Should I have maybe strained my wort?

[pyth]

Hi all,

I made a really hoppy pale ale yesterday. 3 rather big hop additions throughout the boil. I didn't bother straining the wort before topping it up with water, and just tossed it into the carboy and let it go to work.

Fermentation is coming along very nicely, but I have like, a hops cake on the top of the krausen. It smells fairly delicious and hoppy, but should I have strained the hops out after the boil before pitching/fermenting? Is it going to make it to hoppy to have left that in there?

 

[Yooper]

Hi all,

I made a really hoppy pale ale yesterday. 3 rather big hop additions throughout the boil. I didn't bother straining the wort before topping it up with water, and just tossed it into the carboy and let it go to work.

Fermentation is coming along very nicely, but I have like, a hops cake on the top of the krausen. It smells fairly delicious and hoppy, but should I have strained the hops out after the boil before pitching/fermenting? Is it going to make it to hoppy to have left that in there?

No, it'll be fine. The hops will settle down with the trub later on. No problem!

 

[jmprdood]

I strain my batches - but I'm not very meticulous about it, though it does aerate the brew. Nothing to worry about, I'll echo Yooper, it'll settle out.

 

[WortMonger]

Yep, it would have been a good thing to filter out the hops and majority of big break material. The beer might get a vegetative character from the bittering hops as they break down during fermentation. It is a pale ale though, and you should go through it pretty quickly since it is a good beer to drink fresh. If you have a way to whirlpool after the boil and let it sit for 10-20 minutes before transferring, that would work a lot better. I don't know how you knock out your kettle (siphon or if you have a bottom valve), but allowing things to settle in the middle of the kettle always helps with solids.

 

[kh54s10]

You should be good to go. But, you may need to use some kind of strainer when transferring to your bottling bucket. Assuming you are bottling. Otherwise the hops may plug up your siphon or spigot.