Lawrence Brewers Guild

I am preparing to brew an Irish Red for brewfest and wanted input on a lingering question I have had. I use 30 feet of copper submerged in an ice bath for my wort chiller and end up with a very cold (sometimes too cold) wort, but my question is about the large amount of cold break I get.
Should I:
1. let it settle for a several hours before siphoning to my primary fermenter allowing it to incubate any possible contaminants (and it does not really settle that well)
2. Should I go ahead and pitch then transfer to a secondary fermenter after vigorous fermentation has stopped and things settle down again.

Thanks, Mike

Brewers do it both ways and there are arguments for both. Personally I am a fan of leaving the break in and pitching. There are a lot of vital nutrients in the break that the wort will use during its fermenting cycle. If a secondary is used, or good racking techniques from primary to package, all is well. This is usually the easiest way to proceed with good results.

Where the problem lies the most is in lagers, or really light kolsch or session beer styles. For one, clarity can be a bit more of an issue, however time has a way at clearing most of that up. The other can be an issue of flavor, again in the really light beers where possibly some off-flavors could be perceived in too early or poor packing techniques.

Personally, I'd opt to pitch right away and do a secondary. But then, I always do a secondary. Most of that should drop out, and as Jeff pointed out, it's good food for the yeasties. If it doesn't drop out, you could always hit it with some gelatin if you're worried about clarity.

My two cents.

Matt

Thanks for the input, I have been using the pitch then secondary approach, but wondered if there was a better way.

Mike