Long brew day and some observations

[FedoraDave]

So I brewed the Pearly Pils yesterday. At least seven hours from preliminary washing to putting the last items away. Did seven gallons initially, due to the extended boil time for the pilsner malt. Got at least 5.5 gallons total. Maybe six, although there's a lot of solid material in there right now.

And that's just one of my observations. I noticed a lot of material swirling around in the pot during the boil. It took a long time to get boiling, and I didn't really have much of a hot break (I was watching like a hawk, because my brewpot is 8 gallons, and a vigorous hot break would need to be attended to immediately to avoid boilover).

I also couldn't chill my wort down to ideal pitching temp for a lager. Even with an immersion chiller and an ice bath, after 20 minutes, the best I could do was get it down to the mid-60s. I went ahead and pitched the yeast and put it in the fridge, and in about four hours, it was around 60 degrees, and starting to perk. Eight hours later, it was even cooler, and the solid material had drifted to the bottom of the carboy, and there was regular bubbling through the airlock. This morning, I checked it at 6:00 and there's krausen and slow but regular airlock activity.

There seems to be enough solid crap in the bottom of the carboy to take up a full gallon; at least it seems to come up to the gallon mark on the carboy. I know most, if not all of this will settle out, and I intend to rack to a secondary for a dry hop and cold crash before bottling anyway. But I just get a little frustrated. When I'm racking from the brewpot, I'm very pleased to see the color and clarity in the siphon tube, and then it picks up all this hot/cold break material. I've mentioned before that I intend for this to be a competition entry, and that I want it to be as clear as I can make it, and I guess that's why I'm obsessing over it.

[Inkleg]

Relax and breath Sensei, all will be well. Your children's, children will hear songs of this wonderful beer sung through out the land.

[russki]

Dave,

I think you're forgetting the main mantra - RDWHAHB! To address your concerns, here are my experiences with Pilsner Malt, chilling, and trub:

- Pilsner Malt is very high in protein content and tends to generate a lot more break material; I have even seen what looks like clumps of cottage cheese when chilling wort.
- When I brew lagers, I only chill them to the low-60s, pitch yeast, and place them in the fermentation fridge set at 50F. Never had any issues with the yeast starting, or any off-flavors. My lagers are as clean as can be.
- Kettle trub - I know it may look like a ton, but the reality is that it will completely settle out during fermentation, leaving your beer nice and clear.

With my old electric turkey fryer, I would end up with a ton of kettle trub, and perfectly clear beer that did really well in competitions. Lagering process makes sure of that - just allow the beer to lager for a while as close as you can get to 32F after the D-rest, and you'll be able to read through it!

I think you'll have a winner on your hands!

[BlackDuck]

Dave...Russki is right on about the proteins from the Pilsner. My Sapphire Pilsner I did last week was really cloudy, in fact it still is. But time is a lager's best friend. It will fall to the bottom and you'll get a good clear beer, especially if your planning on doing a secondary.

I was looking forward to your post on the brew day. Sounds like you've got a good one going!!!

[FedoraDave]

Thanks, guys. I'm fairly new at lagers, and, as mentioned, this is intended for competition, so it's taken on a higher importance than "mere beer". Even so, I do need to RDWHAHB.

Russki, your description of cottage cheese-like clumps is very accurate. These things are the size of my fist. Still, I'm getting good activity early on, and I'll just have to trust the process.

[Beer-lord]

That's a long brew day Dave! I've got one going now and will be done in 4 to 4.5 hours. Your beer will thank you for the extra time you spent with it.
(now where did my Thermapen go, dammit!)

[Kealia]

+1 on the cottage cheese, I've seen it too. I'm just adding another voice to the "this is normal" group for you Dave. While a gallon of trub sounds like a lot, I wouldn't even look at it again for a week or so just to make sure that you don't obsess over it.

[FedoraDave]

Well, speaking of obsessing, since I have the day off today, I've checked it a couple of times. Good thing, too, since the original airlock got plugged up with crap. I quickly put my blow-off together and installed that and washed the airlock out. And now I've observed the blow-off getting its share of gunk in it.

This, however, I recognize as normal, and I won't be pervin' the thing quite so much anymore.

I'm gettin' too old for this sh!t.....