How do you transfer wort from the kettle to the fermenter

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

How do you transfer your wort from the kettle to the fermenter?

  • Kettle w/ valve

  • Siphoning

  • Manually pouring

  • Other


Results are only viewable after voting.

JBrady

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 26, 2007
Messages
964
Reaction score
4
Location
Panama City, FL
Hey guys! After a few years of brewing I've decided that I'm tired of manually pouring the wort into my better bottles through a funnel that I can never seem to keep all the liquid in anyways, lol. I wanted to try to get some pros and cons feedback from you guys on the different methods/equipment used to make the transfer happen.

I'm looking at going with one of these two options:

1. Weld a stainless valve onto my boil kettle. If I use this method won't my ice bath contaminate the valve putting me at risk of infection? My immersion chiller is incapable of cooling the wort to below 80 without the aid of an ice bath. Will pellet hops clog the inside of the valve, I don't filter or boil bag my hops.

2. Use a autosiphon to transfer. The only issue I can see with this is maybe the pellet hops cloging the siphon during transfer. Also thats just one more thing that has to be sanitized, hopefully no bacteria survives on the inside of the siphon tubing.

Thanks for any info on which way will help my brew day go easier.
 
I use an auto-siphon because I got tired of lifting and pouring the boil kettle
 
I just pour the whole works into my fermenting bucket. I use a bag for my hops so all I really get into my fermenter is the coagulated proteins in the wort.

Eric
 
I use an autosiphon into a filtered funnel. Only problem being that since I don't have a wort chiller yet, I don't get a good enough cold break, so the filter gets clogged up during siphoning. However I use a nylon straining bag for my hop pellets during the boil so at least I don't have to deal with them.
 
Actually I chill with my immersion chiller and then rack with an autosiphon into my fermenter. I leave it all behind, hop gunk and break material. What I do is when I start siphoning I gently rest the bottom of the autosiphon on one of the coils of the IC above the gunk and rack until all the clear wort is gone and I can see the bottom, then I lower the as closer to the muck and try to get as much of the remaining wort as well, leaving everything else behind.

Don't forget to do w quick whirlpool a few minutes before you start the autosiphon, it will help pull most of the stuff to the center of the kettle.

If you start high in the kettle and rack the majority of the beer in first, you can actually see where you then set your autosiphon and avoid the rest of the hops. Though with whole hops, it's nearly impossible not to have a few try to block your flow. They are yummy packages of pure evil in that capacity.
 
I use to pour from the kettle. I've had a pot with a valve, but never used it. I finally broke down and bought tubing to transfer from the valve.
 
I pour through a sanitized metal strainer which gets clogged from the hops quite a bit.

metal-strainer.gif
 
I siphon through a counter flow chiller.
A copper scrubbing pad keeps the hops out.

BTW an autosiphon should not be used for hot wort (DAMHIKT),
use a copper or stainless racking cane.
 
I pour, but not straight from the kettle, I use a (sanitized) four cup measuring cup (I used to have a bigger one, but is AWOL, better put that on the list), poured through a metal mesh strainer to get the hops out. Less mess than a direct pour, and allows you to easily gauge when you need to stop pouring to clear the strainer of hop residue.
 
I pour from the spigot on the kettle and havent really had a problem with it. If I'm really worried about the risk of contamination I spray the inside of the spigot with a bleach solution before pouring. Let it dry then bring the wort.
 
I pour back and forth several times to aerate, then finally pour through a paint strainer bag to collect any crud. Also use a hop bag, so there's usually not a huge amount. I've been fermenting in buckets so far though, so no funnel required.
 
I've yet to brew, but my plan is to get a 1/2" coupling and attach a valve, use a tube into my counterflow chiller (in the making, just need rubber hose), and then into my primary bucket.

I want it as easy as possible, seems that method is going to work out just fine for me.

-=Jason=-
 
Flomaster,

Those weldless valves work great. All you need is one of those and a step-drill bit.
 
I use a brew bucket filter and pour manually into the bottling bucket. I do this since I have no real use for it anymore and it helps aerate the wort a bit better. Then I open the spigot and fill the fermenter from there (another bucket). I also give it a vigorous stir as well. Those brew bucket filters are nice and work really well.
 
I pour through a sanitized metal strainer which gets clogged from the hops quite a bit.

metal-strainer.gif

I do the same thing doing a split pot stove top boil. Although I just got my new boil kettle with a valve so I will probably be leaving this method behind in the near future. Or maybe just for winter brews when it is too cold to brew outside.
 
