Does anyone else run their chilled wort through a paint straining bag before going into fermenter?

[duffy5018]

Same here. But then the low oxygen group avoids oxygen getting in throughout the mash and other steps prior to fermentation. So...

The idea is ANY oxygen that touches the product once you start grinding your grains is bad, full stop. The dilemma is yeast need the O2 to regenerate enough to ferment appropriately. So, what I've been reading and hearing through podcasts and such (since I don't do LoDo cuz it's a ton of extra work and my beer wins awards without that, plus I don't really do the German / Bohemian Pilsner thing which is where that seems to truly shine), is that adding O2 an hour or two after pitching yeast, once they've theoretically scrubbed the trace amounts of it from beer, will be consumed really quickly and you've severely limited your O2 exposure. Vs adding O2, then adding yeast and waiting for them to get trucking. That extra 2 hours is potentially a source of oxidation.

 

[tracer bullet]

Cool, makes sense, thanks!

 

[Beermeister32]

The other thing you can do is increase your batch size by one gallon. Run off the first clear 5 gallons into your carboy.

Save the trub, crud, muck and sludge in a separate jug and ferment separately for experiments and weird beer drinking.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I absolutely do so and have done so for years. Catches a lot of trub.

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

Count me in as one of those guys, I use one of these https://shop.humle.se/en/equipment/brewing/straining/juice-strainer?
Just make sure to rinse and boil the net after use and sanitize before use, and to replace the net now and then.

 

[madscientist451]

I just pour all the wort/trub/hops into the strainer in the bottling bucket.

If you are able to pour/dump your wort, you don't need any strainers. Just let the wort settle and carefully pour off the clear wort.
If you are brewing large batches, its not practical to pour/dump the wort.
If you want to be really frugal, use a 1 gallon sanitized glass jug and dump the remaining kettle trub in that. This will then settle down to half trub/half wort. So if you have 1/2 gallon of kettle trub, you'll get about a quart of extra wort, which may or may not be worth doing any extra work for.
I can make a quart of wort for about 50 cents or less, so the only reason to save it would be to "wake up" a jar of yeast from my yeast bank that's been sitting in the fridge for a while.
I've also just dumped the whole thing in the fermenter and not worried about it, but my normal process is to figure in 1/2 to 3/4 gallon of waste in a batch and adjusted water volumes for that. If I'm using homegrown whole leaf hops, I plan for more kettle waste, and sometimes strain the final gallon into a jug.

 

[Spivey24]

I used to do various methods of straining the wort - bags or strainers. But then one time when I wasn’t paying a lot of attention and was messing with a strainer bag, some wort dumped across my hand into the fermenter. This turned into a major infection, and I ended up losing four entire batches before I got it out. The infection got into everything including the beer lines. I ended up sterilizing or replacing it all which was a pain. The more you mess with things, the greater the risk.

Now I just scale up the recipe a little in volume, and dump some of the trub and hops into the fermenter and leave the rest to dump. I get over it. Losing 4 batches was NOT worth the extra quart or 2 with straining, and it’s a whole lot simpler now and less things to clean. And like @madscientist451 said, if you are that pressed, dump the trub into a gallon or 2 sterilized glass container and let it settle out for a day in the fridge.

The other thing I noticed is this strained wort tastes awful compared to the other clear wort. Taste it sometime. Not sure if it translates to any taste difference in the final beer, but worth noting.

 

[jerrylotto]

You don't wear disposable gloves?

 

[Spivey24]

You don't wear disposable gloves?

Yea I was but not long ones and the bag overflowed up my wrist and in the glove. In hind site, I should have reheated the wort to sterilize, but I didn’t. My point just being, it’s easy to get distracted and screw up. And if you are straining cooled wort, you are messing with fire.

 

[cmac62]

I've been using a honey strainer for years. It works well on buckets. Amazon.com : Honey Keeper Honey Strainer Double Sieve #304 Stainless Steel Beekeeping Equipment Mesh Filter Screen : Garden & Outdoor

FYI, this might make a perfect false bottom for my Anvil 10.5 to use with a bag and no malt pipe.

Back on topic

I recently bought a whirl pool arm for my Anvil and after that I don't worry too much about whatever makes it into the fermenter. I may try to run it during cooling, remove the IC and run it for a while longer, then turn if off and let everything settle for 30 mins or so before transferring. I never really worried too much about break getting in as it drops out so fast.

 

[madscientist451]

one time when I wasn’t paying a lot of attention and was messing with a strainer bag, some wort dumped across my hand into the fermenter. This turned into a major infection, and I ended up losing four entire batches before I got it out. The infection got into everything including the beer lines. I ended up sterilizing or replacing it all which was a pain.

Sorry, I have to ask it.....what exactly were those fingers doing before they got some wort splashed on them?

I'll ask for forgiveness now for being ....

 

[Beermeister32]

I guess you’d say that beer had two fingers of head...

