To strain or not to strain

I've been pouring the wort from my last two batches through a strainer to get all the hops and most of the trub out of it before it goes in to the fermenter. It certainly makes things easier when racking to the secondary.

Now I've read that leaving everything in fermenter doesn't really effect flavor. So the question is, does it really matter if you strain it off?

Also, I'm curious as to what is done when aroma hops are added. If you put the hops in at flameout and then strain them off after the wort has cooled, isn't that kind of pointless?

Thanks in advance.

As you've noted, straining out the hops reduces the amount of trub and beer loss. That's why the pros do it. It also simplifies cleaning, which is less of a concern for homebrewers, since we don't mash four or five times a day.

Flame out hopping dissolves certain oils that won't dissolve at lower temperatures. This is a fast process. By cooling/straining immediately, the oils don't boil off. You get a different profile.

Honestly I've done both and not seen tto much of a difference. Check out this thread, I built one of these, and it works great. Just lift it out at the end of the boil and your hops are out of the beer!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=40738&highlight=paint+strainer

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to ask about what effect straining has on irish moss. I recently starting using it during the last 15 minutes of the boil. I'm not sure if straining out the irish moss before fermentation makes it pointless to use it.

BNVince said:

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to ask about what effect straining has on irish moss. I recently starting using it during the last 15 minutes of the boil. I'm not sure if straining out the irish moss before fermentation makes it pointless to use it.

Click to expand...

Irish moss is a kettle fining...to coagulate the proteins in your boil. From my perspective, if you are going to add the irish moss it makes sense to then leave the coagulated trub behind in the kettle or screen it out. Your gonna want the stuff out at some point either way....