Straining hops before fermentation?

[wmelton]

Newbie question ... on my third batch of beer
Is it necessary to strain the hops from the wort before fermentation? I have just read a source that emphasizes this, however two other sources said nothing about straining. I drain from the boil pot and stop when trub and ??? appear. Do the hops sink to the bottom during cooling? Did I luck out or ??? Thanks much.

Walt

[Tweek]

Yeah most of that stuff should settle to the bottom during cooling. It is best to leave as much of that stuff behind as possible because when your beer is sitting on a bed of decaying hops it can contribute some nasty flavors. If you get some in there though dont worry too much. If you are not already I would reccomend picking up a secondary fermentation vessel. It is best to transfer your beer to a secondary vessel after most of the primary fermentation is finsished to let it finish out fermentation and clear. At this time you leave behind all the hops and yeast matter that was in your primary vessel.

[paul84043]

One thing that helps alot is to use the muslin bags that come with some kits, that helps a great deal to minimize the hop residue. You'll still be absolutely amazed at how much "stuff" gets into your fermenter, even through a couple of straining steps.
SOme people I know like the extra hoppy beers and leave it all there for the primary process, but like Tweek said, use caution, if left too long without transferring, (a coupe weeks max??) it could turn nasty.

[wmelton]

Thanks for the advice. I'll be transferring into the secondary fermentor as soon as the fermentation slows down. And I'll try a muslin bag the next time as well.

[paul84043]

A couple more points,
When you use the bags for the hops, give them plenty of room to expand and still have the bag "floppy" for lack of a better word, when you tie the one end in a knot.
I thought I would be sly and save bags by cutting them in half and making two out of one.
When the hops swelled, the bag was completely tight with no room for the hops to mingle with the wort, more like a tennis ball than a bag of hops...I think I may have cheated myself out of a fair amount of hop presence by not allowing them to mix and steep well at all.

Since this is your third batch, you're probably catching on now to the bigger picture, it takes a few runs to get a good feel for what's going on.
Let the Kreusen fall completely, it should take a minimum of about a week before you transfer. Some let it sit for two weeks regardless. I do it when it looks ready.

[fuji6100]

Let the Kreusen fall completely, it should take a minimum of about a week before you transfer. Some let it sit for two weeks regardless. I do it when it looks ready.

I've read some sources that say to rack to secondary as soon as 3 days after fermentation starts, and others that say a week to 2 weeks as you say. I've been splitting the difference and doing it at about 1 week.

Is there any harm to racking sooner? My last batch finished primary fermentation (OG 1.062, racking gravity 1.018) in only 4 days and I was going to rack on the 5th day but I waited a week just to be sure.

With so much conflicting information floating around out there, it's hard for the beginner to know which is right!

Any suggestions on why waiting longer is better? I thought the idea was to get the brew off the trub ASAP after primary fermentation?

[paul84043]

Probably the first thing to keep in mind is that there's no one "right" way to make beer. In fact, you see all these different opinions and methods and all of us are making great beer!
There are a few basic semi-iron clad rules, but outside of those, the sky is the limit.
If you want consistent beer, be consistent in your ingredients, your methods, your timing, and your documentation.
Never try to rush your beer, it's impossible. It will be done when it's done and not before. Your bubble rate, the appearance of the beer (beginning to clear up a bit), and your hydrometer readings will tell you when it's ready for the next step, whatever that happens to be.

How long you let it sit in the primary is really a function of convenience and how flexible your schedule is. Alot of people only brew on the weekends, so they will let it sit in the primary for one, or two weeks. There's not a whole lot of magic to the number, it just works out most of the time.
What you are waiting for is the bulk of the suspended solids and yeast to fall out of suspension. This is very difficult when full blown active fermentation is going on because of the mixing action that is occurring constantly. You want to wait for that to slow down and the beer to begin to clear up which signals the end of the primary, super active pahse.
Usually, a week will be good for your primary. You can let it sit longer, say another week or two with no ill effects, but more than that is pushing it. Sometimes it's not ready in a week...I had one go for a month before the bubbling slowed down....I had it in a conical, so I kept the trub drained off, if it had been in a carboy, I would have transferred it at probably two weeks.
When you rack to your secondary, you stir up things a bit, possibly kicking off some yeast again, you move the beer off the trub, and you allow more stuff to fall out of suspension lending to much clearer beer in the bottles or kegs.
You can rack sooner, but you will be transferring more "stuff" over into your secondary.
Once again, the time in the secondary is not magic. I go by my hydrometer readings, but typically another week has worked out great for me. Some have gone longer.

One problem with letting it sit for too long is that it is possible for too much yeast to fall out of suspension and go inactive, leading to very long carbonation times and in extreme cases, having to repitch yeast to carbonate. If you're kegging, this is not an issue since you carbonate artificially.
The rule of thumb for bottling is when you have three consecutive Stable Hydrometer readings a day or so apart (I wait two days inbetween) then you're ready. Alot of people will say to bottle as soon as you can and don't waste a whole bunch of time in the secondary.
Just find what works best for you, that's the great think about making beer, it's very patient and it will wait for you.