Noob... Was I suppose to strain the wort before putting in the fermenter?

[subssonicimpalass]

This is my first batch. The funnel that came with my kit has a removeable strainer in it. I left it in to pour the wort into the fermenter. Was this right?? I had to clear the strainer out SEVERAL times to finish pouring the wort into the fermenter. There was ALOT of sediment / hops sludge looking stuff in the cooking pot.

Did I mess things up??

 

[Stix]

No problem you did fine.

 

[passedpawn]

No, don't strain. Not necessary. Won't hurt anything as long as it's sanitized.

When fermentation is finished (i.e., about 10 days) Everthing that is not beer should settle to the bottom. It might take longer.

Just be careful when you siphon out the beer to leave all the material at the bottom.

You'll find later that gelatin, cold, and time will clear your beer very nicely

 

[Clann]

I only strain if I use whole hops. If I use pellets then everything goes in. Either way your beer will be fine.

 

[Stix]

No, don't strain. Not necessary. Won't hurt anything as long as it's sanitized.

When fermentation is finished (i.e., about 10 days) Everthing that is not beer should settle to the bottom. It might take longer.

Just be careful when you siphon out the beer to leave all the material at the bottom.

You'll find later that gelatin, cold, and time will clear your beer very nicely

If it does not hurt then what he did was fine. I chalk this up to personal preference. I like to strain it through the strainer as it is nice for aerating it aswell.

 

[Ultrazord]

I always strain, however, like every part of home brewing it is 100% personal preference. Very little hop flavor is impacted without the boil and most sediment falls to the bottom.

 

[passedpawn]

If it does not hurt then what he did was fine. I chalk this up to personal preference. I like to strain it through the strainer as it is nice for aerating it aswell.

By far, the most dangerous time for the beer is going from the container in which it was chilled to the fermenters. Adding any extra, unnecessary step there should be avoided.

 

[Squirrels]

My first two batches I did the same clean the strainer routine. It made pouring the wort in a pain. Well after deciding that I was sick of clearing it and just dumped without the strainer.

I now have a pickup tube in my kettle and I do a whirlpool. This keeps a lot of junk out of the fermenter, but I haven't noticed a huge difference in taste. My clarity has gone up because of this, but no real difference to me in the taste. I also have not done a secondary in over a year and haven't regretted it at all.

 

[Atog]

your fine

 

[Stix]

I do not believe it is a unnecessary, nor any more dangerous step, no more than oxygenating the wort. While straining you are oxygenating. With a good yeast starter or correct number of packs of dry any type of infection chance would be very low as long at sanitization was good.

 

[subssonicimpalass]

Wow, this site is great!! Thanks for the quick responses. I just added the yeast. Can't wait for my first home brewed beer.

Thanks again!!

 

[passedpawn]

I do not believe it is a unnecessary, nor any more dangerous step, no more than oxygenating the wort. While straining you are oxygenating. With a good yeast starter or correct number of packs of dry any type of infection chance would be very low as long at sanitization was good.

OK, I'll say it's unnecessary for me.

 

[bleme]

I used to strain but it seems like each batch I brew uses more hops than the last. Straining worked fine if I only had 1 oz of hops but when I use 3oz or more I spend more time cleaning the strainer than I spend pouring so it all goes in now. I haven't noticed a difference.

FWIW, aggressive shaking/swirling adds way more oxygen than straining.

 

[Stix]

I used to strain but it seems like each batch I brew uses more hops than the last. Straining worked fine if I only had 1 oz of hops but when I use 3oz or more I spend more time cleaning the strainer than I spend pouring so it all goes in now. I haven't noticed a difference.

FWIW, aggressive shaking/swirling adds way more oxygen than straining.

Ok lets not make misstatements about straining verse shaking and swirling that's just silly. Plus shaking swirling/shaking is more accident prone. I do not strain but to make agruements against are a bit deceiving.

 

[HibsMax]

I use muslin bags for the hops pellets (not tightly packed) and I strain as well. I figure the more gunk I get out now, the less will end up in my finished product.

 

[bleme]

Ok lets not make misstatements about straining verse shaking and swirling that's just silly. Plus shaking swirling/shaking is more accident prone. I do not strain but to make agruements against are a bit deceiving.

Not too long ago someone posted a chart that showed the only method more effective than shaking was pure O2 with a stone. I'll dig it up when I'm not on my phone.

 

[jvp1]

I like straining because it leaves less gunk in the fermenter and less stuff that might get bottled -- occasionally you do get floaty bits that don't settle and you don't necessarily want those in your beer. The oxygenation is just an added perk.

 

[titanics]

its interesting to hear how some brewers on here do not strain their brews when pouring it into the primary. I had always assumed that was a given, I'm going to try not straining on my next brews - see how the taste is effected. The more hops the better in my opinion. cheers mate.

and don't worry whatever you do the beer will be fine and drinkable.:fro:

 

[ScoRas]

I get really good aeration through straining the cooled wort into the fermenter, evident from about a 4 inch head of foam.

Do you siphon or pour your cooled wort? I find that whirlpooling and siphoning works to leave behind more trub, and the strainer doesn't clog.

 

[TarVolon]

its interesting to hear how some brewers on here do not strain their brews when pouring it into the primary. I had always assumed that was a given, I'm going to try not straining on my next brews - see how the taste is effected. The more hops the better in my opinion. cheers mate.

and don't worry whatever you do the beer will be fine and drinkable.:fro:

I've only made two batches, but I've never strained anything anywhere. Even when I added fruit. And there was no issue with clogging the siphon hose, and there was no gunk in the bottling bucket.

