Straining wort

[oze152]

What is the best way to strain your wort after cooling and transfering to your fermenter? I have done about 7 batches now and have been using the large white screened funnel that comes with most beginning brewers equipment kits and I have been having a lot of difficulty getting the wort to flow through the funnel. Any recommendations on how to make this process easier or more efficient?

 

[Buzzbeer]

If you're talking about straining as you transfer from BK to fermenter, I suggest doing a good whirlpool and letting things settle for 15 or 20 minutes. Most of the break material, hop sludge, etc will stay in the kettle when you transfer. And what does go into the fermneter won't hurt a thing. I used to do what you are describing and have gone to the whirlpool technique. Hope this helps.

 

[bobbrews]

Do what buzz said, and wrap the bottom of your racking cane with one of those 5 gallon nylon mesh paint strainer bags. If using a bucket to ferment, you could also wrap one of those bags around the bucket opening for double the filtering power.

 

[TyTanium]

...large white screened funnel...difficulty getting the wort to flow through the funnel...how to make this process easier

For using the funnel, just tilt it at a 45° angle and direct the wort flow to the top half of the filter. The liquid pushes away the junk which collects on the bottom half. Works great. Keep a sanitized spoon handy to scoop out the junk when it builds up.

Works even better after a whirlpool like the other guys mentioned - the vast majority of the wort runs clear.

 

[oze152]

These are all great suggestions! Bob when you say racking cane do you mean that you usually siphon from the boiling kettle to the fermenter just like you would when going from the fermenter to bottling bucket? Never thought of doing that... I assume that I would create the whirlpool in the kettle using my spoon and then poor to the funnel once the whirlpool action is spinning good.

 

[bobbrews]

The racking cane is the long tube, usually with an auto-siphon, that transfers your cool wort (65 F-ish) to the primary. You would not want to ever siphon boiling wort with this piece of equipment. I suggest reading more on "whirlpooling". You would never rack immediately after whirlpooling. The trub takes time to settle.

 

[NCangler17]

Don't strain after its in your fermenter and yeast is pitched, as oxygenation at this point is bad. If you're concerned about sediment just be careful how you rack it from the fermenter and don't disturb the yeast cake.

Before I pitch yeast, I strain the heck out of it.
I cool in the boil kettle, drain through a ball valve and hose through hop spider into an ale pale bottling bucket, the drain from the bottle bucket through a funnel screener into a carboy. As long as your equipment is sanitized thoroughly, and the beer isn't exposed to air above the rim of the vessel you shouldn't get an infection. I.E. the hose in my ball valve goes to the bottom of the hop spider, and the bottom of the hop spider is only 2 inches from the bottom of the ale pale. No splashing above the rim, and this will give you a double filter through fine mesh.

 

[NCangler17]

Forgot to also mention that a fine screen funnel adds good oxygen to the fermentation carboy.

 

[bobbrews]

@NCangler17

More specifically, oxygen is very beneficial to yeast during the first 24 hours of pitching. That is when the yeast go on their biggest rampage of eating sugars and using oxygen to create alcohol and carbon dioxide. But normally, brewers will aerate, pitch, seal, and wait... not aerate, pitch, aerate, wait, seal, aerate, wait. So to say that oxygen is bad directly after yeast pitching is not entirely accurate. 02 is still very important at this stage, but brewer procedure usually doesn't require a second intervention to add more 02 after the initial pre-pitch aeration. A well aerated wort will still have some oxygen in it for up to 3-5 days, or when the yeast are completely finishing eating and using 02.

 

[NCangler17]

True. Essentially my system does that. Only pitch yeast in the carboy, but aerate from boil pot to ale pale, and also (more vigorously) from ale pale to carboy. Gravity does everything in my brewery from siphoning, to aerating.

 

[oze152]

The racking cane is what I thought you were referring to it sounds like, I just never used it to transfer chilled wort to the fermenter, i always poor my wort through a large funnel into the fermenter, which is why I was curious. I had never thought to use the racking cane for that purpose. I will definitely be doing further research on whirlpooling.