Straining Wort into Primary Fermentation Bucket

Hey guys I'm looking for an easier, quicker way to strain my cooled wort (70-75 degrees) into my fermentation bucket. I have been doing partial extract beers and am very happy with the process... but I want an easier way to strain my wort. I have looked around the interwebs and all I could really find is this. http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=37445&catid=685 this definitely seems like a good idea and thinking about giving this a try.

What are my other options? What have you guys tried and what has worked well for you?

I will be brewing the Patersbier recipe from Norther Brewer.

My medium sized nylon strainer bag works with very little hassle.Fine mesh strainer?

jonmohno said:

My medium sized nylon strainer bag works with very little hassle.Fine mesh strainer?

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+1 to the strainer bag. i got a strainer from my lhbs straight off, and stretched it over the top of my ale pail, and drained the boil kettle, and was instantly hooked on it. been doing it for years

Do the brewers that have been brewing for a long time recommend straining all of the hops and junk out of the wort as it goes into primary? Is there anything to worry about with just pouring it into primary and then letting it settle?

As I learned from this forum, 5 gallon paint strainer bags are cheap and awesome.

I picked up 2 for $3.97 this weekend at Home Depot.

Got all the dry hop crud away from my IPA last night when I racked it to my bottle bucket.

Xaphoeous said:

Do the brewers that have been brewing for a long time recommend straining all of the hops and junk out of the wort as it goes into primary? Is there anything to worry about with just pouring it into primary and then letting it settle?

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it'll clog the hell out of your equipment. if you get a bag, and strain through it, it takes no extra time. i've been using the same bag from the start, and that bag cost $3 and saved many kegs of beer so they didn't get tons of crap in them

lumpher said:

it'll clog the hell out of your equipment. if you get a bag, and strain through it, it takes no extra time. i've been using the same bag from the start, and that bag cost $3 and saved many kegs of beer so they didn't get tons of crap in them

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And this straining should be done as the wort is poured into primary, or when racking to secondary/keg/bottling bucket? Sorry if I seem ignorant, it's because I am!

no need for embarrassment, x. we've all been there. put the strainer bag over the top of the fermenter, and drain the boil kettle into it. when you open the valve on the boiler, let it flow into the fermenter through the bag

Thanks, lumpher! I'll have to go get one of these bags before my next batch. Oh darn, I have to go buy more stuff...hehe, awesome

darn the bad luck... now you have to visit the homebrew store again (even though lowes has these as paint-strainer bags shhhhhhh)

I use one of these.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044UWIW0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
I bought it for the kitchen but found it works better for brewing!

I would think that without some back pressure, those filters you posted would be really difficult to use.

Dumping everything from your boil kettle into your fermenter works too.

I'm new to brewing, but I would probably only strain during the racking process to bottling bucket. Do you want to strain to avoid particles in your siphon/beer filling gear or are you trying to get clear beer?

Perhaps some of the seasoned HB's can tell us if straining from boil to primary will cause a loss of flavor/profile making building blocks.

I actually was thinking of using a cut from mesh bag and using a rubber-band to cover the end of my siphon when siphon to secondary or bottling bucket to reduce particles in my siphon and bottle wand. I've yet to try it though...


Cheers,
Russ

What about when you use a carboy?

I like to use this http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewi...straining/double-mesh-stainless-strainer.html If I have a helper they hold it over a funnel and we strain right into the carboy. If I am by myself I hook it on a 5 gal bucket and strain it, then pour the bucket into the carboy... extra aeration! The strainer needs to be dumbed a couple times during the pour but it collects a lot of debris.

lumpher said:

it'll clog the hell out of your equipment. if you get a bag, and strain through it, it takes no extra time. i've been using the same bag from the start, and that bag cost $3 and saved many kegs of beer so they didn't get tons of crap in them

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I've got to be doing something wrong. I've been dumping everything into the fermenter for the last 7 or so batches and haven't clogged anything yet. Give the beer time to settle out and be just a little careful when you siphon and you will leave all the hops and yeast right in the bottom of the fermenter. If you leave it settle long enough, the yeast cake will be pretty tight.

just in case anyone cares . Menards has a 30 quart pot with a spigot in it . They do not show it on their website as such but it is this one http://www.menards.com/main/outdoor/grills-smokers/30qt-propane-turkey-fryer/p-1624774-c-10141.htm and can be bought separately from the burner for I think 34.00 . Not a strainer but after wort cools the crap falls to the bottom so this would work well for transferring to primary . Put in chiller and cool . Leave chiller in so as not to disturb trub . Drain into bucket .

Chap said:

I like to use this http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/brewing-equipment/stirring-straining/double-mesh-stainless-strainer.html

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+1 on this. I don't strain because of clogging, I strain because less trub means more beer gets bottled.

Don't forget to sanitize your strainer! I put a sanitized 5 gal bag in my funnel when draining brew kettle to carboy. If I dry hop I use a small sanitized bag. No more plugged keg pick up tubes.

