Should i strain my wort???

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mpfeil8484

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2013
Messages
65
Reaction score
2
I am new to brewing, I was wondering if I should strain my wort prior to putting it in the first fermenter so most of the trub is left behind?
 
well there are 3 camps.

camp 1: it doesn't matter, it will all settle out

camp 2: its better not to strain, that's nutrients and there is a lot of sugar stuck to that stuff.

camp 3: none of that nasty stuff is going into my beer

subcamp of 3: people that for mechanical reasons like plate chillers and some counterflow chillers that NEED to strain to keep their systems working efficiently.
 
Camp one-won't take the time,it'll all settle out.
Camp 2-ain't no goodies left in that gunk-n-funk
Camp 3-Needs to because of plate chillers,etc,or doesn't like the thought of a half gallon or more of beer lost to all that trub in the bottom.
I like straining all into the fermenter,pouring in a circular motion so the liquid comes out the bottom like rain. Not just cleaner,but aerated some. Then I stir 5 minutes straight to mix well & aerate more. A little tiny bit of extra effort will not only yeild more beer later,but less funk to clean then as well.
 
I never strain anything. The only thing I leave behind in my pot is the thick, solid hopjunk. The rest all settles out in the fermenter. I've never had issues with off flavors or cloudy beer.
 
It's not that you'll get off flavors or cloudy beer,but less beer due to a thicker trub layer at the bottom. I've seen some on here get a gallon or more lost to a huge trub layer. Strain it out & you'll get more out.
 
always strain the hops. I think you lose more beer to the trub if you don't.
 
The best thing I have found (you hopefully have a valve on your kettle) is just to let the kettle sit for an hour after it's done chilling, then drain it. Typically your trub will settle under the level of the valve, then you can tip the kettle forward and drain till you see funk coming through. This works great for me.
 
I don't strain
I've found with partial boils not straining and topping up to 5.5 uses the same top up water as straining and topping up to 5 gallons.

full boils i just target 5.5.

any system has loss, for me it works putting the loss in the primary as trub loss.

strain a batch, don't strain a batch, repeat the one that works best.:ban:
 
I don't strain either. I do:

- use whirlfloc

- whirlpool the wort after removing the chiller and let it settle for 15 minutes

- leave the residue behind in the kettle (in the area below the ball valve coupling)

- cold crash 3-5 days before kegging or bottling

- sometimes use gelatin finings at kegging time.

I'm pretty pleased with the clarity of my brews.
 
Well thanks for all the input, I think I will get a boiling bag to keep the sediment to a minimum my last batch is ruined due to too much trub in the bottles...the beer taste like yeast horrible!!!!
 
If the trub in the bottles has had time to settle out and you have a good pour into a glass you shouldn't have any yeast flavor
 
mpfeil8484 said:
Well thanks for all the input, I think I will get a boiling bag to keep the sediment to a minimum my last batch is ruined due to too much trub in the bottles...the beer taste like yeast horrible!!!!

How long do you leave them in the fridge? On my first batch, I kept tasting them after 24 hours in the fridge and thought they were very yeasty. Leaving them in the cold for 3-5 days made a big difference.
 
How long do you leave them in the fridge? On my first batch, I kept tasting them after 24 hours in the fridge and thought they were very yeasty. Leaving them in the cold for 3-5 days made a big difference.


+1. This will very likely help. When I give someone a bottle of my home brew, I tell them to give it at least 3 days in the fridge, preferably a few more.
 
Straining is a decent method of aeration as well, you pour your worth through a siv or some other strainer with small holes and your beer will be foamy as hell going into the bucket/carboy.

I only strain when doing whole leaf hops FWIW. No point trying to strain other stuff.
 
So far I've strained every time. Aggressively pour batch back and forth through strainer from kettle to bucket a few times. Seems to aerate a fair amount (lots of foam created) and gets the gunk out. Just the way I prefer to do it.
 
I used to be in the no-strain camp. I even have several older posts around here where I have stated as such. Then came the time late last summer when I found a dead bee in my trub after racking a wee heavy to a keg. It wasn't a big deal and the brew came out fine, but I didn't really care for the idea of insects in my fermenting beer. Since it didn't cause an infection, I figured it must have landed in there during the boil, as opposed to during the cool down. At any rate, upon discovering the bee, I thought to myself that maybe I should start straining again (I used to early on, but then stopped as I couldn't tell a difference), so that's where I am today.
 
Doomsday said:
How much sediment was in your bottles?
How long did you let it condition?

They have been conditioned for three week at room temp then two weeks in fridge
They have so much sediment that if u move a bottle to rough a cloud appears in the bottle
 
They have been conditioned for three week at room temp then two weeks in fridge
They have so much sediment that if u move a bottle to rough a cloud appears in the bottle

By any chance did you move your fermenter around much before you racked the beer over into the bottling bucket?

It is possible to slosh it around enough to re-suspend the yeast that had been sitting in the bottom of the fermenter. If that happens, it's a good idea to let it sit still a few hours to let things settle back out some and then be careful when racking to not disturb the yeast/trub.

Sounds like you may just have to get with this batch by doing very careful pours.
 
Back
Top