Filtering wort into carboy?

Whats the best way to filter your wort into a carboy? I have a funnel with a screen built into it but it clogs really fast so I always have to stop pouring and clean out all the hops and other debries.

Try slipping a bazooka screen over the end of your racking cane. This should keep out all the hop debris.

Bazooka Screen | MoreBeer

This one has a male thread fitting, but you can probably find a plain one at home depot or any other hardware store.

Or if you don't want to spend 20 bucks you can just get one of those fine mesh nylon bags, they're usually only about 2-3 bucks. I dip the bag in starsan and then just put the end of the racking cane in there. I use pellet hops and it stops pretty much everything.

Thanks for the help guys, I think ill try the cheap method first. Using a mesh bag is it easy to get the bag out of the small carboy whole?

HalloweenGod said:

Thanks for the help guys, I think ill try the cheap method first. Using a mesh bag is it easy to get the bag out of the small carboy whole?

Click to expand...

I think the plan was to slip it over the racking cane, then rack the wort from your brew kettle to your carboy.

Or you could use the technique I use of using a jumbo strain bag to line a brew bucket. Pour the wort in then remove the bag with the hops. If you want to ferment in a carboy, then just pour it in the funnel like you are trying to do now. The extra pouring should just help to aerate the wort better.

Craig

CBBarron is right.

I usually put the end of the racking cane into the bag, and then rubberband the bag to the racking cane. Then put that end into your brew kettle

This is how I have my kettle setup, after the chilling is over I let it set for 45mins then drain. I only get about 1/4" of trub in the carboy and this is with usually 4 oz of hop pellets loose in the boil. I plan all my brews to leave one gallon behind.

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kevmoron said:

Try slipping a bazooka screen over the end of your racking cane. This should keep out all the hop debris.

Bazooka Screen | MoreBeer

This one has a male thread fitting, but you can probably find a plain one at home depot or any other hardware store.

Click to expand...

Pay particular attention to the note on the morebeer.com listing where it says "(Pellet hops can clog the screen)". What a PITA... I just brewed a batch of IPA using 8 oz. of pellet hops for the first time with my screen on the bottom of the kettle. Ended up just pouring the kettle like old times. The screen was insta-clogged in about 30 seconds of the transfer. No gentle convincing of the trub to move outa' the way with a slight stir was going to work.... whole or plug hops are probably different, but that's the last time I use the screen with pellets.

I bought a fine mesh stainless steel strainer (with handle) from the restaurant supply place for $5-6 that fits into my funnel. If it gets clogged (only happened once in 10 brews), it's easy enough to dump it and clean it. And, stainless steel makes it easy to sanitize in idophor/starsan/etc.

i use cb barons method also it works well go steelers

Use your filter funnel but whirlpool the wort first. This means to use your mixing spoon to gently get a good whirlpool going in your kettle. This will cause all the cold/hot break and hop trub to make a small pile in the middle of the kettle. Make sure you have it where you are going to siphon from. Now let the whirlpool gently slow to a stop and carefully siphon from the edge of the kettle without disturbing the trub. You can also gently ladel the wort from the kettle this way. If the trub moves about too much just repeat the process again. This is kinda slow but it should help minimize the trub going into the primary and help keep you from having to stop every 5 seconds and unclog your filter.

HalloweenGod said:

Whats the best way to filter your wort into a carboy? I have a funnel with a screen built into it but it clogs really fast so I always have to stop pouring and clean out all the hops and other debries.

Click to expand...

I never filter; must of the bad stuff drops out into the trub.

I had the same problem with the filter. When I moved it to the secondary most of the stuff was left behind. Now in the secondary I feel that most of it will be left behind again in the secondary.

i never filter it either. I use grain bags (well actually paint strainers ) and it will all end up in the trub anyway. Depending on my mood I may try to use a secondary and move the beer or if they are used up / dont feel like it, i will bottle like normal and still nothing out of the norm at the bottom of the bottles.

frolickingmonkey said:

I bought a fine mesh stainless steel strainer (with handle) from the restaurant supply place for $5-6 that fits into my funnel. If it gets clogged (only happened once in 10 brews), it's easy enough to dump it and clean it. And, stainless steel makes it easy to sanitize in idophor/starsan/etc.

Click to expand...

This is the method i use also. The strainer is typically used for pasta and has little feet or whatever that can be bent to hold onto the funnel. When the strainer, which hold about 2quarts of liquid, gets clogged with hop pellet (i use pellets exclusively) debris, i just use my sanitized plastic mash paddle to push the cold break material aside and discard. This opens more screen surface area to filter.

More importantly, though, is that the collander/funnel method automatically aerates the wort like CRAZY. I rarely have to do much else to aerate (under normal circumstances - ie. not a huge beer or a lager).