Valve, with a "Choreboy" copper scrubber attached on the inside of the BK to strain. The only tough thing for me is remembering to put the scrubber in before putting the wort in the BK - I forget about half the time, so it's definitely a weak point. The scrubber along with a long whirlpool during cooling works great though.
 
I've been whirlpooling, and removing wort through the SS ball valve, but I've found a problem with my method. After chilling with my IC, I whirlpool, let it sit for half hour, then open the valve. Problem is, my 80 qt pot is broad at the bottom, so about 3 gallons sits below the bulkhead. I've been tilting to get as much clear wort as possible, but that just roughs up all the gunk, and I've been putting everything into the fermenter. so I figure I'll just build a little dip tube to get everything from around the gunk pile.
 
I pour back and forth several times to aerate, then finally pour through a paint strainer bag to collect any crud.

With the wort having been cooled with an IC, and the brew pot sitting on the counter, I open the valve and allow the wort to splash into the primary sitting on the floor. This leaves the majority trub in place while provides good oxygenation. (All well sanitized, of course.)
 
I bought a huge funnel and pour into it keeping it filled. This way there is crazy bubbling while the wort goes inside and I get free oxygenation. So far it worked well. I leave the trub in there. Just make sure the funnel stays on :D
 
I do the same thing as Revvy. A little whirlpool 5 minutes before i use my Autosiphon to rack into the fermenter. Just start at the top of the wort and watch carefully as i get closer to the bottom of the kettle. I don't get too much hops or hot break material in the fermenter.

I used to dump my gallon BK right in by hand but my keggle I have used on the past few batches is kinda heavy and I don't want to spill any.
 
First time I just poured to entire kettle (2.0 gallons or so) into the primary bucket. Hops and all; a few weeks later I got to watch little pieces of gunk float around my bottles one by one as they were filled. Of course the particles are sitting on the bottom of the bottle funk that I already avoid when it comes to homebrews, so I'm not worried about it.

Second time I poured through a wire mesh strainer like the one mentioned earlier in thread; sanitized, of course, and poured just until the hops and etc funk reached the brim of the kettle. I wish I would've just poured the whole mess into the strainer since I lost maybe 10 ounces of wort, though. I guess I was paranoid due to having just bottled hop laden beer a few hours prior.

This is with two half batches; if I ever upgrade to the point where I can do full five gallon boils, I'm pretty sure I'm going to invest in a auto siphon.
 
Same as a lot of others, I whirlpool and then use the autosiphon. Hoping to upgrade to a pot with valves soon though. ..
 
First time I poured directly into the siphoned carboy. I spilled too much wort that way so now I use the auto-siphon.
 
I pump through plate chiller with march pump. False bottom with ss mesh screen gets all of the hops. Use o2 to oxygenate
 
pump through a plate chiller... cut the loop to the chiller and then just pump through to whirlpool... and then just open a ball valve and pour off through a short hose into the fermenter.

I use x-large hop bags in all of my boils so all I have in the cone after whirlpooling is break and fine hop sludge.
 
I primarily use Ale Pales as fermenters. So, I put the paint strainer bag on the bucket (has elastic to hold it in place) and dump the wort in quickly. It helps aerate and the paint strainer bag removes all of the break material and the hops. So I have nothing but clean wort. It is quick, easy, and makes clean up a breeze.
 
I use a big funnel into a glass carboy. The funnel has a filter on it and I find I can get about 1/4 at a shot before I need to grab a spoon and swirl the sediment around so the wort can pour through and I can clean out the filter.

Its worked well for me so far.
 
I have been pouring and straining the last few batches.....but I am getting an auto-siphon soon.
 
I pour my cooled wort through the spigot built into the brew kettle. I run it through a mesh strainer, held on to the bucket with elastic. The pouring from the stove to the bucket on the floor aerates it pretty well. But then I dump the wort into another bucket, and then back, and then one more time. I get such aeration, I barely have enough room in by 6.5 gal. carboy for the final pour, (which is done through a funnel), there is so much foam. But with this aeration, I get a good, quick fermenation.
 
depends on the system Im using. On the 2050 I pump it through a chiller and into the conical which is in my shed about 15 feet away from the rig. On my 5 gallon system I let gravity do its thing and fall through a strainer/funnel combo into a carboy
 
Back
Top