Filtering wort into FV?

[RichK]

Today, I've done my second partial mash brew. At the last moment, when transferring the boiled/cooled wort from my stock pot to FV, I decided to put the (now cleaned) BIAB mash bag into a sieve & filter the wort through it. The hops were in muslin bags in the boil so are not an issue.

It took a while with quite a thick sludge built up filtered out.

My thinking was that my first attempt was very cloudy & there were very visible cloudy matter in the wort which looked (to me) much better after this simple bit of filtration.

The question - have I done something dumb? Or is this a reasonable step to include.

TIA.

 

[MyQul]

Wort cloudyness has no real impact on eventual beer clarity, as all the suspeded matter in the wort will eventuall fall to the bottom of the FV. Filtering it out wont have much effect either. I no chill and after 24 hours when my wort is cooled in 5L FV(s' )I then decant the clear wort into a second FV leaving all the trub behind. I do this so I can harvest as clean a yeast as possible from the bottom of he FV after fermetation. So no, you havent done anything dumb

 

[Slid]

I did a lot of partial mash brews with 10L or so of AG wort plus a kit and it is true that you get a lot of trub material. I used to filter out hops and other more cruddy stuff after cooling the wort in the sink. Did spray the bag with star san first. Not sure how necessary this is, but it can't do much harm to sterilise the bag, though.

Despite doing AG now, I still totally endorse a partial mash brewing approach as one that gives you better beer with little extra equipment than kit brewing.

 

[Dutto]

.............. I still totally endorse a partial mash brewing approach as one that gives you better beer with little extra equipment than kit brewing.

Sorry to disagree, but personally I think a partial mash is a waste of effort and money.

If I have to mill grain, mash the grain and boil the wort I may as well do the full 23 litre AG brew, because I still have a Grain Mill, a Mash Tun, a Boiler and a Cooler to get out and then clean and put away at the end of the day!

Sorry! :thumb:

 

[Malt Muncher]

I used to think the same when I started brewing, and for a while became obsessed with getting my wort as clear as possible before pitching the yeast in. I tried all sorts of different things like whirlpooling, cooling in the fridge overnight and transferring to a new fv once all the trub has dropped to the bottom (which I still do for lagers), even started using a false bottom and a hop rocket filled with rice hulls to "naturally filter" the wort on the way to the fermenter.

To be honest, I don't think it made much difference in the end, and a bit of trub in there can be good for the yeast as there's nutrients in there which they use during fermentation. If you look at the levels of trub in there at the start and end of fermentation, you'll see a lot less at the end. Didn't notice any difference in flavour, but for lagers I still try to get them as clear as possible before pitching the yeast in, as lagers are usually in the fv for a lot longer than ales.

In short, you haven't done anything dumb, it's normal and your beer will taste the same as if you had filtered on the way into the fermenter. Might even be better for the yeast to leave the crud in there.

 

[Slid]

Sorry to disagree, but personally I think a partial mash is a waste of effort and money.

If I have to mill grain, mash the grain and boil the wort I may as well do the full 23 litre AG brew, because I still have a Grain Mill, a Mash Tun, a Boiler and a Cooler to get out and then clean and put away at the end of the day!

Sorry! :thumb:

Actually, I think the point I was trying to make is that a partial mash brew might not save a lot on ingredients, but does give a lot on quality and a 15L pot from Wlkos plus a nylon bag (you can get away with a paint strainer).
It does not require a grain mill, or a mash tun, nor a cooler. The boiler is the pot, the mash tun is an oven with the pot inside and the cooler is a sink full of cold water.
A lot of brewers will want to go through this sort of process before deciding that AG is the way forward and that it is worth the sort of investment of time and money to justify.

 

[Llamaman]

I then decant the clear wort into a second FV leaving all the trub behind.

Is that done just by leaving some liquid in your chill 'cube', or do you use some kind of filter?
Also, if you don't mind me asking, what chill container are you using? Jerrycan?

 

[Gunge]

Just wang the lot in. It's good for the yeast and the beer will turn out the same or better with the gunk. You're on a hiding to nothing by trying to remove it.

 

[RichK]

Thanks for all the input. Results come in about 5 weeks ... with a sneaky preview at the end of next week when it gets bottled.

As a side note, I've started partial mash because I wanted to experiment a bit & was hoping to learn a bit more as well as hopefully getting an improved (or even just different) final product. I'll still do a straight kit if time is an issue (it often is) & am not looking for a cost saving. I will do AG one day but right now that's not practical on a number of fronts.

 

[MyQul]

Is that done just by leaving some liquid in your chill 'cube', or do you use some kind of filter?
Also, if you don't mind me asking, what chill container are you using? Jerrycan?

I just use 5L FV's and cover them with cling film. I then just pour/decant the wort in the another 5L FV,if Im doing a 5L brew length) or just use multiple 5L FV's if doing more than 5L. If you want to keep the wort more than 48hours though you need to use a proper cube, and I'm not sure my decanting method would work with a cube as you may get 'glugging' which would stir up the trub. You need to decant/pour in one smooth go, so all the trub is left behind and not stirred up into the wort