must you strain wort into primary

I see that some people do strain their wort into their primary . Other just dump it right in. Does it really matter . I would think dumping it right in or using a ball value with a tube or siphon would be easier than straining. Is it a personal choice or have any reason of doing this just wondering

Its up to you. If you have a lot of stuff floating around you might strain it. Are you All grain? is your wart full of hops?

i haven't started yet trying to get all my beers in a row before i start from all the things i watched some people do do it some don't. Didn't know if certain recipes called for it to b strained or of it was just a personal choice. Or for that fact what the purpose was. I would assume if u strain it you would have a clearer beer because less stuff would be floating around in it.

It has been my experience that it doesn't alter the taste in any way (I don't get any more hop flavor by leaving the hops in). It will change your volume in your fermenter. If I make a super hoppy IPA, I tend to strain so that I have more room for beer in my fermenter.

In the past I thought it might help aeration slightly. I'm guessing that it might be equivalent to like 10 seconds of shaking (<- I just made that up) so not really worth the extra effort.

I doubt anyone strains their wort from the kettle into the primary explicitly to aerate it. The idea is to keep the trub from entering the primary. Clearer wort going in means even clearer beer coming out.

I have tried dumping while straining and decided not to do that anymore. Now I use an autosiphon to move my beer from the kettle to the primary. I slip a muslin bag (sanitized) over the autosiphon (also sanitized) and this keeps trub from getting sucked into the autosiphon. It works pretty slick.

CarsonCE said:

In the past I thought it might help aeration slightly. I'm guessing that it might be equivalent to like 10 seconds of shaking (<- I just made that up) so not really worth the extra effort.

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This is an interesting opinion. In my entirely non-scientific observation of my first and only batch I've made I used a fine mesh stainless strainer when pouring the wort into the primary. Between the splashing of the cool wort, cold spring water and diffusion through the strainer I ended up with a very frothy wort. Fermentation took off after 24 hours using non rehydrated dry yeast (oops) and when I checked the final gravity yesterday it's down to 1.009 from 1.049. Point being, I think the wort aerated very well.

The one downside is I only have an 8inch strainer so the hops clogged it up before I could get all the wort in and some residue spilled over into the primary. Not a huge deal, but my effort to strain the wort out wasn't 100% effective. If you're going to use a strainer I suggest you get the biggest one that will fit over your bucket or funnel if you're using a carboy.

if your worried about aeration if you put a hose in, hook up to an Aquarium pump and use that to aerate it for a lil. It shouldn't matter how u get the wort into the primary I would think

For ales, it doesn't have to be strained out, for lagers it is better to get as much out as possible.

I'm not sayin' dump all of it in. My neighbor (not know for his precision) dumps EVERYTHING into the primary and he makes some nice brews. Don't stress if some trub ends up in the primary. Per Chris White of White Labs (as heard on one of the brewing network podcasts), trub is good for yeast. I'm kinda in the middle, I try to keep some, but not all out.

Cheers!

I always strain mine just through a mesh screen that is placed over a funnel that goes into my carboy. its aerates it quite well using this method too, so that works out nicley.

I too was recently curious to see who strained or who dumped it all in...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/strain-dump-all-159247/

I've done both and have decided I prefer straining it. I brew with whole hops and they tend to float in the primary.

This is awesome. I was wondering the same thing as I dumped a batch of whit into my fermenter and was looking at the ball of crap left in the kettle. I went ahead and dumped it in thinking more yeast chow.

I strain my wort every time. Before I did, I used to get huge amounts of trub in the fermenter, and then huge amounts in the bottles (mostly because I want to try to get as much beer out of the fermenter and inevitably pick up some trub). Straining helps keep the trub down.

Of course, it also helps with aeration.

Talloak said:

I doubt anyone strains their wort from the kettle into the primary explicitly to aerate it. The idea is to keep the trub from entering the primary. Clearer wort going in means even clearer beer coming out.

I have tried dumping while straining and decided not to do that anymore. Now I use an autosiphon to move my beer from the kettle to the primary. I slip a muslin bag (sanitized) over the autosiphon (also sanitized) and this keeps trub from getting sucked into the autosiphon. It works pretty slick.

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I'm doing that next batch. I don't know why it didn't occur to me sooner. heh

I quit doing it because the strainer would plug up and leave me holding a pot with 2 1/2 gallons in it. I just siphon off the top of the trub.

I have a kettle with a spigot and a false bottom. I also use whole hops.
At the end of the boil, I recirculate about 1 gallon, then connect the CFC, and drain the rest into the carboy. The recirculating gets rid of almost all the break material underneath the false bottom, and the hops act as a wonderful filter. The cold break does end up in the carboy, because the wort isn't cooled until after it has left the kettle, but I'm not worried about that because I believe it makes a good yeast nutrient.

-a.

Wellshooter said:

I quit doing it because the strainer would plug up and leave me holding a pot with 2 1/2 gallons in it. I just siphon off the top of the trub.

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Same thing happens to me, but I just set the kettle down, dump the strainer and start again. Only takes a couple seconds.

I strain with a metal mesh strainer and think it works well. I also believe the strained hops act as a natural filter.

+1 on using an autosiphon (how did I ever brew before I got that thing?!) with a muslin bag as a filter, if needed

ajf said:

I have a kettle with a spigot and a false bottom. I also use whole hops.
At the end of the boil, I recirculate about 1 gallon, then connect the CFC, and drain the rest into the carboy. The recirculating gets rid of almost all the break material underneath the false bottom, and the hops act as a wonderful filter. The cold break does end up in the carboy, because the wort isn't cooled until after it has left the kettle, but I'm not worried about that because I believe it makes a good yeast nutrient.

-a.

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Do you use whole hops or pellets? I ask because I'm wondering if the false bottom gets plugged with the pellets. I'm planning on upgrading my kettle and love this idea.

I put a 1 gal paint strainer over my funnel and dump into my carboy.. It does tend to get clogged up, but just moving it around a bit clears it up. I also put a paper clip on the edge of the carboy to allow air to escape as the wort is being dumped in. This way it doesn't back up through the funnel. When the wort is emptied, I dump my top off water through the same funnel full of schmutz (technical term) to wash anything left through. The wort is aerated very well IMHO doing this.

IowaStateFan said:

Do you use whole hops or pellets? I ask because I'm wondering if the false bottom gets plugged with the pellets. I'm planning on upgrading my kettle and love this idea.

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I use whole hops. (That's what "I also use whole hops" means.)
I wouldn't think it works at all well with pellet hops, but a paint strainer bag does.

-a.

ajf said:

(That's what "I also use whole hops" means.)

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Ouch. I guess I need to learn to read

I am about to boil a belgian dubble and was wondering the same. I've done it with all my other boils, but this one doesn't have such a large hp addition.

Thanks,

Marc Steinhagen

I've been wondering this as I'm getting ready to do a higher gravity Belgian Dubble. only using about 2 oz of various hops, IF they wont' effect flavor I may just keep them in.

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-Marc Steinhagen