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In my latest batch I ended up with a stuck mash due to me mis-assembling the false bottom. To solve this, I transferred the mash to a bucket, fixed the false bottom, put the mash back in the MLT and lautered as normal.

Before transferring the mash, the wort was clear. After transferring the mash, the wort was very cloudy.

This cloudiness carried over into the boil and I ended up with the most trub-filled batch I've ever made. Normally I'll get 2-3 quarts of trub in a 6 gallon batch. In this batch I got almost 6 quarts.

Did transferring the wort cause this excessive trub? If so, how? And how could I avoid this problem in the future. (other than always assembling the false bottom correctly, obviously)

Update:

Yes, there really are two problems here: a super-cloudy wort and a trub-filled wort. They might not be related. The grist was 40% American 2-row, which is not an ingredient I normally use. Based on the massive kreusen I'm seeing in the fermenter, I'm guessing that the 2-row contributed a lot of protein to this beer.

So the 2-row probably contributed to the excessive trub in the beer as well.

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  • Did you re-circulate before you started your sparge?
    – Northern Brewer Chris
    Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 20:24
  • I did recirculate quite a few times, more than normal. The grain bed was settled enough so that the wort was free of grain bits, but the wort remained quite cloudy.
    – Hopwise
    Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 20:27
  • How long did you wait before starting the recirc. and transfer?
    – baka
    Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 21:22
  • After transferring the mash back to the MLT I began recirculation.
    – Hopwise
    Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 23:01
  • The first question to ask yourself is whether the excessive trub and the mash transfer issues are actually related. You could have gotten a batch of base malt that had a higher protein level than your used to. (If you are brewing from a sac of malt that you've brewed out of before then that's out. Ask your LHBS where you got the malt if others have reported the same thing.) Another possibility is that maybe your temp was off, and you had a significant portion of malt go through a protein rest or something like that and you didn't realize it, or big dough balls from a bad mix at the start.
    – brewchez
    Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 23:50

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This is an odd one for sure. Maybe an extended recirc would have been called for. I have been in this situation before too, but never had an excess of trub.

I don't have THE answer you are looking for, so I'll pose an answer to get the answer. There are many pro-scale brewers that mash and lauter in separate vessels. They tend to mash with a thin mash and then pump the mash from the Mash tun to a Lauter tun. This helps with overall brew-house efficiency time wise because they can start a new mash, as the first mash lauters.

I would say the answer is to shoot some emails to local breweries in your area asking them about their mash/lauter steps. Describe your problem and ask if they know the cause. You just might end up making some really good and cool connections in the process, and most pro-brewers recognize the key support that a healthy home-brewing community provides.

Sorry I don't have THE answer, but with all respect to the members of the site; I think you'll be lucky to get the real cause of that excessive trub with your lauter transfer conundrum. Kickass question though. I'd up vote 3 times if I could.

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