Straining/Filtering

I have a batch of brew in secondary fermentation. Its got a ton of junk in it. More than usual and I suspect its because I used whirlfloc in the boil for the first time with this batch and did not strain/filter after the boil and cool down. My question is pretty simple I suppose. Can beer be strained after yeast has been pitched and fermentation is close to complete without completely removing the yeast? I will be bottling and need bottle fermentation for carbonation. And is straining the wort as its going into fermenter for each batch a good practice?

Depends on how fine a strainer, but generally I'd not want to risk getting Oxygen into my almost finished beer by straining it. Your best bet is cold crashing! Filtering is OK, but that is done enclosed within a filter canister without Oxygen present.

I usually strain the beer on its way into the fermenter.

As for filtering from secondary...get a fine large muslin bag or a 5 gallon paint strainer bag, sanitize it and put it into your fermenter with the racking cane/auto-siphon inside it. To filter yeast you need a 10 (I think it is 10...) micron filter or smaller there is not a muslin bag on the planet that can do it!

i think i might have f'd this batch up. id be surprised if cold crashing will drop this stuff. ill chill for a while. hopefully that helps. if not, will filtering going into bottling bucket (not enclosed) definitely foul it? and is it okay to filter from boil kettle into fermenter for future brews?

I typically use Zamial's method: tie a bag over the end of the cane when racking into the bottling bucket. With this method, I rarely worry about filtering into the primary in the first place.

Filtering into the bottling bucket (e.g., at the outflow rather than the intake) would probably work fine as well, but as stated, you certainly run greater risk of oxidation.

Please do not make me quote the post I just posted...It answered all of your questions correctly...lol.

sorry Zam... i must have been typing just as you had been answering. i think ive got my answers. thanks.