Basic Question

I've done a hand full of extracts when it dawned on me I may not be doing something right. After cooling my wort should I dump everything including the hops sediment into the fermenter or leave the sediment in the boil pot? I usually dump everything, but my last batch I didn't dump all of the hops sediment from the boil whould I?

 

I'm just a nooB myself, but if your not using some sort of bag to contain your hops or steeping grains, I would be straining your wort on its way to the fermentor.

helps with clarification,

 

Your beer will not be ruined if you leave it in there, but you will have a better final product if you strain it out.

 

I should have been more specific; I use hops pellets in the boil which pretty much break dow into a sediment after the boil and settle to the bottom when I chill.

 

If I leave it in will it continue to contribute any hop to the beer?

 

Not really. After 60 minutes boiling, most of the lupulin has already been extracted. Strain or don't strain, I don't notice a huge difference in flavor... just in clarity.

 

There's obviously a few ways to do this. When I first started, I whirlpooled my wort a few times as it was cooling and then used the siphon to transfer the wort. Now I just use a strainer, but I do also use hop bags. Would highly reccommend picking up one if you're using pellet hops. Much less trub that way...

 

Really appreciate the info I'm sure this will improve my brew. Thanks guys

 

There was a thread a while back that said that dumping the sludge into the fermenter helped the fermentation to some extent. It said there was something in then trub that acted as a nutrient but also killed head retention.

The article went through dumping or leaving it in the brewpot. The final answer was.....











go ahead and leave it in the brewpot. A better way to make sure you have good fermentation is just to make sure that you oxygenate and pitch healthy yeast.

 

I had thought I read here somewhere that it isn't good to pour the wort into a strainer as you are pouring into the primary. So it is ok to use a strainer?

 

I'd assume so as long as it's sanitized. I prefer to boil food grade cotton Cheese cloth and fold it 2-4 layers thick and lay it in the funnel when I run the wort through to the carboy. Bag of cheese cloth is only a few dollars at your local wally world (crafts section).

Edit: Though I'd still used a boil bag, or you end up cleaning out the cheese cloth a *lot*

 

Since the cheese cloth isn't to expensive I was just thinking use it and throw it. My funnel has a screen already in it.

 

I do partial mashes, and so I have a grain bag. I don't used a hop bag during the boil though. What I've found to work well is after I'm done the grains, I clean and sanitize my grain bag, then just set up in my fermenter so it's attached at the top with clips (like the pic below, only on my fermenter. Then I just pour the cooled wort through this. I unclip the bag, and shake it a little to get it to drain fully. I figure this is two birds, one stone cause it gets rid of the hops and other sediment, and helps to oxygenate the beer too.

 

Awsome input everyone; I really appreciate it.