Straining wort before fermentation

[unionrdr]

I use a paint strainer, as well. It takes out a LOT of sludge. It also tends to hold a lot of wort in the sludge, so I squeeze the bag rather than lose the 1/2 gallon of wort.

Two questions, though:

1. Does this take out most, if not all, of the effect of a 0 minute hops? Should I dry hop instead of 0 minute if I'm doing this straining?
2. Following up on the "crystal clear beers" comment, do people still find a need for Whirlfloc or Irish Moss if they are straining?

1) No,I don't believe it does,since the 0 min hops should be in there during steeping of late extract additions & chilling.
2) I didn't need whirlflock,etc even before I started straining. Just get the wort chilled down to pitch temp in 20 mins or less,& no chill haze or very little at fridge time.
And giving the beer 3-7 days after FG is reached to settle out more before transfering to bottling bucket. The beer will clear in a couple days in the bottles. Little dusting of yeast trub at fridge time. Clear as a bell beer.

 

[chainsmoke]

I use nylon paint strainers. You can find them at home depot/lowes for 5gal buckets. They fit well on my 7 gal ale pail. The best part is I pick up my kettle real high (like chest level) and can pour the wort VERY aggressively into the bucket. Between the mesh and the vigorous pour, I get great aeration. Then I just take the nylon bag off, and lift it out with all the sludge.
Some sludge will make it through, but I have made crystal clear beers this way, as it all falls out during fermentation.

I was going to buy these today but the guy at my LHBS told me that nylon bags can melt above 160 steeping temps. After reading the above comment I went to the internet! According to wikipedia nylon has a melting point of 374–663 °F.

 

[unionrdr]

I use the muslin grain & hop sacks myself. Easy to clean good as new. The nylon ones should soak clean after being emptied & rinsed under the faucet in a PBW soak. Then rinse dry & store.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I always strain my wort through a stainless steel seive into the fermenter. Pulls ourt hopps and aerates, althougn I have nboticed my spiced beer ( pumpkin and christmas ale) have little to no spice flavor.

 

[unionrdr]

Either you're not adding enough spices,or not boiling them long enough. !0-15 minutesat the end of the boil is a good average. You can put them in a hop sack in secondary as well. Some do both. But I love using my big SS fine mesh strainer. Aerates real well,& gets all but the floury silty stuff.