Straining question...

Hi folks...
Today, I wil brew my first batch of home brew. I have a copy of "The Complete Joy Of Home Brewing" which seems like an excellent book. I have one minor problem. The book stresses the importance of straining the heated wort before pouring it into the fermenter (the recipe I have calls for pelletized hops). I am very, very new at this and the book does not tell me exactly "how" this should be done. Should I place a strainer over the funnel while I'm pouring the wort? Also, can I dip a clean receptacle of some sort into the brew pot and use that to pour the wort into the fermenter? Or must one pour the wort directly from the brewing pot? Seems like that would be fairly heavy. Sorry for the odd question...I did a cursory check of FAQs and the online guide here, and did not see a reference to the straining issue.

Thanks in advance...

Oh...perhaps I should mention that I am using a five gallon glass carboy for my fermenter.

I've really only thumbed through "Complete Joy", but I know some of the data is outdated. First, don't strain hot wort. The wort needs to be cooled before you move it to the fermentor.

I know that some people strain, but it's far from necessary. You can avoid the trub at the bottom of the boil pot several different ways.

For your transfer into the fermentor, you can pour colled wort, you can siphon it or just about any other menthod that gets it in there. Just make sure anything you use is clean and sanitized.

After flame out, move the kettle to wherever you go to cool the wort. Give it a BIG stir before chilling. All the debris will pile up in the middle of the kettle. Now cool the wort. Once cool, siphon it into the carboy, making sure the siphon stays along the outside of the kettle (easy to do) to minimize the pickup of trub.

Or, just chill it and pour it into the carboy with a funnel, stopping once you start to see a lot of particles entering the fermenter.


Truth be told, there's not really any reason to fear a little bit of trub and hops debris in the fermenter. If you're racking off to a secondary fermenter, you will leave behind whatever you missed going into primary so it's not really a concern.

So do your best, but that's not something you really need to worry about.

Thanks to both of you for the info...
The book I have definitely instructs one to pour the hot wort into the carboy...the author mentions that the three gallons of cool water already sitting in the carboy will absorb the thermal shock of the hot wort and thus prevent the fermenter from breaking! Perhaps I would do well to invest in another book. I'll report back later this evening, lol!

Junebug said:

Thanks to both of you for the info...
The book I have definitely instructs one to pour the hot wort into the carboy...the author mentions that the three gallons of cool water already sitting in the carboy will absorb the thermal shock of the hot wort and thus prevent the fermenter from breaking! Perhaps I would do well to invest in another book. I'll report back later this evening, lol!

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If you are doing a 5 gal batch then a 5 gal carboy doesn't allow any head space for fermentation. Can you say "Thar she blows!!!"

The book that I have found to be the best help is "Homebrewing for Dummies". Very thorough explainations of each step and also describes and teaches how to advace to partial mash to all grain if you are interested in that.

Junebug said:

Oh...perhaps I should mention that I am using a five gallon glass carboy for my fermenter.

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You may want to think about either investing in a larger vessel for fermentation, or making batches smaller than 5 gallons.

If you use a 5 gallon carboy as your primary for a 5 gallon batch you're going to have a real mess on your hands. Your primary fermenter needs to have some headroom in it to allow for krausen buildup and offgassing, so you might want to think about either a 6.5 gallon carboy or a food grade 7.5 gallon plastic bucket.

If you can't get a bigger fermenter right now, then you may want to think about doing 3.5-4 gallon batch. You would be ok using a 5 gal carboy as a primary for that.

*EDIT - I see someone else caught this as well. That's what I get for viewing at work, forgetting about a post then hitting the post button 20 minutes later.

Thanks, docbee and ohiobrewtus...
Needless to say, my foray into the world of home brewing has been postponed until tomorrow. I realized that I do not actually know what five gallons of anything looks like. I couldn't recall if the guy I bought the set-up from mentioned that the carboy was five gallons, or if I just assumed it was five gallons. I'm such a noob, I didn't know that they came any bigger than that. So....I took a plastic one gallon container and measured five gallons into the carboy. The water didn't even reach the shoulders of the bottle, so I'm hoping that this means the carboy is actually a 6.5 gallon container. I went out and picked up "Home Brewing For Dummies", plus I printed out the "How To Brew" guide from this site. That guide mentions that it will take three hours to sanitize the equipment, boil the wort, pitch the yeast and get the whole batch fermenting, which means it will take me at least four, LOL! I must devote the rest of my day to other endeavors, so tomorrow will be the big day...

yeah, it usually takes me 4-5 hours. sounds like you have the 6.5 gallon carboy. good deal and good luck!

DeathBrewer said:

yeah, it usually takes me 4-5 hours. sounds like you have the 6.5 gallon carboy. good deal and good luck!

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That's what I was hoping, DeathBrewer (about the carboy). I have a feeling it will take me quite a while, too, especially since this is my first batch. It really was a good deal...I paid a friend from my gym twenty bucks for what amounted to a nearly complete beginner's brewing kit.

Well, looking forward to tomorrow...hope I don't screw anything up!