question about transferring from fermentation to bottling bucket.

[zwaldo]

I'm about to finish my second Home brew and ordered some New equipment. One item that I purchased is a strainer that looks a lot like a hairnet that you put over the bucket. I used this when transferring from the boil to the fermentation bucket. It did a really! good job. I have 2, and "filtered" the batch twice with them and picked up a lot of the hops that where floating in the boil. I think stirred, added yeast and closed the top for fermentation.

Since then I have heard a lot about "you don't want to oxidizer! your brew! by doing things like opening the bucket a lot, stiring etc. Which I honestly do not understand since we had to oxygenate the mixture for the yeast...so how is the oxygen going to oxidize the brew...anyway that's another question I guess.

My question is this, when I syphen from the fermenter, to the bottling bucket, can I use my strainer again to try and pick some stuff out. I mean...I know i'm really not going to pick much out that didn't get caught in the first strain right... because if it was small nuff to get though the first time..then why would it get caught the second...but I don't know. I figured I'd try it. But Am I going to just end up oxidizing the brew, or would it help because I'm bottling and oxygenate the brew helping the yeast have the o2 to carbonate the brew better.

And if i'm going to strain the brew again...should I even worry about using a siphon? i mean why not just pour the brew though a strainer and just let it go.

NOw that i read it..seems like a stupid question...

 

[wattly]

Oxygen is needed when you start fermentation for yeast health, but after fermentation you want avoid oxidation or it will stale your beer.

 

[jaycount]

So the lowdown on aeration (oxygenation): Yeast need oxygen to do their jobs, that's why we aerate the wort right as it goes into the fermenter, whether that be with an airstone, vigorous shaking, etc. Once fermentation starts, you do NOT want to introduce any additional oxygen to the beer, it is much less likely to be fully consumed by the yeast and extra oxygen in the beer will accelerate staling.

If you're straining from the boil kettle to the primary, that's A-ok (preferred, depending on who you ask). When going from primary to secondary or to the bottling bucket you want a nice gentle siphon. Most beers if I'm careful virtually no trub gets through to the bottling bucket (a racking cane or autosiphon clip works great here). If there's alot of junk in the fermenter, like if I'm dry hopping, then I will attach a fine cloth bag to the hose side of my siphon, it will catch most of the bits that make it through.

So no, don't pour into the bottling bucket after fermentation has ceased, baddd for the beer at that point.

 

[DeafSmith]

You do not want to oxidize your beer, so don't pour it through a strainer. The reason you want to oxidize at the beginning of fermentation is because the yeast use all the oxygen to reproduce and create more yeast. After fermentation is finished, the yeast don't need to reproduce and have no more sugars to eat, so oxygen added at this point stays in the beer and slowly reacts chemically, causing bad flavors. Oxygen is not needed during carbonation in the bottles because there is already plenty of yeast in solution to eat the priming sugar and produce CO2, so no yeast reproduction is required.
When I bottle condition, the best solution I found was to use a very large nylon grain bag as a filter - I got mine from Austin Homebrew Supply (jumbo grain bag), but you might be able to use a paint strainer bag from a hardware store. I boil the bag for a few minutes to sanitize it, then put the grain bag into my sanitized bottling bucket - its large enough to go all the way to the bottom with the top part folded over the top of the bucket. I secure the part folded over the top with a bungee cord around the outside of the bucket to hold it in place, then put my siphon hose all the way to the bottom of the bucket. After siphoning the beer into the bucket, I unfasten the bungee cord, lift out the bag with all the hop residue and drop the wet, dripping bag into an empty bucket next to the bottling bucket. Because I don't get much swirling action in the bottling bucket during siphoning to stir the priming solution into the beer, after filling the bucket I very gently stir the beer (just 3 or 4 slow revolutions) to help mix the priming sugar into the beer. This may not be necessary, but makes me feel better. Just be sure to stir very slowly and gently so as not to oxidize the beer, and stir only for a few seconds.

 

[bueschen]

+1 to what Deafsmith said.
I do the same thing and as long as the strainer is sitting on the bottom of the bucket you won't introduce any more oxygen than you would without using the strainer.
I get a lot of the little tiny bits that are left over from dry hopping.

