FIltering Wort

[hartm]

I am in the process of making an English PaleAle from a kit and Ifound that I lost a lot of wort because I was worried about siphoning the hop residue into my primary fermenter. The kit used pellet hops which may be adding to the problem.


Is there a good way to filter the wort so we can get closer tothe desired volume? We lost about a gallon

 

[Pablo]

I use a paint straining bag. 5 gal. It won't hurt to have the residue in the primary. Some brewers put it all in for primary fermentation and then rack gently to secondary for clearing.

 

[hartm]

If you have all of the hops residue wouldn't you get an herbacious flavor added to the ale?

 

[Pablo]

Reading other brew boards, they say it does not matter. The water is cool. Hops release oils/flavors at high temperatures during the boil. Most of the transfer is done. Yes, you dry hop cool but you need more volume of unused hops to accomplish that process. You can also whirlpool the wort before transferring to the primary fermenter. I have had little luck with it. You stir the wort with a spoon for several minutes and then wait for the spinning to stop. All the stuff should go to the center of the boil pot. Then you rack off the side.

 

[Wade E]

I disagree to an extent myself as there is such thing as dry hopping where you add the hops to the primary instead of or in addition to boiling. I would not worry about some hops transfer as long as most of it is left behind. You can use a strainer of some sort to filter through.

 

[smurfe]

Bittering is extracted during the boil. When you dry hop you get hop aroma with no minimal if any extra bitterness. Before I had a Hop Stopper in my boil kettle I used to try to leave the hop sludge behind. To do this I would boil a larger than needed batch with 7 gallons at the end of the boil. I would transfer 6 gallons to the fermenter and then 5 gallons to the keg leaving the sediment behind each transfer. Many can't do this though and either have to transfer the sludge or use some type of straining method like the paint bag mentioned. The only problem with that route is you really expose the wort to oxygen doing that. Many do it though.