2 Part Question Revvy?

[n2fooz]

Ok part one is quick. I just converted to using a 6.5 gal carboy instead of bucket. I purchased a funnel with screen but it clogged immediately when transferring from my kettle. What is the trick? Should I syphon the wort from my boil kettle instead of pouring?

Second part for Revvy. I'm doing an Amber Ale, I was planning on a long primary with no secondary but since my strainer clogged I had to pour without the screen. I tried my best but plenty of trub got through. I'm having second thoughts about leaving it for weeks on the trub. What do you think?

 

[Ace_Club]

I know this is intended for Revvy, but I'll share my opinions anyway.

1. If the screen is getting clogged with (I assume) pellet hops debris and trub, you can use a spoon to stir the liquid in the funnel and then scoop out the debris and pour some more into the funnel. Alternately, you can cool, stir and then siphon knowing that most of the debris should have piled up in the center of the kettle.

2. You'll be fine leaving it in the primary for 4-6 weeks. Shouldn't be a problem.

 

[bja]

1. Don't use the screen. A little hops and trub in the fermenter won't hurt a thing.

2. It'll be just fine.

 

[Jota21]

more of a question than an answer, but could you use a sanitized stainless steel lint trap intened for washing machine use? Hose-clamp it to the bottom of your funnell and put it down into the carboy. It will take a lot more to clog that than a small screen.

 

[Teaman]

They make screens that will sit inside of your funnel. Look in the kitchen supply dept at Wally World or Target.

 

[Ace_Club]

more of a question than an answer, but could you use a sanitized stainless steel lint trap intened for washing machine use? Hose-clamp it to the bottom of your funnell and put it down into the carboy. It will take a lot more to clog that than a small screen.

That's not a bad idea. The only problem I see is when you go to take the funnel out, the screen will be pretty full and would probably make a mess as you try to pull it through the neck/opening of the carboy.

Ideally, you'd siphon cooled wort from the kettle into the carboy. Whirlpooling the wort and attaching a filter to the end of the siphon (steel/copper scrubbie) would solve all your trub/hop debris carry over.

Otherwise, relax, don't worry and have a homebrew!

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Whenever you use a strainer it will inevitably clog up. You can either pour slowly through the built up hop debris or stop pouring and dump the debris.

Personally I do use a strainer as I find I get a lot less debris in the bottle but I frequently forget to use it and the beer still comes out clear and delicious. Once the strainer clogs I try to pour slowly to use the debris as a filter to catch smaller hop particles and grain bits. I dump it out when it stops letting a constant stream pass.

That debris will not hurt your beer flavor in any way, no matter how long it sits. People leave beer on fruit for months and months and it comes out delicious. What's a few weeks-months on a little boiled hops? If you are concerned with clarity, use some irish moss or gelatin as a fining.

 

[Boleslaus]

I use a strainer and just use a spoon to kind of scrape the hop debris to the side while still pouring the rest of the hot wort over it, kind of like sparging the hops. I usually never have so much hop debris that I have to remove it mid-transfer.

 

[n2fooz]

Yeah it was hop pellet debris and I tried scraping it with a spoon but the debris was in the screen, not on top so it wouldn't clear. I removed the screen and poured through the funnel being careful not to pour the last bit that had the most trub.

I'm not worried too much, just curious about the long primary versus racking to secondary to get off the trub.

 

[BendBrewer]

Yeah, hop pellets suck. Avoid at all costs.

If you uses whole hops, you can place some spent hops in a colander and pour through that to 'strain' out the remainder. You will have some trub but that is nothing to worry about. Remember rule #1.

 

[Revvy]

I've dumped everything in the bucket for years, use pellets hops pretty exclusively and have had no issues with clarity or with siphoning, ever. Everything settles eventually and compacts into a nice tight yeast cake.

 

[Bottenbrew]

To hopefully help your fears a little I left a Belgian summer ale in a primary carboy for 4 months on yeast/hops/trub because I forgot about it under my stairs, and it came out delicious. Also before I made my wort chiller, I always just pours everything into my ale pail to cool/ferment and never bothered to strain.

 

[n2fooz]

Thanks guys

 

[Jawbox0]

Also, to avoid this in the future it often helps to contain the hops in a bag during boil. You can use fabric hop bags, or those big paint strainer bags. For one example, search for the Hop Spider in the forums. It won't help with the hot break material, but it does help with pellet hops debris.

 

[devilishprune]

I would agree with Jawbox: if you want to siphon into your fermenter and avoid some of the crap at the bottom, filtering during the boil is going to be really helpful.

As for my two cents? I just dump it all in there. My beers come out clear after sitting in the fermenter for a few weeks and pouring it all in makes it easier for me to end my brew days.