Trub Removal and the Elusive Trub Cone

A Clean Beer is a Good Beer

So, you've formulated you killer recipe, you've mashed to utter perfection, boiled and added your hops with the greatest of planning, and cooled that wort quicker than a jackrabbit on a date. All that left now is to get separate your brew from some of the hotbreak and hops floating around and introduce your creation to some yeast.

Why bother to get rid of the trub at all? According to Brewing Techniques : "Effective removal of hot trub before fermentation is critical because the trub can smear the yeast's cell walls, impeding the transport of substances in and out of the cell, which can lead to head retention problems, poor flavor stability, and harsh bitterness in the palate of the beer."

Easier Said than Done

You may have read that the simplest way to get rid of the trub is to stir your cooled wort and create a whirlpool action in your kettle that will cause the trub to 'pile up' in the center. Then, you should be able to siphon or otherwise drain your relatively trub-free beer.

I have to say that, personally, I have tried this method and have had limited suceess. I posed this question to the BrewBoard message boards and got some good advice and replies. I encourage you to read the entire thread, but the basics involve making a steady whirlpool, and letting is settle for 15+ min. Here are a couple of pics of folks who were successful in making the trub cone :

Well, there's proof, it's certainly possible. Try this technique and see if you can match these beauties.