Kettle to primary: Dump, strain or rack?

[Steve68]

My first extract kit--Millenium Falconer's Flight. Directions say to pour chilled wort into primary or use auto-siphon, and top up to 5.25 gallons.

My concern is the trub (?) from the hops that may be left on the bottom of kettle. Should that be put in or strained out of the primary bucket? (And why or why not would be helpful, too).

Thanks

 

[k1ngl1ves]

I dump it all in. It's good for your beer!

 

[TX_Brewing]

i dump it all in. It's good for your beer!

+1

 

[brewbama]

I drain my wort thru a strainer into the fermenter. I still get some trub but not as much.

 

[Sammy86]

Dump it all in..yeast food!

 

[jwalk4]

http://brulosophy.com/2014/06/02/the-great-trub-exbeeriment-results-are-in/

I love sharing exbeeriments: perceived flavor and clarity impacts of dumping vs. siphoning.

 

[unionrdr]

After chilling the wort down to 75F or so, I pour it through a fine mesh strainer into primary. This not only gets out a lot of hop/grain gunk. but helps aerate the wort as well. Then top off to recipe volume with spring water chilled a day or two before. This gets the wort down to 65F or so quickly, & can produce a cold break. It basically gives less compacted trub/yeast come bottling day.

 

[Johow]

If I'm using whole hops, I'll try to leave them in the kettle by racking thru a mesh bag. But if I used pellets, I still use siphon because I don't feel like straining my back picking up the kettle full of wort but it mostly all goes into the fermenter. When you look at the layers of sediment in the bottom of your fermenter, it seems the hop particles are the first thing that drops out followed bu the rest of the trub and then the yeast.
Lately I've been making a habit of cold crashing and fining with gelatin so my beer has been coming out pretty clear regardless.

 

[Heresolong]

I add Irish moss, quick cool it, and then rack. I just don't like so much stuff in the primary. Sounds like there is no consensus so you get to do what you want.

 

[Steve68]

Thanks for the great suggestions. I went with the cool and pour through a strainer mesh method--SWMBO came in the house and asked what I was up to just in time to hold the strainer!

I figured that all of the stuff I've read on the whole grain method leaves all the stuff in the kettle, I can't go wrong by straining it out.

BTW.... I ordered this kit with a WYEAST Ale smack-pack...bad idea! Even though it shipped with a chill pad, it was DOA. I kept it in the fridge until brew day, but even after five hours on the counter it showed no signs of life...lesson learned.

Again, thanks for your ideas.

 

[kh54s10]

I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag clipped to the lip of the BK for the hops. I add each at the appropriate time to the bag, swirl it around and drain after the boil. This keeps a lot of the trub out of the fermenter. I then just open the valve in my kettle and drain all but a few ounces of the thickest part.

I tried a strainer.... ONCE.....

 

[petrolSpice]

I will pour it all in if it fits in the fermenter.

On my next brew I'm going to try the above method for removing spent hops after the boil. I have used a hop spider with a smaller bag but it seemed like I was getting poorer hop utilization.

Straining/filtering is a PAIN. Anything that is fine enough to keep out the pellet hops will clog in seconds. At least that's been my experience.