Do you strain or dump your wort into fermentor?

[joshesmusica]

I used to strain because I like to pitch a slurry of yeast from one beer into the next (if my timing is right). It was a PITA. Now what I do is chill the wort and let it sit for a half hour or so. Then pour off into my ale pail until the sludge starts. All the sludge is then poured into a sanitized 2 gallon food grade container (re-purposed Utz's pretzel container from Sam's Club). I let it settle for a day or two, and then decant the liquid off into the now fermenting ale pail. With hoppy beers (6-8 ounces of hops) I will get about a gallon of clear wort this way with minimal effort. Gives me maximum beer volume with minimum trub, and makes it easier to harvest yeast for pitching into the next beer. I will do this for 3-4 times, and when I feel that I am done with that go-round for the yeast, I will just dump everything in the fermentor.

Make it all much simpler by just dumping all the trub in, dumping the used yeast after fermentation, and making an oversized starter for harvesting your yeast.

 

[Peruvian802]

I've started using my IC to create a whirlpool in my kettle. This helps chill faster and trub tends to settle in the middle of the kettle away from my pick up. I can then slowly drain the kettle and leave a lot of the material behind.

 

[Brewenstein]

Make it all much simpler by just dumping all the trub in, dumping the used yeast after fermentation, and making an oversized starter for harvesting your yeast.

If you make starters. I use mostly rehydrated US-05, so this does not apply to me. And it is super easy to scoop out a cup of non-trubbed up slurry out of an ale pail. But that is what is so great about this hobby - each brewer does what is best / easiest for him/her!

 

[pdog44450]

Personally, I strain it because it takes no extra time. I just dump the wort through a kitchen strainer straight into my fermentor and leave the last couple inches of trub behind and dump it down the drain. You might get more yeast flavor in your beer if you don't use a secondary, but I doubt it'd be a huge deal.