it.

 

[Yooper]

Cold break compacts a lot- from 4 inches in the fermenter at first to about 1/4 inch or less once it compacts and settles, so there is no issue with cold break in the fermenter at all.

 

[Northbanu]

I'm not sure what you were trying to accomplish by racking the wort/beer off of the trub ....

I was trying to get it off the trub. I was more concerened about the quality of the beer (a lightly hopped ale) than the quantity (I can always make mnore beer, but I don't want to drink crappy beer). I'm not worried about oxidation, the yeast will be more than happy to take whatever oxygen I gave them at this stage. Also, I'm not worried about infection. I brew clean, and have never had an infection with several secondary rackings while dry hopping and adding fruit.

I was just surprised at the amount of cold break. In 15 or so extract batches, and 2 all grain batches, It sorta freaked me out.

 

[Northbanu]

Cold break compacts a lot- from 4 inches in the fermenter at first to about 1/4 inch or less once it compacts and settles, so there is no issue with cold break in the fermenter at all.

Ok, I guess I just panicked then. So four inches of trub after 24 hours would have been ok? I've never worried about trub before but this just seemed exessive.

 

[Yooper]

Ok, I guess I just panicked then. So four inches of trub after 24 hours would have been ok? I've never worried about trub before but this just seemed exessive.

Yes, it's ok. Cold break is really "fluffy", for lack of a better word. Even in my hydrometer sample, it looks terrible. But within an hour (in the hydrometer sampler tube), it compacts down to hardly anything in the bottom. It really does compact a lot, to a negligible amount with a bit of time.

 

[Northbanu]

Yes, it's ok.

Cool. I won't panic next time then. I'm sure I've skipped the settling after cooling bit of my brew day before but being extract batches, I never really saw that much gunk go into the fermenter.

So next I forget to let it settle (and I will, I blame it on my A.D.D) I wont get all freaked out.

 

[The_Bishop]

I use a plate chiller, so *all* of the cold break ends up in my fermenter. Hasn't been an issue at all.

 

[brdb]

I was trying to get it off the trub. I was more concerened about the quality of the beer (a lightly hopped ale) than the quantity (I can always make mnore beer, but I don't want to drink crappy beer).

Yeah the cold break won't adversely affect your beer. The only advantage I could see from not adding the cold break to the fermenter would be if you harvest yeast because the slurry would be a bit cleaner, but even that is negligible.

 

[Northbanu]

Cool. Thanks brdb and The Bishop. And thanks Yooper for helping out a "Troll".

Live and learn. Don't panic, and don't forget your towel.

 

[gregfreemyer]

As a side note, per http://morebeer.com/articles/how_yeast_use_oxygen the oxygen in the wort is used in the first 30 minutes after the pitch. I don't know at what point oxygen is bad, but I assume it is before the fermentation is complete.

 

[Foosier]

I think we need to coin a new phrase... We all know don't fear the foam (starsan). RDWHAHB. I think we need folks to "don't fear the break material." So many people get worried about it but as Yooper points out and we have all seen, it compacts down to nothing and does not affect the beer. Sure if you are washing yeast, then fear it... but not really at any other point. Remembering this can keep you from losing volume, racking during fermentation, straining during transfer and so many other steps which make things more complicated.

So I guess I am saying Don't fear the break!

To the OP, not trying to give you a hard time. It is hard to know when you should worry and when not to when you start out. I think we have all freaked out at one point or another. Just remember... Yeast make beer and have been for thousands of years. Yours will come out fine.

 

[Northbanu]

As a side note, per http://morebeer.com/articles/how_yeast_use_oxygen the oxygen in the wort is used in the first 30 minutes after the pitch. I don't know at what point oxygen is bad, but I assume it is before the fermentation is complete.

If you read the article, it supports my statement. The article states that yeast will use oxygen whenever it is available, and that yeast use up all the available oxygen in wort about 30 minutes after pitching.

Yeast's hunger for oxygen while reproducing is why stir plates are so valuable for creating starters. A stir plate keeps yeast suspended AND aerates the starting medium.

From your referenced article:

It is well-documented that yeast uses oxygen whenever it is available, even during fermentation, and yeast cells rapidly absorb essentially all of the oxygen made available to them. Yeast, however, will use the overwhelming majority (if not all) of the available oxygen in biosynthetic reactions, not for respiration.*

The dissolved oxygen levels in wort drop from saturation to near zero very quickly after pitching yeast, usually within 30 minutes under ideal conditions, because yeast absorbs the oxygen for eventual membrane biosynthesis. The oxygen enables the cells to grow much faster and to reach a higher cell density. This effect is not the result of respiration but is the result of oxygen providing the means for sterol synthesis. In the absence of sufficient preexisting wort sterols, oxygen is limiting at this point; in other words, without it, the yeast will starve.

And just to reiterate, I'd previously brewed about 17 batches of beer total over the last 2 years. This is however, only my third batch of all grain. I'd never worried about stuff from the boil getting into the fermenter, and I don't use hop bags, or go to convoluted measures to only put clear wort into the fermenter. It's just that this time the cold break was at least 4 times the amount I was used to seeing. I'm realizing now that it wasn't too much, just much more than I'd previously experienced.

I'd decided that racking off certainly wouldn't hurt, especially with an active fermentation happening, and proper sanitation.

I really only posted to find out if my measures were necessary, or to confirm what I already suspected: That the cold break was fine, and racking off wasn't really needed.

Anyway, thanks for confirming what I expected, that I just had a dumb-ass panic moment.

 

[Northbanu]

To the OP, not trying to give you a hard time. It is hard to know when you should worry and when not to when you start out. I think we have all freaked out at one point or another. Just remember... Yeast make beer and have been for thousands of years. Yours will come out fine.

I know you're not trying to give me a hard time.
And I know that had I left the wort on the cold break I would have made beer. But I'm trying to make the best beer I can make. I didn't care about the lost volume. At all. I was thinking that racking it off might have made a slightly better beer than not racking. And It wouldn't strain the yeast, and was less likely to intoduce infection than dry hopping in secondary, which I've done several times without incident.
Like I said, Live and learn.