Compacting of trub

[Saunassa]

So I made a 1 gallon smash, fermented in a one gallon jar. This was made with malt extract and I was surprised how much trub and it did not pack down like in big fermenter. Due to this I only drew off a 6 pack because I wanted clear beer.
I have not seen this doing 5 gallon batches so I am wondering if the quantity/ weight of 5 gallons of wort makes a nice compact trub/yeast cake.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I usually get 8-9 bottles from a gallon batch (all grain).
A mini auto siphon with a cap on the bottom allows me to get almost all of the clear beer into my bottling vessel.

 

[Saunassa]

I was using my mini Auto syphon but the trub in the bottom was like an inch or two tall and loose. That was after a few weeks of fermentation time.

 

[JimRausch]

Did you try cold conditioning it in a fridge for a couple days? That might help compact the layer.

 

[Saunassa]

I could have used the fridge since it was only a gallon.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Batch size does not impact flocculation. That depends mainly in the yeast....
Pick a yeast with high flocculation if you want a compact cake.
Make sure your brewing water has an adequate amount of calcium, which encourages flocculation.

Here's 5 oz of a culture. The cake is thin and very compact. It may be hard to tell from the photo but the liquid is crystal clear.

I strongly advise against cold crashing unless you have a method to prevent oxygen getting into the fermenter. Otherwise you'll have oxidized beer.
As it cools, the liquid and air shrink, creating low pressure. This causes the airlock liquid and/or air too be sucked into the fermenter, commonly called "suckback".
There are some solutions to this, like using a balloon filled with carbon dioxide.

Hope this helps.

 

[Saunassa]

Was us-05 and had floculated. Since I made this during my lunch break using DME i only did a 15 minute boil. Maybe that influenced it? When I used lme, dme and specialty grains in a pale ale I have not experienced that.