How to strain wort before primary fermentation

I ran into a similar issue the first brew I made. I have a 60L keg converted into boil kettle with a 1/2" spigot. The hops bunged up the spigot very quickly while transferring to carboy. This method worked, but I would avoid it because the strainer got bunged up very quickly and this process was tedious.

• I removed the spigot and drained wort through the hole into a large water pitcher
• Then put a large mouth funnel into carboy and a strainer sitting on top of the funnel
• Then I slowly poured the wort from the pitcher through the strainer and funnel. It took a long time because the strainer also got bunged up from the hops silt and wouldn't allow wort to flow through the strainer

After talking to some local home brewers I decided to go with a Hops Spider. If I didn't have the money to buy one, my other option was to use the whirlpool method:

For brewers that have a pump, whirlpooling post boil is a handy technique. You simply recirculate your wort through a pump, which creates a gentle whirlpool in the kettle. The hop material and trub will all collect in a nice cone in the center of the kettle, and you can draw clear wort into your fermenter.

You should be able to use a "Brew In A Bag" (BIAB) nylon bag to strain it out as well. I'd probably sanitize it in a Star San + water mixture before putting it in the carboy and even then I'd put it all the way on the bottom of the container & keep the siphon hose submerged as much as possible to keep from aerating the wort. I started using wide-mouth 7 Gallon plastic wine carboys for my primary & secondary containers when brewing so that I have room to get my paws (and bags, etc) in and out of the containers.

I use something called a "china cap strainer" to strain my wort before it goes into the fermentor. These things work greater, as it fits into the funnel I use on top of the fermentor and they have a good handle to jostle the strainer to encourage the wort to work it's way past the captured hops and trub.

An example of a "china cap strainer" can be seen here: http://www.webstaurantstore.com/12-fine-china-cap-strainer/407S5012F.html

If you live in an area with a significant Asian population, you can find these things in a store that sells Asian cooking ware.

I chill my wort in place on the stovetop and transfer to my primary with an autosiphon. But I transfer to a larger metal screen strainer on top of my primary fermentor that has a paint strainer bag arranged inside it. This strains out the debris (hops, whirlyfloc, and hot break) and helps with aeration. I have also used a nylon stocking and the paint strainer bag over the autosiphon inflow and this works but clogs after a while.

I also use the paint strainer method, but I use it during the boil. I have a little piece of PVC that the paint strainer is connected to using a clamp. I just toss the hops into the strainer, and then pull the strainer out when I'm ready to transfer.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0HE-wsXN4Kc/Tq87G_Ti4PI/AAAAAAAAGL8/wWfOW4r7-D0/s576/brew8.jpg

I use 5 gallon sized "Paint Strainer" bags from Lowe's. They are designed to filter out clumps of latex paint. A single bag will line a 5gal cooler or bucket perfectly. The beer gets poured in, then I lift the bag out, and it pulls out any hop debris, even from pellet hops. It's not quite fine enough to catch cold break, but I don't care about that.

I pour 100% of my boil into a No Chill tank after the boil is over, then I transfer from the tank (once cooled) to a bucket with a paint strainer page. Pull out the bag, then transfer again to a fermentor. The first beer I did this with was a Scotch Ale that came out shockingly clear with no lagering or even a real cold crash.

Likewise, I use these strainer bags things to mash with. I have an unmodified 5gal igloo cooler that I line with 2 of these bags (1 on top of the other). Bags get put in, grain goes into the bags, water added to the grain, then after the mash, I can run the wort out of the spigot or just lift the grain bags up and out, and let the wort drain that way. Basically 5gal-sized Brew In A Bag technique. Works like a charm.

I use a large noodle strainer. place the stainer at the opening of the ale pail and steadily poor the wort through the stainer into the bucket. Then I just lift the stainer and throw away the trub.

One option is to get an appropriately sized funnel with a removable screen. I just bought one of these recently (the funnel cone is huge) and used it for the first time last night. The only downside is that I had to stop a couple times to unclog the screen, and of course I realized after doing so that my fingers hadn't been sterilized (should have had a container with Star-San solution nearby).

One variation on this theme is to get one of those 'gold' coffee filters and put it at the far end of a reusable grain mesh bag.

Alternatively, just let it go into your fermenter. Careful racking should minimize the uptake of trub. That said, I think I've seen comments which say that if you can eliminate such hoppy cruft earlier rather than later, you minimize the risk of acquiring an off taste (if you happen to leave it in the fermenter for too long; the taste in question is I believe described as 'grassy').