NWDuck

Recipes 

So i've brewed a few batches and i've always used the following process (I'm obviously leaving steps out)

1. Boil and add hops according to schedule
2. Cool and strain hops out as pouring into primary which for me is a big bucket.
3. Ferment for a week or so then rack to secondary fermenter (carboy)
4. Bottle and what not after 2 weeks or so..

I've been hearing alot of people who don't use a secondary they just rack straight into the carboy from the get go.. I'd like to brew one of my recipes and see if i can taste a difference.. So my question is, how do you strain all the hops and crud out if you are going to rack from your boil pot into the carboy and just forgo the bucket??

NordeastBrewer77

Recipes 

i rack from my kettle to carboy, leaving most of the hops and break material behind. you could also use a sanitized kitchen strainer over a large funnel and pour the wort into the carboy through it.

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The Polk Street Brewery
Brew Blog
Primary: Honey Weizen (a ,Midwest kit), Columbus IPA
Secondary: No. 3 Burton, RIS
Bottled: Simcoe IPA, Northern English Brown
Kegged: German Alt, Octane IPA

Give a man beer and his thirst is quenched. Teach a man to brew and it will never be again.

mklojay

Recipes 

I don't strain, I just let it sit in the primary for at least two weeks. By then everything has settled to the bottom (cold crashing - dropping the temperature quick, helps too) and with careful siphoning it should be very clear ( you can see it through the racking cane/tubing while you are siphoning).

NWDuck

Recipes 

both of those sounds like real good ideas.. thanks guys!

TheWiz

Recipes 

I sometimes insert my siphon into a large grain bag, then siphon as normal. The grain bag filters most stuff out while racking to the keg.

MachineShopBrewing

Recipes 

I have a ball valve welded on my kettle a few inches up from the bottom. When the boil and chilling is done, I have the cover on and let it sit for an hour or so for things to settle. I then rack off to the carboy via the ball valve. This leaves behind a gallon or so of hops/trub/wort. I just account for the loss in my batch size.

zeekage

Recipes 

I pour from the kettle into my bottling bucket with a 5 gal paint strainer in it. Then from the bottling bucket through the spigot into the carboy. Added bonus is 2 steps for aeration too.

If i had a pump to get a nice whirlpool going then I would probably skip the botlting bucket, but as it is I pull a lot of hops and trub through my kettle valve.

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MA/New England Bulk Grain Buy

DSmith

Recipes 

Either siphon, pour through an unfiltered funnel, or both. A long primary and cold crash really clears up the beer even a lot of hops and break make it into the primary.

DirtyHaus

Recipes 

I whirlpool the wort while it chills in an ice bath then pour through a funnel into the carboy. I pour all the liquid in and leave the the muddy stuff behind. cold crashing is a beautiful thing, if you leave your brew in the cold for long enough it'll clear out.

zacster

Recipes 

I just let it settle in the carboy in the primary, and then rack to the secondary carefully, then what's left will settle in the secondary. For a lager, letting it sit undisturbed for a month in the cold does wonders for clarity.

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• Bottled and drinking:American IPA, a little over-carbonated in the bottle. Not bad if you let it settle out
• Bottled and waiting:All-grain American Lager (first all grain) - Still flat after 6 weeks.
• Bottled and waiting:Irish Dry Stout. Didn't get the water from Dublin though
• In primary:Stone Ruination clone, except I didn't hit the gravity. It is still good though.

Ya know, they're like rabbits, except they do it solo