 

[zwaldo]

ok guys, thanks for the knowledge, and advise. I may just try and put the strainer at the end of the siphon and use a rubber band to hold it on. That way if anything does try to go though, it will catch it, but not cause a lot of oxidizing.

 

[DeafSmith]

ok guys, thanks for the knowledge, and advise. I may just try and put the strainer at the end of the siphon and use a rubber band to hold it on. That way if anything does try to go though, it will catch it, but not cause a lot of oxidizing.

I have tried that a couple of times. The first time it worked well, the second time the bag clogged up on pellet hop residue and stopped my siphon flow. That's why I started putting the bag into the bottling bucket.

 

[zwaldo]

well the bag that I got goes on top of the bucket...I'm curious if siphening onto that is going to oxidize the beer.... i guess I could try and putting it ..in the bucket but not sure how it's gonna work.

 

[DeafSmith]

If the bag doesn't go all the way to the bottom of the bucket and you siphon into the bag and let it drip to the bottom of the bucket, that will likely oxidize it. Here's the bag I use:

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1058

It's 23" by 35", so plenty big enough to reach the bottom of my bottling bucket. What size do you have?

 

[lgilmore]

Consider cold crashing as a way to knock down some of the goodies in the beer. If I were to net the end of my siphon hose, I wouldn't do it tight to the end as it would clog quickly. Maybe leave 5-6 inches clear to catch goodies.

There are also some great ways to do your bottling. Check the one posty on this forum. Great information.

I've been using the ideas found there and I am having good success.

 

[StanJohnson]

well the bag that I got goes on top of the bucket...I'm curious if siphening onto that is going to oxidize the beer.... i guess I could try and putting it ..in the bucket but not sure how it's gonna work.

Now you got me thinking. Maybe you could soak the bag and, say, a tie wrap in Star San. Then attach the bag to the end of the siphon hose that is in the bottling bucket with the tie wrap it. I think that's what I'm gonna do next time. I need to practice first with water and see if it works.

 

[zwaldo]

If the bag doesn't go all the way to the bottom of the bucket and you siphon into the bag and let it drip to the bottom of the bucket, that will likely oxidize it. Here's the bag I use:

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1058

It's 23" by 35", so plenty big enough to reach the bottom of my bottling bucket. What size do you have?

That's what I was thinking also. If i attach it to the top, I'll basically be exposing a lot of the beer to oxidation. What I have looks exactly like what you have except it's got elastic in it, much like a hair net. so that you can put it over the bucket and it stay attached on it's own while you pour your boil in. I think if i rubber band it loosely around the end of the siphon, I'll be able to minimize oxidation, yet still be able to filter it a bit more.

 

[Yooper]

I really think you guys are way overthinking this! Remember that over a bit of time, heavier particles sink and don't remain suspended, and even much of the yeast will flocculate (group together) and fall to the bottom. As long as you rack from above this trub, and the beer is pretty clear when you rack it, then you don't need to "filter" the beer.

 

[DeafSmith]

I really think you guys are way overthinking this! Remember that over a bit of time, heavier particles sink and don't remain suspended, and even much of the yeast will flocculate (group together) and fall to the bottom. As long as you rack from above this trub, and the beer is pretty clear when you rack it, then you don't need to "filter" the beer.

I only use the bag in the bucket to filter if I have dry-hopped with pellet hops. Guess I assumed that was what the OP had done, but after looking at his orig. post, looks like he wanted to filter out hops left over from the boil, and I agree that those should have settled out into the trub. But if I've dry-hopped with pellet hops, no matter how careful I try to be to rack from under the stuff floating on top, I still end up with particles in the bottling bucket if I don't filter.

 

[StanJohnson]

I really think you guys are way overthinking this! Remember that over a bit of time, heavier particles sink and don't remain suspended, and even much of the yeast will flocculate (group together) and fall to the bottom. As long as you rack from above this trub, and the beer is pretty clear when you rack it, then you don't need to "filter" the beer.

Over thinking.......probably. Am I still going to try and do it...... definitely