Short version: When pouring the wort into the fermenter without a strainer, and simply decanting it to keep out the majority of the hops and break material, how do you tell when to stop and just discard whatever is left in the brewpot?
Long version: Brewed my 5th batch last night (which is perhaps a bit foolhardy since I have only taste one fully complete batch, but hey, this hobby is exciting) and for the first time, nothing really went wrong. Well, with the beer at least; I did manage to spill StarSan on my laptop keyboard, but quick action seems to have saved it, since that is the same laptop I am using to type this note. It was also a couple of other firsts: My first time using StarSan (I had used C-Brite before) and my first time using my brand new immersion chiller.
It was also the second time I have simply decanted the wort into the fermenter without using a strainer, and that's where my question lies. I am pretty sure I like this method better, but I am still getting the hang of it. The first time, quite a few hops and a fair bit of break material made it into the fermenter, which was no big deal for that beer because I expect to leave it in the primary for a little over 2 weeks, then rack to a secondary to add some flavorings and leave it there for another 2 weeks or so, i.e. it will have plenty of time for the break material to clear.
This time, I was pretty serious about getting as little break material into the fermenter as possible, because... well... I'm going to try and rush this batch a bit. It's a summer wheat beer and I'd like to be drinking it by mid- to late-June. I am hoping to get it into bottles after 2 weeks (if the yeasties will consent, of course), so making sure there is as little gunk to clear out of it is important to me.
I had a near perfect decant, only one or two hops got past me. I was pretty close to the end when I noticed the appearance of the pouring wort had changed ever so slightly: it had taken on a very subtle milky tinge. "Uh oh," I though, "break material!" So I backed off the pour, and at that point all the wort that was left sloshed back in and mixed with the hops and crud and yuck, and was basically unpourable. It's hard to guess how much was left, but it was probably wasn't much more than a quart of concentrated wort I would say... but I am not 100% certain. (This was with a 3-gal batch, where I had tried to do a full boil, but it cooked down more than I was expecting and I did have to top off a bit)
So... did I do that right? For people who use this method, what usually tells you to stop decanting and just leave the rest as a sacrifice to the beer gods? Or do you just pour all the liquid you can without getting any obvious solids in there?
Long version: Brewed my 5th batch last night (which is perhaps a bit foolhardy since I have only taste one fully complete batch, but hey, this hobby is exciting) and for the first time, nothing really went wrong. Well, with the beer at least; I did manage to spill StarSan on my laptop keyboard, but quick action seems to have saved it, since that is the same laptop I am using to type this note. It was also a couple of other firsts: My first time using StarSan (I had used C-Brite before) and my first time using my brand new immersion chiller.
It was also the second time I have simply decanted the wort into the fermenter without using a strainer, and that's where my question lies. I am pretty sure I like this method better, but I am still getting the hang of it. The first time, quite a few hops and a fair bit of break material made it into the fermenter, which was no big deal for that beer because I expect to leave it in the primary for a little over 2 weeks, then rack to a secondary to add some flavorings and leave it there for another 2 weeks or so, i.e. it will have plenty of time for the break material to clear.
This time, I was pretty serious about getting as little break material into the fermenter as possible, because... well... I'm going to try and rush this batch a bit. It's a summer wheat beer and I'd like to be drinking it by mid- to late-June. I am hoping to get it into bottles after 2 weeks (if the yeasties will consent, of course), so making sure there is as little gunk to clear out of it is important to me.
I had a near perfect decant, only one or two hops got past me. I was pretty close to the end when I noticed the appearance of the pouring wort had changed ever so slightly: it had taken on a very subtle milky tinge. "Uh oh," I though, "break material!" So I backed off the pour, and at that point all the wort that was left sloshed back in and mixed with the hops and crud and yuck, and was basically unpourable. It's hard to guess how much was left, but it was probably wasn't much more than a quart of concentrated wort I would say... but I am not 100% certain. (This was with a 3-gal batch, where I had tried to do a full boil, but it cooked down more than I was expecting and I did have to top off a bit)
So... did I do that right? For people who use this method, what usually tells you to stop decanting and just leave the rest as a sacrifice to the beer gods? Or do you just pour all the liquid you can without getting any obvious solids in there?