Do you strain or dump your wort into fermentor?

[InsertMoreHops]

Hello everyone,

Just want to get some general feedback on everyone's process.

When pouring your wort into the primary fermentor, do you dump everything in, strain or hold back a bit so no sludge gets in?

On my last batch I dumped everything in and the beer turned out very good.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Schmoltsbeer]

I don't worry about sludge, but straining does give the impression of decent aeration. So I run my wort through a sanitized strainer and funnel into the fermentor (carboy). If I am making a lager beer, I will aerate with a stone as well. Straining also removes a lot of the hops material, though I don't particularly fret over that, as previously stated.

 

[CGish]

I use a hop spider, so hop debris is minimal and the pickup tube at the bottom of the keggle leaves a cup or so of sludge and wort. Everything else goes in the fermentor.

 

[naturebrew]

I have a bazooka screen in the bottom of my kettle and I let the wort sit for an hour before transferring to my fermenter. This way, most of the sludge remains in the brew kettle.

 

[enkamania]

I dump it in, it will settle to the bottom

 

[phyllobeddo]

I dump it all in. I do use hop socks for pellet hops, though. Otherwise, it all goes in.

 

[beergolf]

Just dump it all in. No problem it will settle out.

Here is a pic of a beer where it all was dumped into the fermenter.

 

[coldbrewnoob]

I used to strain it, but now i dump it into a larger biab bag inserted in the fermenter bucket. If i feel i have a lot of trub, will strain the last 10 -20 onces into a fine strainer.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Dump it all in, unless its got more than 5-6oz of hops in the batch I try to let it settle out while chilling and leave an inch or so of the liquid in the kettle to try and leave out at least a little bit of the hop material.

holy run on sentences batman

 

[bondra76]

I used to strain it - definitely not worth the hassle or extra time.

 

[brewcat]

I just dump it and leave the last bit behind in the kettle.

 

[wardens355]

I run a whirlpool in my kettle, let settle for at least 20 minutes, and drain direct into carboy without straining. I still get some trub, but a good mound of hops and break material is left behind. When the hell is someone going to manufacture a 7-gallon PET carboy???

 

[brew_darrymore]

I also dump it all in with the exception of the last inch or so of hop debris that I leave in the kettle. Beer turns out crystal clear.

 

[joshesmusica]

brulosopher did an experiment about trub (including hop debris). basically the conclusion was that on paler ales to go ahead and leave it in. supposedly the proteins and lipids even give the yeast some nutrients to work with.
then a guy commented on the fact that with darker beers the opposite is actually true and showed a pretty scientific-looking document as to why it's ok to have the trub in with pale ales, but not so with dark ales. i haven't really seen any real experiments yet with the darker ales, but for now i'm going with that theory. though i haven't done any dark ale since i read that.

 

[C-Rider]

I'm doing 1.9 gallon batches in a 2 gallon bucket. I strain so I have a bit of head space.

 

[ChelisHubby]

I used to strain it also, it was a time consuming mess. I have found no issues with just dumping it in the fermenter.

 

[Calypso]

I strain through a double mesh strainer because it aerates the wort pretty thoroughly. The small amount of hop debris I strain out is just a bonus.

 

[DaNewf]

I run the wort through a single mesh strainer. It doesn't really catch much (I hop in mesh bags so no worries there) but it does a decent job of aerating and doesn't really slow down my process so I'll keep doing it until there is a good reason not to.

 

[gfd622]

I just dump it in and let it go. I used to strain, but that took a long time, and in the end I'd end up with just as much sludge/stuff at the bottom as if I didn't strain, so I quit doing that. Beers taste great, are very clean and clear. Sludge doesn't take up as much liquid space as you'd think (not zero, but very little really). Good luck

 

[olotti]

I siphon and used to try to only get nothing but wort but my last batch my siphon broke and so I dumped the whole thing in minus about the last two cups that had sludge and I'm drinking it now it maybe one of the best and clearest beers I've made and I bottle. I also used s-04 which I understand can clear a beer well. So I brewed a wheat ipa last Wednesday and have a new siphon and said screw it I just dumped the whole kettle into fermenter again. I'm sad for my O2 wand but this may be my new way to go plus with cold crashing I ended up with more beer to bottle than if I would've siphoned into the fermenter.