All the hop sludge tends to settle to the bottom when I'm cooling the wort, so it's pretty easily to get rid of 90% of it without straining.

 

[bethebrew]

I've only made two batches, but I've never strained anything anywhere. Even when I added fruit. And there was no issue with clogging the siphon hose, and there was no gunk in the bottling bucket.

All the hop sludge tends to settle to the bottom when I'm cooling the wort, so it's pretty easily to get rid of 90% of it without straining.

The strain was lifting the entire 5 gallon batch and brew kettle high enough to pour it through the strainer/funnel. I use leaf hops best to get them out then. Now my strainer is in the kettle itself and everything just flows nicely into the carboys with no strain to my back.

 

[Stix]

Not too long ago someone posted a chart that showed the only method more effective than shaking was pure O2 with a stone. I'll dig it up when I'm not on my phone.

The biggest point of exchange is the surface area you break on top. Bubblers underneath are less effective. Swirling, straining or shaking will get you to the 8ppm only with oxygen will you get more.

 

[bleme]

I am sure the post I saw originally was on this board. I'm still on my phone but I did find this link.

http://www.brewangels.com/Beerformation/AerationMethods.pdf

 

[Stix]

I am sure the post I saw originally was on this board. I'm still on my phone but I did find this link.

http://www.brewangels.com/Beerformation/AerationMethods.pdf

That only compares rocking to stones in which I said were very poor at aerating wort. The time it takes to strain is much longer and achieves the same results. Thats all I am saying. Plus you get the crap removed if you want.

 

[brewski08]

papa Papazian tells me to strain...so i strain...

 

[jvp1]

When I strain through mesh, I always wind up with more foam than I can fit in my fermenter :O

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I always strain through a sanitized stainless steel seive into the fermenter, using a bucket as primary When the strainer gets clogged I just rotate it to a fresh area of the strainer and drive forward.

 

[petey_c]

I started to strain my brews for the last six or seven batches. I've also started to use Whirlfloc. The combination of the two is yielding clearer brews. Exactly what percentage each contributes, I can't say. I did make a TWR IIPA from AHS recently using 7 ounces of hops and had a football (American) sized ball of hops left over. I use a 5 gal. paint strainer bag (HD) and pour my cooled wort into it. I don't use a hops bag for dry hopping either.

 

[Yooper]

I don't strain. I used to, but found that there is no difference in the final beer so I don't bother.

If I have a TON of hops, I will sometimes use a hops bag. That's not really for clearer wort, though- it's to avoid clogging my chiller.

 

[zeg]

The strain was lifting the entire 5 gallon batch and brew kettle high enough to pour it through the strainer/funnel. I use leaf hops best to get them out then. Now my strainer is in the kettle itself and everything just flows nicely into the carboys with no strain to my back.

I use an old, sanitized, two-quart saucepan to scoop the wort out and pour it into the strainer.

I usually use a stainless steel mesh strainer which I sanitize by boiling for the last 15 minutes (I don't trust chemical sanitizers to permeate every crevice in the mesh). The first time I used the stainless strainer plus the finer plastic strainer in my funnel. This gets a lot of the little stuff, but even with two-stage straining is rather slow. I'm now leaning toward just the single straining, or no straining at all, depending on my mood and what I'm making.

 

[HibsMax]

I use an old, sanitized, two-quart saucepan to scoop the wort out and pour it into the strainer.

I usually use a stainless steel mesh strainer which I sanitize by boiling for the last 15 minutes (I don't trust chemical sanitizers to permeate every crevice in the mesh). The first time I used the stainless strainer plus the finer plastic strainer in my funnel. This gets a lot of the little stuff, but even with two-stage straining is rather slow. I'm now leaning toward just the single straining, or no straining at all, depending on my mood and what I'm making.

If you're going to take the strain approach, why not use muslin bags? I know some people worry about hop utilization but I make sure that I don't stuff the hop pellets tightly at all. I use a small mulsin bag and I tie the knot as near to the end as I can allowing maximum expansion. I still pour through a strainer and since most of the material is in a bag (or bags), the strainer remains clear enough to pour all at once.

 

[zeg]

If you're going to take the strain approach, why not use muslin bags? I know some people worry about hop utilization but I make sure that I don't stuff the hop pellets tightly at all. I use a small mulsin bag and I tie the knot as near to the end as I can allowing maximum expansion. I still pour through a strainer and since most of the material is in a bag (or bags), the strainer remains clear enough to pour all at once.

I tried one once, but it didn't seem to do much good. It may have been too coarse a bag, but enough of the hops seemed to find their way out into the wort anyway that it didn't save much trouble.

Even with a finer bag, the stuff that clogs the fine in-funnel strainer is going to escape freely, so I'm just not going to bother with that. For the stainless steel strainer, that is easy enough just to dump out a couple times if it clogs.

FWIW, I'm not concerned about utilization, I just don't like to bother with extra equipment. Particularly disposable or must-wash equipment.

 

[HibsMax]

I tried one once, but it didn't seem to do much good. It may have been too coarse a bag, but enough of the hops seemed to find their way out into the wort anyway that it didn't save much trouble.

Even with a finer bag, the stuff that clogs the fine in-funnel strainer is going to escape freely, so I'm just not going to bother with that. For the stainless steel strainer, that is easy enough just to dump out a couple times if it clogs.

FWIW, I'm not concerned about utilization, I just don't like to bother with extra equipment. Particularly disposable or must-wash equipment.

I don't use the smaller strainer, just a large one and that catches some stuff which must leak out of the muslin bags a little. The only thing I don't like about the bag approach is throwing out the bags. I know you can wash them, and I know there are alternatives, but I have big bags of muslin bags so I am using them for now.