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  • TRUB out of the kettle

    How do you guys get your trub out of you kettle after transfer?

    I just changed brew kettles and this one has a 2.5" butterfly valve in the center of the dish bottom, Ive just started using this kettle and its trub is taking me an hour to get out of the kettle, and Im using a ton of water that I could be using in the next brew, as well as making a huge mess all over.

    I want to be able to collect the trub and throw it in the spent grains not down the drain, theres like 100 kilos of trub after a boil... That would kill my drain.

    Id like to hear if any of you more experianced brewers have a special way of getting it out faster and with less water...

    I didnt have this problem with my old brewery which has an aggitator in the kettle, this hasnt...

    thanks guys...
    www.Lervig.no

  • #2
    Michael,
    I'm afraid I probably don't qualify as more experienced, but I'll share my personal experience. Mostly though, I'm very interested in reading the replies you get, as it's something I'd like to get better at.

    In my 10bbl kettle, I've done it 2 ways: running it out the drain into strainer buckets with a modest amount of manual hosing, or climbing in and shoveling it out one bucket at a time. Usually the second is my last resort as it's hard, hot work. Typically I can get it to flow out the drain line by back flushing/priming a bit of water up the exit line, from the hose. I also do this when it's still hot.

    There's got to be easier ways though.
    Scott

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    • #3
      Wish I could help, but we always flushed it out and down the drain...

      Cheers, Tmi

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      • #4
        High pressure water cleaning unit (Karcher) which I remove the turb/hop pellets towards the discharge pipe of the kettle and a CIP return pump which pump the mess up over the spent grain in the mash tun.

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        • #5
          Now THAT's interesting... If I may ask, where do you ultimately send this mixture of trub/hops/spent grain?
          S

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          • #6
            You should be able to send it off as pig or cattle feed. It will need mixing in reasonably well though
            Cheers
            dick

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            • #7
              No Hops with Cattle Feed

              You can't mix in anything contaminated with hops into cattle or pig feed. So its good to keep it separate from your spent grain.

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              • #8
                Why is it a problem sending hops to cattle and pigs?
                How about a pipe extension on your hose with a right angle nozzle to motivate trub towards drain? Strahman makes a cool long-nozzled model with about a 30" extension. If concerned about water use, use pump to recycle rinse water from outlet of hop separator (easily homemade) back to kettle washout hose.

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                • #9
                  I have a CIP which has a return pump, Its has a 38mm entrance It may clog up though...


                  I was thinking about w bag which will let out liquids but keep soilds, ´have any of you ever seen this?
                  www.Lervig.no

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                  • #10
                    Using whole hops I had to jump the kettle with buckets, but that's not only hot it also qualifies as a confined space in America. Really tests your dedication to whole hops. With pellets, I used water to rinse out the muck to a drain. Some kettles drain easier than others. And I've always mixed hops with spent grain. Was taught by the big brewers to do it that way. And never had a problem or heard a complaint.
                    Last edited by gitchegumee; 07-05-2005, 02:07 AM.
                    Phillip Kelm--Palau Brewing Company Manager--

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                    • #11
                      Hop separator

                      What do folks use as a home made hop separator? Drill out the bottom of a few 5 gallon buckets and put a strainer bag inside?
                      S

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                      • #12
                        hops and animals

                        Maybe Straubs concern stems from reports that spent hop consumption by dogs can be fatal....not sure if that translates to cattle or hogs.

                        JackK

                        FWIW, Here are a few links:







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                        • #13
                          Hops not good for cattle

                          Think about hops compared to grain and adjuncts. Hops are like a spice while the grain and adjuncts are the "meat" of the brew. Whether you use whole hops, pellets, or extract, try some and decide if you'd want to feed that to cattle. Maybe its the acid or resins in the hops that are harmful, I really don't know.

                          Now I can't tell you exactly why but I just remember being told that its a definite no-no. Its possible that I was told that just as a preventative measure. Maybe we can get someone from the people who sponsor the hop question page to answer this one.

                          Here is a site with the breakdown of the contents of whole hops...

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                          • #14
                            A homemade hop separator is easy. Get a container, be it 5 gal bucket, galvanized animal trough, or stainless something if you are collecting wort through it. You can plumb a drain if you use a "bulkhead fitting" -plastic ones may melt depending on how much you cool the trub before washing out, they're also available in stainless from McMaster-Carr, or weld a drain on to be fancy or just cut a drain hole to the floor. Next lay some screen over the top, window screen could work, or I like the expensive food grade plastic mesh from McMaster. If you use this inline you will keep alot of hops from fouling your heat exchanger, and your yeast will be much happier. By washing out the kettle into it your septic system/ sewer will be much happier. The collected trub is great stuff for gardens.

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                            • #15
                              As far as adding spent hops to spent grain for cattle feed… no problem. I have done it with both whole hops (while only hopback amounts while the rest of the bittering additions were pellets and not recovered) and brews completely with pelletized hops and completely recovered. While hops are quite bitter spent hops are not nearly so and being well mixed with spent grain takes the edge off. I would say that recovering hops into spent grain for ruminant feed is an industry standard protocol (but then again the industry is not typically making 60BU beers with low to medium alpha hops).

                              As far as pumping trub the original poster did not specify whole cone hops or pellets. If whole cones then I believe you need a hop separator (someone let us know if they have a pump that can move whole cone hops&trub). If pellets then a properly designed centripetal pump or lobe pump will work fine. Talk to your supplier. If you are forming a nice compact trub pile then you will need to break it up with H.P. water and then pump to your grain bed. If still having troubles try pumping a little hot water directly under the pile floating it and then hit with water from the top. One final note the proteinacious and sugar portion of your trub is very high in BOD (technically higher than the hops(mostly cellulose with residual wort at this point in processing)) so if your goal is to reduce BOD get all that trub not just the hops. Hope this helps.

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