Straining wort into fermenter - BIAB

[OliH]

Hello all,

Any advice and opinions are very welcome! I've done 20 or so stove top BIAB brews to date and feel like my mashing process is quite reliable.

What I'm struggling with is the amount of trub I'm left with. The last 2 brews were pretty similar ingredients.

The first one I just chucked the hops in, a small amount of bettering and quite a lot as a hop stand at 80deg. Once cooled, I have a small immersion chiller, I just poured the lot into the fermenter, pitched the yeast and put it in the fridge with an Inkbird controller. There was a lot of trub! Add to this over 100g of dry hopping and there must have been 2.5 - 3 inches of stuff in the bottom of the fermenter.

The next brew I decided to strain the wort on the way into the fermenter. It proved to be a real pain, as I've found in the past. I use a Wilko Straining bag, which I think are for wine, and it just blocks up and you have to keep staring it so the liquid passes through. It ended up taking a fair amount of time and I think it was at the detriment to the beer.

The first brew was quite a lot better....

I know I could use a hop spider and bags for the dry hops but I've found I get better flavour without, and the hops only account for a small amount of the trub.

What do other people do and is there a certain size mesh/ filter that works well without getting as blocked as a straining bag?

Sorry for all the waffle, and thanks in advance for any advice. Cheers Oli

 

[Agentgonzo]

Let the wort settle in your kettle. The trub/break/gunk/hops will settle into the bottom 2-3 inches. If your kettle has a tap at the bottom you can use this to decent off the clear wort. Otherwise you can use a (sanitised) siphon tube.

It seems like a loss of potential beer, but this is a normal part of the process

If you use leaf hops, these will form a bit of a filter to filter out break material

 

[OliH]

Let the wort settle in your kettle. The trub/break/gunk/hops will settle into the bottom 2-3 inches. If your kettle has a tap at the bottom you can use this to decent off the clear wort. Otherwise you can use a (sanitised) siphon tube.

It seems like a loss of potential beer, but this is a normal part of the process

If you use leaf hops, these will form a bit of a filter to filter out break material

Thanks Gonzo, may be I'm being a bit to keen to get it in the fermenter! how long do you need to let the wort settle though?
I move the immersion chiller to cool the wort quicker but this obviously stirs everything up, do you then need to leave it for an hour or 2 to settle? All seems counter intuitive to cooling as quick as poss and sealing it up in the fermenter.
The losses are the same if its from the kettle or fermenter.
I'll try syphoning the next one, but ultimately I'll have to drill the pot and put a tap and filter on me thinks.

 

[Agentgonzo]

About 15-20 minutes, though even 5 minutes will let a large amount settle out.

The purpose of cooling quickly isn't too get it into the fermenter quickly, it's to precipitate out the cold break.

Whilst the losses are the same, having all the hot break material in the fermenter can impact taste and clarity of the final beer (the jury is out in whether the cold break impacts the final beer in the same way)

 

[Bzee]

Following on from Agents comment I then give the wort a circular stir, getting it going round nicely then leave for ten minutes. The trub compacts centrifugaly into a round blob in the centre of my saucepan. I run the wort out from the tap.

 

[Bzee]

Following on from Agents comment I then give the wort a circular stir, getting it going round nicely then leave for ten minutes. The trub compacts centrifugaly into a round blob in the centre of my saucepan. I run the wort out from the tap.

Mindful of hotside aeration

 

[LeeH]

There is always the option of don’t worry about it and chuck it in. On the odd occasion when brew day has gone Pete Tong and I’ve manually poured it in the FV, yummy bright beer has been the result.

 

[Donegal john]

I sometimes use my mash bag for the hop additions. Loads of room for them and just lift the bag out when done

 

[OliH]

Thanks everyone. Planning a simple Bettty Stoggs clone next so I'll try letting it settle and syphon into the fermenter.
@LeeH - thanks mate "just chuck it in" has been my philosophy to date and they have been very drinkable beers!
..... but you can always try and do better!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

This is how I strain my wort.

 

[LeeH]

View attachment 81609
This is how I strain my wort.

Aeration too.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I also use a hop spider as I mainly use hop pellets. Used the bazooka once but it’s too fine so discarded it.

 

[hoppyscotty]

I've got a plate chiller so really looking to make sure no solid matter gets through from the kettle. I've tried everything, the false bottoms doesn't do a good enough job, in line filters work but are way too small and clog quite early on into transfer, I've tried straining through a hop spider but the hop spider just clogs. The next think I'm trying on my next brew day is I have taken a bit of a risk and bought one of those mesh baskets you see in the Clawhammer Supply setups. this sits nicely in my kettle, stands high up enough on its legs to clear the heating element, and is tall enough for the rim to be above wort level at max capacity, so is just acting like a huge hop spider. I'll transfer wort from mash tun into the basket and drop hops into the basket and hopefully the increased surface area of the basket is enough to prevent any clogging during transfer.

Not fussed about cold break. I don't seem to get much forming, just a small layer forming in the bottom of the fermenter once I've transferred, but more often then not I tend to do a hopstand and whirlpool followed by a good 30 or so mins of cooling with an immersion chiller so plenty of time for it to settle in the kettle before transfer. Maybe with the plate chiller I will start to see it more.

 

[OliH]

@Cheshire Cat - I tried this with a sieve, because the straining bag kept clogging up, but everything passed straight through my sieve!

Have to find one with a finer mesh I guess…

 

[Cheshire Cat]

@Cheshire Cat - I tried this with a sieve, because the straining bag kept clogging up, but everything passed straight through my sieve!

Have to find one with a finer mesh I guess…

Yes that’s why I’ve got two. Use a sieve used to sieve flour they’re pretty fine.

 

[Jan.]

I would definitely say to leave it 30 minutes or so. As long as it's closed in some way it shouldn't get infected. Also if you use a little irish moss or Whirlfloc 10 minutes before the end of the boil, you will find that when you cool it, everything clumps together more and flocculates to the bottom and leaves a clearer wort.

 

[LeeH]

View attachment 81609
This is how I strain my wort.

Exactly what strainers are these?

 

[AJA]

Exactly what strainers are these?

I've seen this in Lidl

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I've seen this in Lidl

Exactly.

 

[OliH]

@Agentgonzo - thanks, I don't know why I haven't syphoned the wort before. I've just finished the Betty Stoggs clone, used a small amount of protafloc 15mins before flame out, which I normally do, chilled to 20c, waited 20mins then syphoned to the FV.
I got to the bottom of the clear wort and thought I'm sure I can get more out! So tried pouring the rest through a sieve but it was totally pointless, the sieve clogged up, there was minimal wort and just loads of gunk.
I'll just syphon and know I'm good next time!

I think the issue of so much trub has come from using fine crush malt from The Malt Miller. The BIAB bag I'm using is a 300micron mesh. Is there a recommended size?

Cheers