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

But then one time when I wasn’t paying a lot of attention and was messing with a strainer bag, some wort dumped across my hand into the fermenter. This turned into a major infection, and I ended up losing four entire batches before I got it out. The infection got into everything including the beer lines. I ended up sterilizing or replacing it all which was a pain. The more you mess with things, the greater the risk.

Clean straining bags, buckets, hands/arms are all rinsed with sanitizer. > 25 years and no problems using this method.

 

[Alan Reginato]

I use whirflock and a smaller biab bag as a filter.

But, hey, you need to sterilise that. Ethanol on the bag and up to the elbows. 1 minute of contact, at least.

 

[Saunassa]

with some styles, such as using homegrown leaf hops, I pour through this into bucket
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NG9E1I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
otherwise, I dumpeth the totality into the fermenter; it clears

I will have to remember this, last year I put 20 ounces of fresh picked Nugget, 20 minutes off the bines, into hop and steeping bags when i did my 5.5 gallon harvest ale. it was good but when cleaning the hops out of the bags noticed that a lot of lupulin was still there even though they had been in for last half of boil. I was thinking this year of throwing them in commando but did not know how to keep them out of the fermenter. think you just solved my problem.

 

[balrog]

think you just solved my problem.

It can require two or more "pours" from the kettle depending on the batch size and total hop volume, so keep a sanitized spoon or dumping system ready for the strainer
This is from a 4g batch w 6oz pellet hops total, what was left in boil kettle

and what the strainer held on first pour

With even 1oz fresh hops, the strainer would be pretty full, letting little liquid through, requiring emptying.

Just so you know.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

It can require two or more "pours" from the kettle depending on the batch size and total hop volume, so keep a sanitized spoon or dumping system ready for the strainer
This is from a 4g batch w 6oz pellet hops total, what was left in boil kettle
View attachment 734401

and what the strainer held on first pour
View attachment 734402

With even 1oz fresh hops, the strainer would be pretty full, letting little liquid through, requiring emptying.

Just so you know.

I am sorry, but in my experience/use/etc, strainers as shown are a real PITA with clogging and filtering.

 

[balrog]

I completely agree, @Tobor_8thMan , and use it in only two recipes.

I am a confirmed BIAB, DIAITF* brewer.

*Dump It All In The Fermenter

 

[tracer bullet]

I am sorry, but in my experience/use/etc, strainers as shown are a real PITA with clogging and filtering.

I think "it depends". I used to use a funnel and mesh strainer ages ago, for stuff going into the carboy from the boil kettle, and yep it was a huge PITA. But for a year or two I've used a hop spider during my boils, and I can lift that out of the wort, give it just a couple seconds worth of up / down shaking, and practically every drop of wort has come out and there's an actual ball of hops in the bottom.

I think it'll come down to - can you keep your filter clear easily enough for it to be worth it.

I've got a couple beers fermenting right now so I won't be able to try it soon but for my next few beers I'll give it a shot. An old hop spider fits 3/4 or more into my Big Mouth bubbler. I'll try to remember to report back.

 

[Edward's Beer Cellar]

I completely agree, @Tobor_8thMan , and use it in only two recipes.

I am a confirmed BIAB, DIAITF* brewer.

*Dump It All In The Fermenter

I am sorry, but in my experience/use/etc, strainers as shown are a real PITA with clogging and filtering.

I agree with these guys.
I've tried various methods to minimize crud transfer, and all of them were either a PIA and/or ineffective.

I've come down to "if it flows, it goes" (into the fermenter)

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I've tried various methods to minimize crud transfer, and all of them were either a PIA and/or ineffective.

I have also tried various methods. For many years my process was to let the trub settle for a bit while I cleaned gear. I would then rack using my auto-siphon leaving the worst of the trub and hops behind. With my 2.5 gallon batches, I started pouring the wort through a strainer and funnel. This works pretty well at removing most of the hops. I started using this process for my 5 gallon batches, but lifting and pouring the larger volume is awkward. The last batch I went back to using my auto-siphon method. One of these days I will get a kettle with a ball valve.

I am pretty sure that having some trub is good for fermentation. I have not seen much evidence that adding all the trub is overly bad (and I have done it multiple times myself). Trub can take up valuable fermenter space (more of an issue with my 3 gallon fermenters). I harvest yeast, so reducing the amount of trub might be a good thing there.

I do this it is a good idea to limit the amount of hop matter from the boil that makes it into the fermenter, though I don't have much proof that it makes a difference. Since I dry hop loose in the kettle, using the strainer to remove hop matter was my primary motivation. I might pick up a hop spider at some point.

Fermonster sells two types of bags that fit into the fermenter, and I have thought of picking up one. It could be useful for dry hopping but also as a filter to strain out hops (and maybe some trub). MonsterMesh Strainer for FermMonster Carboys | MoreBeer

 

[cmac62]

I am a confirmed BIAB, DIAITF* brewer.

*Dump It All In The Fermenter

LOL, Yeah a new acronym. I do whirlpool and leave a lot that way, but if it is in the kettle and gets into the fermenter, oh well. No harm, no foul. My beers don't generally get clear until they are in the keg at 35 f or so waiting for a spot in the keggerator.