Strain your wort

I have been on this forum for a while and been brewing beer for 3 years now and was wondering if you guys strain your wort before you put it in your fermenter or not. I don't. I have once with a screen in my funnel, but it clogged up 3 times for one batch so i stopped doing that. I don't really see a benefit because my beer comes out clean and clear. I spend a lot of my time in the begginers forum part and this question comes up a couple times a week. I am just curious what the masses do.

 

I used to, when i was doing concentrated boils on the stove top. Now that I'm doing full wort boils, and have setup different processes (such as pumps and whirlpool fittings), I no longer do. That said, I'm not entirely sure it's necessary if I were to go back to concentrated on the stove top. As you said, it'll settle out in the end.

 

When I remember to strain I do it.
From the kettle to 6 gal bucket with paint strainer. Strain and pour back and forth to add some O2 and pitch.

 

If I use more than two ounces of hops I strain the wort. My thought is that straining the wort going in to the carboy will help for later on when I go to wash and pull the yeast out.

 

I answered "No" in the poll, but I guess using a hop spider means I kinda strain, depending on how you look at it. I don't filter out break material or anything like that, if that's what you're asking.

 

When I was using an IC and throwing all the hops directly into the biol i used to strain when going into the carboy just to try to make cleaning easier post fermentation but since upgrading to a CFC I now use a paint strainer bag to put all the hops in during the boil to ensure hops does not clog the CFC. This system works great BTW.

 

I gravity feed my CFC and even though I usually use a bag or Stainless Mesh basket to keep the majority of the hops out of my CFC, I still tend to drop my wort through a mesh screen. I pretend that it's helping aerate the wort more.

Break Material will run right through, but it does a decent job of keeping hop matter out. Nice bonus I think, if you harvest your yeast.

 

I voted no. I use paint strainer bags to contain my hops. I do 6 gallon batches with whirlfloc and I let my batches sit 15 minutes after it gets to temp to make sure I get as much break material to settle on the bottom as possible. I then use my ball-valve and gravity feed my wort into my carboy.

 

My thoughts and procedure exactly except my wort does through a paint strainer lined basket.

 

It's one of those things that is a matter of personal preference and nothing else. Some dump everything in, without straining, just pour it in the bucket or in the funnel....Some use a big strainer that fit in the funnel for a carboy, or a sanitized 5 gallon nylon paint strainer bag in the bucket...

I have done it all ways. It really doesn't matter...anything will settle.

In other words, there is no wrong way to do it, or better way, or way that will make the best beer...they all work...the choice is what will work the best for you. That's how you develop you own unique brewing process. By trying all ways and deciding what works best for you.

What I do with my IC, is chill the wort, then I lean the bottom of my autosiphon about two coils up from the bottom on the metal of the siphon. That rests it above most of the break material and trub, then I rack it to the fermenter until I'm down to that and carefully lower the siphon down into the gunk, just trying to get as much of the wort as possible without letting in the hops and break matter.

A whirlpool helps.

But pretty much up until I got my immersion chiller I just dumped for the majority of my batches. And I still managed to do well in contests...

I find that long primaries render my beer just as clear, and crisp tasting regardless of whether I dumped it all in or not....so I just do what works for me.....

 

I use a fine strainer bag before the fermenter to filter out all organic material (hops, grain bits, break, etc). I have been happier with this process than when I used to not strain. I find I get a 2-3% bump in my efficiency at packaging because I lose less beer to trub/gunk in the fermenter. I also feel like beers with a large hop bill in the kettle have a cleaner profile that I attribute to the removal of vegital matter from the fermenter.

Alternatively, I know that I am removing compounds that are beneficial to the yeast growth during filtration. I am separating out lipids and other compounds the yeast like. This is the trade off and I have sided with filtration. I think it is a good case for a side by side experiment and determine what works best for you. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

 

I strain, it seems to run much faster through the plate chiller that way.

 

I use a hop spider. It makes it a little easier to clean that way.

 

I even go as far as using hop sacks and filtering through the funnel. I've always looked at it as a great way to add o2 for fermentation.

 

I am not really asking for the best way to do it, but thanks for all the responses. I will keep just dumping it all in it works for me. Why I asked this question is, It seems like a lot of new brewers think you don't want any trub in your beer. That just got me curious on how many people actually strain there wort and how many people don't. Thanks for all the responses and votes.

 

pre chiller straining or disasters happen, cold break however goes to fermenter which is good imo.