Slow flow out of the kettle

[Brewer #437518]

Hello folks, hope you won't mind a bit of advice for a noob!
My first all grain brew today in the new kettle - a Royal Catering 30l kettle.
The recipe was one of Malt Miller's clone recipes - London Pride.
I loved doing it, mashing went well (those aromas!) and then into the boil.
When it came to emptying the kettle into the fermenter I had problems. The kettle has a ball valve tap, and the wort was transferring (straight into the fermentation bucket) at an absolute trickle, it took nearly 90 minutes.
Near the end of this painful process the reason became clear. The kettle has a metal circular 'shelf' with fairly small filter holes on 3 legs which sits on the bottom of the kettle, but above the tap. It was caked in really thick trub, a bit surprising as I brewed in the bag that comes with the kettle. The tap itself also has a mesh filter which protrudes into the kettle - about three inches.
So, my questions:
Should I have carefully removed that shelf (wearing sanitised rubber gloves) between the mash and the boil?
Is that amount of trub (enough to block the flow to the tap) normal considering I was using a bag?
Should I consider siphoning instead next time?
TIA, any help appreciated!

 

[Sandy Feet]

The shelf is for sparging. BIAB is usually no sparge. I do not have legs on mine, but I do keep the false bottom in the kettle to keep the bag from burning. I don't mesh anything from the kettle to the spigot, but I do get hops caught in there that I have to clean after every use. I use a filter on the funnel when I drain into the fermenter. You can take the legs off before you use the kettle if that is what you want and you are just doing a no sparge BIAB. This assumes you just have a normal kettle and not an all in one.

 

[Donoroto]

Hello folks, hope you won't mind a bit of advice for a noob!
My first all grain brew today in the new kettle - a Royal Catering 30l kettle.
The recipe was one of Malt Miller's clone recipes - London Pride.
I loved doing it, mashing went well (those aromas!) and then into the boil.
When it came to emptying the kettle into the fermenter I had problems. The kettle has a ball valve tap, and the wort was transferring (straight into the fermentation bucket) at an absolute trickle, it took nearly 90 minutes.
Near the end of this painful process the reason became clear. The kettle has a metal circular 'shelf' with fairly small filter holes on 3 legs which sits on the bottom of the kettle, but above the tap. It was caked in really thick trub, a bit surprising as I brewed in the bag that comes with the kettle. The tap itself also has a mesh filter which protrudes into the kettle - about three inches.
So, my questions:
Should I have carefully removed that shelf (wearing sanitised rubber gloves) between the mash and the boil?
Is that amount of trub (enough to block the flow to the tap) normal considering I was using a bag?
Should I consider siphoning instead next time?
TIA, any help appreciated!

No need for sanitised anything if you are going to boil it. That’ll sanitize it. So no harm in removing or just cleaning it

 

[Brewer #437518]

The shelf is for sparging. BIAB is usually no sparge. I do not have legs on mine, but I do keep the false bottom in the kettle to keep the bag from burning. I don't mesh anything from the kettle to the spigot, but I do get hops caught in there that I have to clean after every use. I use a filter on the funnel when I drain into the fermenter. You can take the legs off before you use the kettle if that is what you want and you are just doing a no sparge BIAB. This assumes you just have a normal kettle and not an all in one.

Ah! It's for sparging, I see. The legs will unscrew so I'll take them off and use it to stop any burning as you do. Yes, just normal kettle and like the filtered funnel idea. Thanks very much!

 

[kblankenship11]

Hello folks, hope you won't mind a bit of advice for a noob!
My first all grain brew today in the new kettle - a Royal Catering 30l kettle.
The recipe was one of Malt Miller's clone recipes - London Pride.
I loved doing it, mashing went well (those aromas!) and then into the boil.
When it came to emptying the kettle into the fermenter I had problems. The kettle has a ball valve tap, and the wort was transferring (straight into the fermentation bucket) at an absolute trickle, it took nearly 90 minutes.
Near the end of this painful process the reason became clear. The kettle has a metal circular 'shelf' with fairly small filter holes on 3 legs which sits on the bottom of the kettle, but above the tap. It was caked in really thick trub, a bit surprising as I brewed in the bag that comes with the kettle. The tap itself also has a mesh filter which protrudes into the kettle - about three inches.
So, my questions:
Should I have carefully removed that shelf (wearing sanitised rubber gloves) between the mash and the boil?
Is that amount of trub (enough to block the flow to the tap) normal considering I was using a bag?
Should I consider siphoning instead next time?
TIA, any help appreciated!

Do you have a link to your kettle?

Visualizing it from what you described, my GrainFather G40 has a similar trub filter. I would read the manufacturer's instructions on whether or not to remove that plate pre-boil, but if it's an all-in-one, my inclination would be to leave it.