310brew said:

I'm new to brewing, but I would probably only strain during the racking process to bottling bucket. Do you want to strain to avoid particles in your siphon/beer filling gear or are you trying to get clear beer?
,
Russ

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Do not strain after fermentation. It will oxidize your finished beer. The yeast need the oxygen before fermentation. They use it to reproduce more yeast before they start eating the sugar in your wort. Straining your wort before fermentation is a good way to oxygenate it. It's what I've done for years. Always works for me.

lumpher said:

darn the bad luck... now you have to visit the homebrew store again (even though lowes has these as paint-strainer bags shhhhhhh)

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still funny today

Yeah, I wanted to strain my first batch and came up with the brilliant, and apparently popular idea of just putting my large grain bag stretched across the top of my bucket. Got out all the big stuff and worked great! This was using pellet hops too so there was lots of small stuff. I did notice after fermentation there was still some small what looked like residual hops stuck to the fermenter walls where the krausen used to be when I racked it to my bottling bucket.

I let it sit for a full 15 days though in the primary and it came out clear and very little stuff in it. It in the bottles now and the only thing I can see that settled out in the bottle was a little yeast at the bottom. Grain bag strainer worked great for me!

I like this guy.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280860229271?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

jungatheart - I like this. Not seen it before. I'm presuming your pour your cooled wort into this then lift of the top mesh grid and dump? So cheap too! At least in the uk this would pay for itself instead of continued nylon bag purchases

seriousbeef: I use it to filter out the steeped grains then back into the pot for the boil. It wouldn't be good for boiling water because the filter will deform with water that hot.

Cooled wort would work and yes, just take off the top mesh grid and dump. Works great.

ktillman1 said:

Do not strain after fermentation. It will oxidize your finished beer. The yeast need the oxygen before fermentation. They use it to reproduce more yeast before they start eating the sugar in your wort. Straining your wort before fermentation is a good way to oxygenate it. It's what I've done for years. Always works for me.

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I read that straining beer after fermentation will remove things like your yeast , depending on the size holes in your strainer I would guess , which of course would cause no carbonation. the big guys strain their beer but I am sure they have oxygen free environment and then of course they do not have to bottle carb either .

MarcusKillion said:

I read that straining beer after fermentation will remove things like your yeast , depending on the size holes in your strainer I would guess , which of course would cause no carbonation. the big guys strain their beer but I am sure they have oxygen free environment and then of course they do not have to bottle carb either .

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Yeast is microscopic, and so you'd have to have a "strainer" with .5 micron "holes".

Some brewers will filter their brew (many brewers do) under co2 to avoid oxidation with a .5 micron filter. Oxygen is the death of beer after fermentation, so it should never be poured through a strainer once finished!

Being a new brewer my self, I have learned a few things the hard way:
I used to use one of the half moon strainers like the one above from Ebay/Amazon, and thought that was just how it is with all the grain dust/trub left at the bottom the the bucket come time to rack off into the bottling bucket, and never getting clear beer in the end. I then put a paint strainer into my false bottom bucket, and got rid of almost all the junk that was usually left in the bucket before going into the BK.
What a giant difference! Instead of losing almost a gallon to trub loss (once again me being a total noob then) every batch, my current loss is less than a quart. Thanks again to all who have posted their knowledge and experience.

I don't strain at all - just pour the wort into the fermenter, and stop when I get to thick sludge. No plugging, clear beer, and no off flavors. I do this to avoid another item touching the wort, and the possible contamination.

jungatheart said:

I like this guy.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280860229271?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

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Freaking nice, two on order. Thanks!

Yooper said:

Yeast is microscopic, and so you'd have to have a "strainer" with .5 micron "holes".

Some brewers will filter their brew (many brewers do) under co2 to avoid oxidation with a .5 micron filter. Oxygen is the death of beer after fermentation, so it should never be poured through a strainer once finished!

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Yes this is what I should have added. Straining and filtering are two totally different things. If you just want to clear some yeast out of your final product I would suggest "cold crashing". Chill your secondary (or primary if you skip secondary) 35 degrees or so for a few days before kegging. I do this and it seems to clear out a lot of the yeast very little sediment in the bottom of the keg. If your bottling I would do some research as I'm not sure how it would effect the yeast for carbing.

jungatheart said:

I like this guy.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280860229271?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

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While I remember, how do you sanitize this for straining cooled wort? I've always thrown nylon bags out after 1 use, and although I'm extremely tempted, how do you clean the mesh right up to the plastic?

I received the strainer that jungatheart posted, fits my fermenting bucket perfectly. Though it's lightweight, it should last a long time with proper care. Looks easy to clean, just rinse and sanitize.

i use this http://www.walmart.com/ip/Oneida-Oversink-Colander/15149549

On my first batch which is fermenting now, I just used the auto siphon with a spray wort aerator no filtering at all. I might put some mesh on the end of my siphon though when I transfer to bottling bucket. Any thoughts on if this would harm the brew?

jungatheart said:

I like this guy.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280860229271?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Click to expand...

Regurgitating this thread, again, I would love to purchase this but really need to rack all your brains!

I have a 14" diameter fem, this strainer fits 12" which sucks.

Any ideas on what I could add to extend the diameter of the strainer by 2"?

seriousbeef said:

Regurgitating this thread, again, I would love to purchase this but really need to rack all your brains!

I have a 14" diameter fem, this strainer fits 12" which sucks.

Any ideas on what I could add to extend the diameter of the strainer by 2"?

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Maybe set it on a large collander that fits the bucket.

I kinda made what you are looking for, cost me about 8-10 bucks.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/false-bottom-i-made-379203/#post4757463

You could sit it on two dowels that are sitting on your fermenter.