Siphon or strain?

[worth]

I am making my first homebrew ever tomorrow (homebrewery.com kit IPA), and I was thinking about siphoning from the brew pot to the fermenter and keeping the hose at the top of the fermenter b/c I don't have a funnel/strainer, but I am worried that this may not provide enough oxygen. I also plan to brew the whole five gallons of wort at once instead of the smaller amount of wort mixed with water, as I have a giant pot and SWMBO would let me brew in the house anyway. Is there anything I need to watch out for brewing all the wort at once instead of the smaller amount of wort like the recipe says, and will I get enough oxygenation of the wort by siphoning from the brew pot into the top of the fermenter and allowing splashing, or should I search out a funnel/strainer tomorrow am? Thanks and I can't wait to get started. Worth

 

[Grizzlybrew]

If the kit is formulated for a partial boil (and no late extract additions), your IBU's will most likely be higher if you do a full boil (lower gravity wort = better hops utilization). You might want to do some math and pull back slightly on the bittering hops and maybe even your flavoring and aroma hops - either that, or shift their addition times back by 5-10 min (this will affect flavoring/aroma slightly, but will also decrease the utilization of these additions)

As far as aeration, there are plenty of opinions out there, but I would say splashing and shaking the carboy for now is probably sufficient for now. If you really want to aerate, get a stone and use oxygen or an aquarium pump with a good filter (I know Sweetwater in GA uses plain, filtered air in their process) - or make a starter.

Good Luck!

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Splashing will be fine.

Watch for boil overs if you stove top has the btu's for it.

 

[Challenger440]

I am a noob so take maybe the more experienced guys can give better advice. If your kit has any hop additions during the boil, I would use a strainer to transfer. I tried to siphon my first batch, which had a total of 4 ounces of hops in the boil, and the siphon kept getting clogged. The strainer would also aerate better. Just my noob $.02 from my brief experience.

Also keep a close eye on your boil. A boilover could easily happen unless you have a massive brewpot

 

[worth]

Thanks for the tips.