Do I need a hop strainer?

[Chris Tel]

Hi All,
Is there a method of filtering the debris from the bottom of my boiler other than a hop strainer? The reason for asking is that I’ve not got a hop strainer and I’m currently losing about 20% of my wort (in an attempt at avoiding the cold break and hop matter at the bottom of the boiler) when siphoning the wort off into my FV. Would a hop strainer do the trick even if you have quite a lot of debris there? The reason for not buying a hop strainer was because my sparging is fairly rudimentary (basically using a jug to pour my hot liquor over the mash sitting in a mash/sparging bag) and the wort is fairly cloudy despite some recycling. Thus some debris does get carried over into the boiler and with the subsequent addition of the hot/cold break matter and hops it looks pretty messy and doubt the hop strainer would function appropriately. That said the two AGs I’ve done so far have been crystal clear and tasted fine but I’m annoyed that I’m losing flavour and efficiency as I’m having to ensure that at the end of the boil I have an extra 4-5 litres of wort to account for the losses (i.e have 25litres for a 20litre recipe). The alternative would be to not sparge so much so that I end up 20 litres post boil/cooling with only 15-16 litres in my fermentation vessel, albeit with no loss of efficiency/flavour.
Any advice most welcome.
Chris

[Jerry Cornelius]

When suffering from stuck mashes, I've tipped the grist into an FV with a mashing bag and used the mashing-bag method to spareg (batch) and I must admit it was pretty murky, but I just poured it into the boiler as usual and carried on. The hop filter worked fine, and the run-off from the boiler was nice and clear, although I do leave it to settle whilst I clean up the IC and coil and put away the chiller hoses etc.

I don't think you've anything to lose by fitting a hop-strainer and seeing how things go. I suspect you'll be happy with the results.

[boingy]

Yes, you need a hop strainer.

[Waffty]

If you're using loose hops and not pellets, then in theory, a hop strainer should help to remove most of your hot/cold break, as the hops themselve clump around the strainer and effectivley act as a filer.

For belt and braces, I use a very fine nylon mesh, fitted around the neck of my fermenter, this not only removes some of the matter that made it through but also helps to airate the wort, by breaking it up into small 'jets' i.e give it a good flow rate and there's usually a decent foam on the wort & a fair bit of matter in the filter.

Then what little does get through, will usually make it to the bottom of your keg/bottle overtime.

Darren

[Deebee]

You can use one of the soap free scrubbers ( for cleaning pans) stuffed into the tap. it would save some.

Or you can put the hops into a hop bag and this stops a lot too.

Finally you can combine either or both of these with a sterile sieve on top of the FV to filter out the muck. but in essence... you need a strainer.

[Chris Tel]

Thank you to everyone for their advice-I clearly need to go and buy a hop strainer!

[Nunfa1]

What sort of boiler do you have? Perhaps some pics of it would help people to suggest a suitable hop filter.

[Waffty]

Thank you to everyone for their advice-I clearly need to go and buy a hop strainer!

Buy , now lets not be hasty, you could always got the DIY route, much more satisfying.

[FiercelyFuzzy]

Why do you need to strain the hops out prior to fermentation?
I realise you'd need to remove them before bottling/kegging for obvious reasons, but would they be detrimental to the yeast or cause off flavours in the beer if you left them in?