Should I Sparge with Extract Kits?

Hey All,
I am wondering if I should be straining the wort I add to the carboy out of the kettle? I have been just dumping the whole pot, then letting it "trub up" in the bottom and racking over the top of it.

In general, should I strain when using a kit that uses hop pellets?

Thanks!

That's not exactly what sparging means.

But to answer your question there is really no reason to strain out the gunk in your wort. It may make a difference in a lager. I don't really know because I don't brew lagers. But for ales it makes no difference in the beer. Just dump it all in to the fermenter and it will settle out during the ferment.

Just remember that what you think is 5 gallons based on the markings on the carboy might actually be more like 4.5 gallons if there's an inch or two of trub on the bottom.

I'm somewhat new to brewing but as my brews have progressed this is what I did:
- first brew I used a funnel with a screen to get the junk out and just the wort in the beer, though there was still a fair amount of trub that settled out in the carboy this way.
- I made a racking cane out of some left over copper tubing(made a wort chiller and had some extra) and just racked the hot wort out of the pot leaving a bunch of gunk on the bottom. Note: DO NOT USE A PLASTIC RACKING CANE WITH HOT WORT!!! ask me how I know
- Put a spiggot on my brew pot with a bazooka screen and just let the screen do the filtering now.

I don't think it would be the best idea to dump all the junk from your brew pot into the carboy/bucket as you would lose more beer to trub, but I guess it wouldn't make a huge difference either. Though a plastic funnel with a strainer should cost you less than $10 so I'd personally opt for that as opposed to dumping all the junk from the pot into my primary.

Or you could spend a couple of bucks on some mesh bags designed for holding your hops and specialty grains. Then you should have no "gunk" in your wort.

Some break material is good for the ferment, at least with ales. Lagers are a little more touchy. I do partial mash brews, but it's really not any different from extract to AG at that point. I just pour mine through a large kitchen strainer to get the hops and some of break material out and whatever makes it through doesn't worry me. There's usually a good amount of cold break in the fermenter and it doesn't do anything bad to the end product. Just leaves me a little more gunk to separate out if I wash my yeast.

Bluehaze said:

Or you could spend a couple of bucks on some mesh bags designed for holding your hops and specialty grains. Then you should have no "gunk" in your wort.

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Even with a hop bag, you'll have proteins from the hot break in the wort.

Yeah -- not quite what sparging means.

I do strain from kettle to fermenter. It's easier to get a good yeast wash when you strain out some of the potential trub, I feel like I get more beer out of the fermenter when I rack and bottle, and I get less trub in the bottles. Plus, it helps aerate the beer before pitching.

If you're doing partial boils, it's especially beneficial because you'll cut out some of the trub and be able to add more water, which = more beer.

So I dont really lose any flavor or anything if I strain?
Is there any drawback to talk about if I do strain the wort of all hops, etc as I add to primary?

I strain every batch through a kitchen strainer, as well. Less stuff to worry about avoiding when bottling.

Some folks think that dumping all the hops in to the primary gives them a vegital off flavor. Others do it and don't report any problems. I prefer to strain mine out because they've done the job I wanted them to do so they don't need to be in there anymore. Plus, that's just a bit more stuff that doesn't have to settle out for my beer to clear.

I recently brewed a Pliny clone, and left all the break and hops in the fermenter. When I went to rack the beer from the primary yesterday, between the 17oz of spent hops and the yeast cake, I lost over a gallon of beer.

I have been brewing for a few months now and started with a hop strainer in my kettle,it plugged every time.Then i used mesh bags from mid west,i think they cut down on hop utilization.Now i just open the valve and let it all drain right in to my carboy.Much easier and it works fine,the beer has been great every time.I vote dump it all in the fermenter and save yourself un needed hastle and steps.

I don't think you have to worry about losing flavor unless you're talking about running it through a real filtration system(eg: filter would list microns that it filters at). With a hop bag or funnel filter you aren't getting anywhere close to that level of filtering.

If your making an ale its not necessary to strain. However it is a great way of aerating your wort (much easier then shaking the carboy or bucket around). I have also read that if you are making a high gravity beer you should strain to aerate but then dump some of the gunk in because the yeast can eat it to stay healthy during a stressful fermentation. But if you are making a lager you should definetly strain out not only the hops but the proteins that become solid when the wort is cooled.

Another thing, though it may sound like a piece of cake to strain pellet hops out of wort... ya not so much. The crud will clog anything you try to strain with especially if you're using more than 2 oz of pellet hops. But maybe I just haven't found the right strainer. I've had the best luck with fine mesh hop bags, but it probably cuts down on utilization of the hops. I think I'll be looking for one of those kitchen strainers with a stainless steel grid that's not too fine - seems to work for some people. Some of the hops would get through, but I think that'd be necessary to keep the thing from clogging. With too fine a mesh you end up with hop pellet soup sitting in a funnel going nowhere fast...

I just don't think it's worth the effort.

Straining out pellet hops is easy. When it clogs you stop pouring, let it drain, dump out the strainer and start pouring again. I usually have to dump 3 or 4 times in pouring 5 gallons. No biggie.

That's using a large kitchen strainer going into a bucket fermenter. If you're using one of those tiny funnel strainers into a carboy, that would be another story entirely.

I strain before I go to primary. Actually, I bought a mesh strainer that fits over the top of my primary, and I simply pour over the strainer. I've read that the hops actually act as a natural filter in this process as well, filtering out some of the proteins that normally make it to your primary.

Dan

I just dump everything into my fermenter until I can see the gunk hanging around at the bottom of the brew pot. That's when I stop pouring. This has worked out fine with no issues with trub.