Methods for straining?

[mwc9711]

Currently I have an experimental nutella stout sitting in my carboy and, unlike most ingredients, the hazelnuts are refusing to sink to the bottom. I already dealt with the hell of transferring from the primary, and I am hoping to bottle sometime in the near future.

The biggest problem with transferring is that chunks of hazelnut either like to get stuck in the bottom of the racking cane, meaning I have to stop, unclog it and restart the racking process, or that small bits of hazelnut get sucked all the way through. Since for some reason most people don't want crunchy beer, I would like to avoid this. Does anybody have any suggestions for ways to 1) prevent the racking cane from being clogged and 2) straining out any stray bits of hazelnut?

 

[sweetcell]

put a hop bag, or BIAB bag, or even some sanitized nylons (pantyhose) around the tip of your racking cane. essentially, put a filter between the beer and your cane. this assumes that the filtering material is fine enough to catch the hazelnut.

another thought: once your beer is transferred to your bottling bucket, use a sanitized spoon, hand-held strainer, etc to skim the nuts off the top.

if not, you might be stuck racking beer only from the middle: be careful to maintain the cane above the trub but below the floaters, and stop racking once the two danger zones get too close. you'll be forced to leave behind more beer than you may like, but such is the price you'll pay.

i suspect some might say "don't worry, just bottle it all" - but i'd be afraid of what might happen to the beer if the nuts are left in the bottle. they might not age nicely and might do weird things to the flavor.

 

[creed24]

I would get a roll of aluminum window screening from lowe's or home depot if I were you. I got some for about $7 and I use it for all the filtering I need. You would just need a few square inches to tie around the end of your cane. I folded some into two-ply to make a strainer for my mash tun and it works just fine.