Filter Hops From Kettle

[mbaker33]

Hello All,

I am relatively new to the brewing world but have a ton of fun with what I have done so far.

My latest brew was a bass ale clone and it seems to have a lot of hop particulate floating around that my other brews have not had. I was wondering if perhaps there is a way to filter out at least the hops particles (I usually use pellets) when transferring from the kettle to primary (ale pale bucket).

any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[GreenwoodRover]

You can whirlpool the wort in an attempt to get the trub to "cone up in the center" it works for a lot of people but that has never really worked for me.
You can strain it though a piece of sanatized cheesecloth or hop sack
You can crash cool at 34F for a few days before bottling to get it to compact at the bottom
and...
You can also just RDWHAHB and be confident that it will settle out over time.

 

[truckmann]

You can also use nylon bags to put the hops in the wort so no filtering is needed. Really though the hops in the primary won't hurt anything. I use a filter bag because I don't want to run hop debris through my plate chiller. Some say that utilization isn't as good when using a nylon filter, but I have not had any problems.

 

[LaurieGator]

I use nylon bags to strain the hops and Irish moss... I tried one batch leaving all the stuff in the fermentor and it is aging. I will know the results in a couple of months since it was a huge stout...

 

[944play]

If you (sanitize and) put one of these

over your bucket, you will catch the hops and trub while aerating your wort.

 

[AnonyBrew]

You can whirlpool the wort in an attempt to get the trub to "cone up in the center" it works for a lot of people but that has never really worked for me.
You can strain it though a piece of sanatized cheesecloth or hop sack
You can crash cool at 34F for a few days before bottling to get it to compact at the bottom
and...
You can also just RDWHAHB and be confident that it will settle out over time.

This is great advice!

 

[Homercidal]

I siphon and pour it through the chiller and then through a mesh strainer on it's way into the fermenter.

Or, you can ignore it and RDWHAHB! It won't hurt anything, honest.

 

[JoefromPhilly]

I got a very fine mesh filter that fits over the 5 gallon bucket. It looks like a big shower cap. Soak it in your sanitizer, then rinse it out and stick it over the bucket and pour. It catches all the particulate matter and hops. Just dump the stuff in the sink and wash out the filter. Very simple and easy to use.

- Joe

 

[mbaker33]

Thanks guys for all of the info. I know it won't hurt anything to have it in the primary, and I don't really care that it is in the primary, but it seems to be coming out into the keg. When you see floaties in your glass, you tend to automatically think it's something disgusting. I know better, but my friends don't always.

I was thinking about using a bag for the hops and irish moss, but I think the better idea is to use the strainer over the bucket to catch the big stuff and the little stuff I know will fall to the bottom over time.

I had thought of whirlpooling, but I was unsure how to go about doing this. I have a standard 9 gallon brewpot, no spigot or anything.

 

[ByramMike]

The whirlpooling has not worked for me, I strain it as I pour into the primary, though it is also possible to strain it into the secondary as well. So leaving it in primary to get it all hopped up may work.

 

[Homercidal]

I usually lift my BK onto the table (no pump yet) and get it spinning with a spoon and prep my chiller. Gives the aroma hops a minute more to soak. Then I start the siphon from near the top of the wort. By this time most of the chunks have sunk down a bit.

I move the siphon down as the level goes down. The last bit might have some gunk coming through, but the screen catches anything of any size.

It *should* sink during fermentation, leaving a very clear beer. Do you crash cool for a day or 3 before transferring to keg or bottles? That can help too.