brew bucket doesn't empty

[GPa Bob]

I have a 10 gal brew bucket with a stainless spout and am brewing 5 gal full volume extract brews. The last two of times I wanted to transfer into my fermentation bucket the brew didn't flow out of the spigot. How do you guys keep the trub from plugging the spigot? The last 2 brews were from Northern Brewers a chocolate milk stout and caribou slobber. It is frustrating when I want to dump the brew into my fermentation bucket and the trub seems to have blocked the spigot.

 

[SEndorf]

Can you turn the arm slightly above the trub ?

 

[MaxStout]

Are you throwing the hops directly into the kettle? A hops bag or hops spider can keep a lot of the trub out of the boil.

 

[GPa Bob]

Are you throwing the hops directly into the kettle? A hops bag or hops spider can keep a lot of the trub out of the boil.

Yes, I am. I didn't realize they would leave a lot of trub. Both extracts had a lot of hops, however. Especially the chocolate milk stout. I'll try bagging them from now on. I will add I'm considering moving on to BIAB.

 

[GPa Bob]

Can you turn the arm slightly above the trub ?

Not sure what you mean by this.

 

[KB12]

While cruising the brew bucket FAQ I ran into something saying you're supposed to have the internal racking arm aimed down when filling and maybe during a lot of fermentation. Their FAQ says 'our instructions clearly indicate the proper orientation' but I never saw this in their documentation. You're supposed to turn it upright when you start the racking.

Personally I think working this system takes a lot more 'feel' and art than I was expecting.

https://ssbrewtech.zendesk.com/hc/e...-and-I-need-to-rack-off-my-beer-what-do-I-do-

 

[yourlastchance89]

You didn't specify the exact type of fermenter but assuming it is an SS Brewtech Brew Bucket, you should ferment with the racking arm angled down, and you can rotate it come bottling time by rotating the spout clockwise. Also as stated earlier, yes dryhops added straight up can clog that bad boy.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Do you whirlpool? Even a "dumb" whirlpool (no pump, just stir and let sit) will concentrate the cold break into the center of the kettle. Just stir, let sit for 10+ minutes, then transfer via your spigot. Also, you shouldn't worry too much about quality of the beer if you DO have to transfer a lot of cold break to the fermenter. There has been a bit of work done to show that it isn't detrimental to the end product.

 

[GPa Bob]

While cruising the brew bucket FAQ I ran into something saying you're supposed to have the internal racking arm aimed down when filling and maybe during a lot of fermentation. Their FAQ says 'our instructions clearly indicate the proper orientation' but I never saw this in their documentation. You're supposed to turn it upright when you start the racking.

Personally I think working this system takes a lot more 'feel' and art than I was expecting.

https://ssbrewtech.zendesk.com/hc/e...-and-I-need-to-rack-off-my-beer-what-do-I-do-

KB12, I think this is what you mean, too. My brew bucket doesn't have a racking arm and it still got clogged. Must be the hops as Maxstout mentioned.

Yes, cactusgarrot, I do whirlpool while I am cooling to keep the temps somewhat constant. I cool by recirculating ice water through my immersion chiller and aerate with a paint stirrer run by a drill. Yes, they are only used for my brewing and they were sanitized.

 

[4of7]

Beer Troll crazy question.did you blow air into spigot to unclog? Yes it still might happen again .

 

[kiwipen]

Could the yeast be a factor? I see that both those kits recommend yeast that are highly flocculent.

Yeast and other trub can get very thick and flow slowly even trough big valves. The brew bucket valves are quite small.

 

[wepeeler]

I have a 10 gal brew bucket with a stainless spout and am brewing 5 gal full volume extract brews. The last two of times I wanted to transfer into my fermentation bucket the brew didn't flow out of the spigot. How do you guys keep the trub from plugging the spigot? The last 2 brews were from Northern Brewers a chocolate milk stout and caribou slobber. It is frustrating when I want to dump the brew into my fermentation bucket and the trub seems to have blocked the spigot.

I'm assuming you mean stainless steel kettle, not an SS Brew Bucket. The SS Brew kettle has what they call a "trub trap" which has a rubber sleeve that blocks the constant flow of hops and debris from blocking the valve and getting into your fermenter. A lot of loose hops can sometimes make it a bit tricky without a trub trap. I've used as much as 8 oz of free hop pellets and never had my valve get clogged. Using a bag or spider can help, but it does affect hop utilization. Something you can try if you don't have a trub trap is to get a good whirlpool going. By using a sanitized paddle or spoon you can swirl the wort in a giant circle to get a good vortex going. Then let it sit for 10-20 min. Most of the trub and debris will settle into the center of the kettle, making transferring a bit easier.

As stated in one of the posts above, if you have an SS Brew Bucket, that is the fermentation vessel. It has a rotating racking arm. You should start with it in the 3 or 9 clock position during fermentation, and rotate upwards when transferring to keg or bottling vessel. But I think the OP was talking about transferring wort to the fermentation bucket, after the boil.