Do I have to strain the hops out of the wort?

Just brewed my third ever batch. I have several different instructions — the ones in the kit, the Papazian book, the Palmer book, etc., and they all say different things.

I stirred my brew pot to create a whirlpool, so that the sediment would gather in the center. I poured the wort into the fermenter, trying to avoid pouring the sediment in, but some got in. Actually, a lot got in. It was only then that I read (in Papazian) that I should strain the wort and NOT get any sediment in the fermenter.

Will this be a problem? The beer is a holiday ale, which also contains sold pieces of orange and other spices.

I attempt to keep as much out as possible, depending on the beer style. If it's a holiday ale or anything spiced, I dump the whole thing in. If it's a lighter style ale or lager, I want it to be as clear as possible so I try to siphon as must off the extra stuff as possible. But that's just my .02

Edit: If I do dump the whole thing is, I definitly secondary the beer for further clarification.

Some dump everything in, without straining, just pour it in the bucket or in the funnel....Some use a big strainer that fit in the funnel for a carboy, or a sanitized 5 gallon nylon paint strainer bag in the bucket...

It really doesn't matter...anything will settle.

In other words, there is no wrong way to do it, or better way, or way that will make the best beer...they all work...the choice is what will work the best for you.

What I do with my IC, is chill the wort, then I lean the bottom of my autosiphon about two coils up from the bottom on the metal of the siphon. That rests it above most of the break material and trub, then I rack it to the fermenter until I'm down to that and carefully lower the siphon down into the gunk, just trying to get as much of the wort as possible without letting in the hops and break matter.

Revvy said:

then I lean the bottom of my autosiphon about two coils up from the bottom on the metal of the siphon. That rests it above most of the break material and trub, then I rack it to the fermenter until I'm down to that and carefully lower the siphon down into the gunk, just trying to get as much of the wort as possible without letting in the hops and break matter.

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Thanks. I thought about siphoning (after it was too late). I actually tried to strain it, but the strainer got totally gunked up. I am glad to know that it's okay either way.

Sneaker said:

Thanks. I thought about siphoning (after it was too late). I actually tried to strain it, but the strainer got totally gunked up. I am glad to know that it's okay either way.

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There rarely is a "right" or "best" way of doing things, there's usually only a preferred way. And in the end they all make beer.

I too have run into problems trying to keep the sediment out of the fermenter. I have been doing a slow direct pour but sediment still seeps in or it completely clogs the funnel screen. Great suggestion Revvy. I am going to try the angled siphon along with IC the next time I brew. Montanaandy.

You can also put your hops in a muslin bag

I had always strained grains and hops before my last brew...and I tried grain bags. They're fan-freakin'-tastic! VERY little hops or grain got out of the bag. While I also used a strainer not much was caught. So just pouring directly into the fermenter wouldn't be much of an issue.

They cost so little, so it's great to have a bunch on hand and use them to make life a little easier.

I just finished my second batch (loose cannon) and noticed that it had a boat load sediment (totally clogged up my syphon). I took a photo of it, but wow, while I'm really new to this, I'm really wondering if I somehow messed up the batch. I also noticed that I had a good amount of hops floating around on the top, even though none of the steeping bags broke (they had pellets in them). I guess this is normal? Any ideas?