It is quite normal to have a lot of gunky trub, even with BIAB. My G40 is basically that concept but with stainless. I have found it effective to stir the wort vigorously post-boil to get a nice whirlpool going. This will centralize that trub/hops into a "cone" on top of that plate. This helps keep the outer holes from gunking up and getting into that situation.

I have had a lot of systems over the years, and have found the less filters from boil-kettle to fermenter the better. Stir the crap out of it, let it settle and drain gently--the trub will stay in the middle of your boil-kettle.

 

[Brewer #437518]

Do you have a link to your kettle?

Visualizing it from what you described, my GrainFather G40 has a similar trub filter. I would read the manufacturer's instructions on whether or not to remove that plate pre-boil, but if it's an all-in-one, my inclination would be to leave it.

It is quite normal to have a lot of gunky trub, even with BIAB. My G40 is basically that concept but with stainless. I have found it effective to stir the wort vigorously post-boil to get a nice whirlpool going. This will centralize that trub/hops into a "cone" on top of that plate. This helps keep the outer holes from gunking up and getting into that situation.

I have had a lot of systems over the years, and have found the less filters from boil-kettle to fermenter the better. Stir the crap out of it, let it settle and drain gently--the trub will stay in the middle of your boil-kettle.

Hi there - thanks for your reply.
My kettle is here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Catering-RCBM-30CK-Stainless-Brewing/dp/B095X5JF7H
I only recently purchased it, I'm not sure though if they make it any more. It cost me £102 which I thought was reasonable. Mainly though I'm a bit space limited so kitchen brews are the order of the day and its taller rather than wider dimensions suit me best.
The instructions that came with it were pathetic, though I have since tracked them down online. Even the online ones weren't great.
But I will certainly try the whirlpool next time.
Thanks!

 

[Minbari]

Hello folks, hope you won't mind a bit of advice for a noob!
My first all grain brew today in the new kettle - a Royal Catering 30l kettle.
The recipe was one of Malt Miller's clone recipes - London Pride.
I loved doing it, mashing went well (those aromas!) and then into the boil.
When it came to emptying the kettle into the fermenter I had problems. The kettle has a ball valve tap, and the wort was transferring (straight into the fermentation bucket) at an absolute trickle, it took nearly 90 minutes.
Near the end of this painful process the reason became clear. The kettle has a metal circular 'shelf' with fairly small filter holes on 3 legs which sits on the bottom of the kettle, but above the tap. It was caked in really thick trub, a bit surprising as I brewed in the bag that comes with the kettle. The tap itself also has a mesh filter which protrudes into the kettle - about three inches.
So, my questions:
Should I have carefully removed that shelf (wearing sanitised rubber gloves) between the mash and the boil?
Is that amount of trub (enough to block the flow to the tap) normal considering I was using a bag?
Should I consider siphoning instead next time?
TIA, any help appreciated!

The shelf is called a false bottom. most of the time those don't clog up much, depending on your grain crush. I world guess that mesh filter on the inlet of the ball valve was the problem. I would take that off, doesn't serve a purpose. If you get a little bit of trub in the boil, it's not a deal breaker.

Couple questions,
1) do you recirclate at all while mashing?
2) do you heat the mash while mashing at all?

 

[Brewer #437518]

The shelf is called a false bottom. most of the time those don't clog up much, depending on your grain crush. I world guess that mesh filter on the inlet of the ball valve was the problem. I would take that off, doesn't serve a purpose. If you get a little bit of trub in the boil, it's not a deal breaker.

Couple questions,
1) do you recirclate at all while mashing?
2) do you heat the mash while mashing at all?

Hiya! Yes, the filter on the ball valve inlet was very clogged, I'll take it off next time.
1) No, the kettle is fairly basic so that's not a function it has ... unless you mean do I do it manually, also no.
2) I just heat it to the required temp for the mash, the kettle has a thermostat and so just maintains that temperature during the mash.

 

[Minbari]

Hiya! Yes, the filter on the ball valve inlet was very clogged, I'll take it off next time.
1) No, the kettle is fairly basic so that's not a function it has ... unless you mean do I do it manually, also no.
2) I just heat it to the required temp for the mash, the kettle has a thermostat and so just maintains that temperature during the mash.

In that case, i am not sure i would use the false bottom at all. Generally a false bottom is used to keep the grain or bag off the heating elements (or hot kettle bottom if you use gas) or to lauder the mash if you do a more traditional mash.

With biab, its not really necessary

 

[Yooper]

Do you have some tubing on your ball valve to drain your kettle? You’ll want one, so that you can get better flow via a siphon and gravity draining set up.

 

[Sandy Feet]

I brew outside, but I actually drain straight from the valve. I have the kettle sitting on a cart. I open the valve, and it flows into a funnel on top of my Fermonster. That way I also get my oxygen.
I guess that would be Floridian, redneck, outdoor brewing LOL.