to strain or not to strain...

I know this was asked about 2 years ago, but I'm not sure anyone has posted anything on it since.

How many of you strain your wort before pitching? I've never done it but am considering it just to see if I like the outcome.

Opinions, experiences?

i always strain my wort and i get great clarity. that said i've never not done it so can't really compare.

to be honest, i think i strain it now so that the wort is well aerated before i pitch, that's worked well for me on my 5 gallon batches - fingers crossed!

i sometimes use a false bottom and a filter. other times i just dump the whole thing in the fermenter.

both work equally well in creating beer. one could argue that you get cleaner, clearer beers when you strain/filter/whatever, but it's not necessary to create fantastic brews.

time, finings, filter, etc. can always clear a beer long after fermentation is finished, too.

i think the #1 thing that filtering/straining does is not to clear the beer, but just to keep more crap out of the fermenter.

I don't strain anymore. I use a hop bag and the hot/cold break go into the primary . 3-4 weeks later rack to the keg ... I have had only one cloudy beer since starting this method but it was heffe so it don't count

since moving to AG brewing I rarely strain any more. The keggle is just too awkward to pour into the funnel. What I do is hook up tubing to the keggle and drain directly into the carboy.When I get to the bottom of it I gently tilt the keggle to get the remainder out. I notice that the hopp scum is usually settled at the bottom by then.

this is the in-line filter i use after mashing and/or boiling:



Catalog - INLINE STRAINER

it works best after the mash. it catches all the little bits that still come after vorlaufing.

false bottoms also help a great deal.

I do only partial-mash brewing so if I were to strain it would be, like DeathBrewer said, to keep the crap out of my fermenter.

I'm just considering all of my options to create a really crisp ale for this spring and I think that straining will keep grain remnants (escapees from the grain bag) and hops out of the primary, and thus create less in the secondary...