 

[mainiac]

I use the 'no-chill' method, and drain everything from my boil that will fit into my cube . . . when the time comes to dump the cube into my fermentation vessel, the majority of the trub naturally gets left behind as I pour. What get's through will be chewed on by the yeast if they want to, and if not, will settle and compact with the flocc'd yeast. I really don't worry about it, and I have no problems with cloudy beer at the end.

 

[kh54s10]

I tried to strain on my first couple of brews. The strainer would clog up so I quickly gave up that nonsense.......

 

[sheephrdr]

dump as hard as I can without making a mess lots of 02 ..the more goodies in the fermentor the better imo

 

[Firewalker11]

Since I am doing pressurized fermentation and don't have room for the trub, I filter and screen through a bazooka then a fine mesh bag. I can capture most of the cold break if I handle the mesh bag carefully allowing the wort to flow out along the unclogged mesh.

Cold crashing the keg after fermentation clarifies the beer well for me.

 

[InsertMoreHops]

Thanks for everyone's feedback and input.

I ended up straining out the hop debris on this current batch. Will wait and see what the end result is like to determine future batches.

 

[rich5665]

I dump it when extract brewing and run the wort through a strainer when doing a partial mash. I haven't done a full grain yet, but suspect I may need to run the wort through a strainer.

 

[Mexibilly]

I dumped my first couple of batches and had some issues with final volume.
I rack it off the trub now, then dump the whole batch 3 times back and forth between sanitized buckets for very effective aeration and the final drop to pitching temp.

 

[slym2none]

I just dump it all in and let the yeast figure out what they want to chew on.

 

[agrazela]

I used to strain her, but now I dump her
I used to strain her, but now I dump her

Get lots of trub
Feel like a rube

But the beer turns out Okay, ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

 

[Brewenstein]

I used to strain because I like to pitch a slurry of yeast from one beer into the next (if my timing is right). It was a PITA. Now what I do is chill the wort and let it sit for a half hour or so. Then pour off into my ale pail until the sludge starts. All the sludge is then poured into a sanitized 2 gallon food grade container (re-purposed Utz's pretzel container from Sam's Club). I let it settle for a day or two, and then decant the liquid off into the now fermenting ale pail. With hoppy beers (6-8 ounces of hops) I will get about a gallon of clear wort this way with minimal effort. Gives me maximum beer volume with minimum trub, and makes it easier to harvest yeast for pitching into the next beer. I will do this for 3-4 times, and when I feel that I am done with that go-round for the yeast, I will just dump everything in the fermentor.

 

[joshesmusica]

I used to strain because I like to pitch a slurry of yeast from one beer into the next (if my timing is right). It was a PITA. Now what I do is chill the wort and let it sit for a half hour or so. Then pour off into my ale pail until the sludge starts. All the sludge is then poured into a sanitized 2 gallon food grade container (re-purposed Utz's pretzel container from Sam's Club). I let it settle for a day or two, and then decant the liquid off into the now fermenting ale pail. With hoppy beers (6-8 ounces of hops) I will get about a gallon of clear wort this way with minimal effort. Gives me maximum beer volume with minimum trub, and makes it easier to harvest yeast for pitching into the next beer. I will do this for 3-4 times, and when I feel that I am done with that go-round for the yeast, I will just dump everything in the fermentor.

Make it all much simpler by just dumping all the trub in, dumping the used yeast after fermentation, and making an oversized starter for harvesting your yeast.

 

[Peruvian802]

I've started using my IC to create a whirlpool in my kettle. This helps chill faster and trub tends to settle in the middle of the kettle away from my pick up. I can then slowly drain the kettle and leave a lot of the material behind.

 

[Brewenstein]

Make it all much simpler by just dumping all the trub in, dumping the used yeast after fermentation, and making an oversized starter for harvesting your yeast.

If you make starters. I use mostly rehydrated US-05, so this does not apply to me. And it is super easy to scoop out a cup of non-trubbed up slurry out of an ale pail. But that is what is so great about this hobby - each brewer does what is best / easiest for him/her!

 

[pdog44450]

Personally, I strain it because it takes no extra time. I just dump the wort through a kitchen strainer straight into my fermentor and leave the last couple inches of trub behind and dump it down the drain. You might get more yeast flavor in your beer if you don't use a secondary, but I doubt it'd be a huge deal.