Wort Filtering Idea

[willemg007]

I have a hop filter contraption that I got from Utah Biodiesel Supply. I usually use it in the boil kettle to throw my hops into. Does an excellent job of filtering out hop crud since the mesh is 300 micron. However I think since the hops are confined I don't think I get great hop utilization.

Brewing 2 batches tomorrow and I am thinking of using this filter only at the very end when I pump my wort into the fermenter. Just a thought, but seems like I would still catch all of the hop junk but could also catch hot & cold break that way too.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[billl]

I think lots of us do something similar with paint straining bags. It doesn't really catch much break material though.

 

[budbo]

300 microns is wasting you time, it is good for filtering mash but fairly useless for reducing trub, anything bigger than 1 micron is for filtering mash particles, and isn't going to gain to much. use the filter to eliminate the need for vourlafing, other than that you are cleaning it for little gain. Don't fear the hop trub, it is flavoring the beer.

 

[slym2none]

Some might even say the beer is better if you pour all the trub in.

 

[GenIke]

my preference is to pour it all in and let nature clear my beer.

 

[govner1]

I chill/whirlpool and this leaves a nice pyramid of trub in the middle of my BK. this lets me transfer the chilled wort directly to my fermenters w/ minimum trub.
So far the results have been very good for the last several years.

 

[wobdee]

I've tried using the same filter for filtering trub and it just clogged real fast and became a pain. Now I let the trub settle for an hour prior to transferring to fermenter. I still get some trub towards the end of transfering but I'm not worried about it.

 

[Jq1n]

Last batch I brewed I used a muslin bag for the hops. That contained a lot of the trub. After the boil and cool I picked the kettle up and poured from it into my fermenting bucket, through a run-of-the-mill "splatter gaurd" from the kitchen. It's one of those large circular screens that people put over a pot when simmering spaghetti sauce or frying bacon to stop the splashing. It has a really fine mesh. It's also big enough that you can pour all around the trub that collects so you can keep the flow going. It seemed to work pretty good. Lots stayed in the bag and lots was stopped by the spatter guard. I haven't bottled yet so I don't know how much actually made it into the fermenter though.

 

[d_boosh]

I use a half sphere stainless mesh kitchen strainer to catch the big trub gunk as I transfer to fermentor. It clogs rather quick but is easy to flip over and flick the gunk out into trash. Some gets by but settles out and I rack to secondary and my beer is usually very clear

 

[Feurhund]

I have tried a lot of techniques And I now use a Blichmann Hop Blocker in the kettle, with a Hop Rocket packed with stainless scrubbies before my plate chiller. I whirlpool back into the kettle for a bit to get temp down and leave some cold break in there and then transfer to the fermentor. Has worked well on the last few batches.

 

[ponderale]

Now I BIAB, give the wort, trub and all a nice slushy pour into the fermenter (5 gal) then stir it like hell. Also I normally don't secondary. Turns out as clear and tasty as all the rest. Makes beer every time!