[nvshooter2276]

I see the Bouncer beer filter has a 150-micron strainer in it. What is it supposed to trap if the beer going through it comes from above the yeast bed? Does the strainer allow for tilting the fermenter to get all the beer out?

I have a piece of nylon cloth having a 110-micron grid to it. I bought it so I could pour all the cooled (or semi-cooled) beer into my fermenter; I figgered the grid would capture any hop sludge and Irish Moss stuff. I'm pretty sure I'll have to wait until the beer cools to a palatable temperature in order to avoid having the hot wort melt the fabric. I have not researched the melting point of nylon.

I've wondered if the small size of the grid would not allow the liquid to pass through because of its surface tension, let alone possible clogging by whatever trash comes out of the bucket. My desire is to get the clearest beer I can into the bottling bucket so as to get the thinnest yeast sediment in the finished product as I can.

Comments and opinions solicited...

[Slowbrew]

Depending on exactly what kind of nylon it is, the melting points are 320F to 560F plus.
 
Melting wouldn't be your primary issues. You need to worry more about aerating the hot wort and burning yourself.
Aerating wort above 100F will cause off flavors to be produced.

I always wait to even move the immersion chiller much until the wort is under 100F.

Paul

[ynotbrusum]

Aerating wort above 100F will cause off flavors to be produced.

I always wait to even move the immersion chiller much until the wort is under 100F.

Paul

Interesting to hear.  I wonder about that, since recirculation through counterflow or plate chillers would seem to involve movement of hot wort, at least initially.  What type of off flavors would one expect with aerated hot wort (cardboard?)  I get the wort below 100F pretty quickly with my Jaded immersion chiller, so it is less of an issue, I suppose.

[reverseapachemaster]

Beer isn't perfectly clear even if it's been fined and lagered. Filtering will strip out the last of what's floating in the beer. If you draw beer out anywhere close to the trub, you're still going to pull a little trub off the top. If you're bottling, you need some yeast to make its way into the bottles, so filtering the beer may be counterproductive unless you add fresh yeast in the bottling bucket.

I don't know if you'll be able to pass wort through that fine of a filter but you'll certainly be in for a long wait that will get increasingly longer as sediment builds up. I pour through a metal strainer and even that slows considerably as sediment builds. It's overkill IMO but as long as you can get wort through the filter it's a question of whether the time spent is worth the degree of pre-fermentation clarity.

[denny]

Aerating wort above 100F will cause off flavors to be produced.

I always wait to even move the immersion chiller much until the wort is under 100F.

Paul

Interesting to hear.  I wonder about that, since recirculation through counterflow or plate chillers would seem to involve movement of hot wort, at least initially.  What type of off flavors would one expect with aerated hot wort (cardboard?)  I get the wort below 100F pretty quickly with my Jaded immersion chiller, so it is less of an issue, I suppose.

Yes, the classic HSA symptoms

[Slowbrew]

Aerating wort above 100F will cause off flavors to be produced.

I always wait to even move the immersion chiller much until the wort is under 100F.

Paul

Interesting to hear.  I wonder about that, since recirculation through counterflow or plate chillers would seem to involve movement of hot wort, at least initially.  What type of off flavors would one expect with aerated hot wort (cardboard?)  I get the wort below 100F pretty quickly with my Jaded immersion chiller, so it is less of an issue, I suppose.

Yes, the classic HSA symptoms

Denny beat me to it but yes cardboard would be a big one.

Paul

[nvshooter2276]

Thank You to all who replied.

My original plan was to pour the cooled-enough wort through the nylon grid with said grid held in place by a bungee cord that has a tight grip around the mouth of the fermentation bucket. This would have my filtering grid being 137 square inches; the diameter of the bucket being 13 inches. I think that if I pour the wort slowly and in a circular fashion around and around the periphery of the fermentation bucket, that I will get a good portion of it poured before we start to see some slop adding-up. It's then that we'll have to deal with the slow-down in how fast the wort flows through the grid.

I want to ferment seven gallons, so I will boil about four gallons. Four gallons is 33.4 pounds; I can handle that. Seven gallons is 58.4 pounds-- too heavy to pour it slowly enough to maintain control for as long as it would take to pour it all.

I'm thinking I can make little envelopes out of the 110-micron grid and use those instead of muslin hop sacks. Cut the cloth to about 10" by 10" and fold it up such that the hops can't get out during the 60-minute boil; secure with staples from a common office stapler. Would I want to remove the bittering hops after boiling them for 30 minutes? Would I want to remove the flavoring hops after the boiling of the bittering hops and before the aroma hops are thrown in for the last five or so minutes before flame-out? The idea is to reduce the hop trub going from the kettle into the fermentation bucket.

The fermented wort will be again run through the grid when it's time to bottle. I'm thinking two trips through the grid (after the boil and after the fermentation) will reduce the trub down to where the fully-conditioned bottles will have very little sediment remaining.

[ynotbrusum]

If oxidation was a concern on the way in to the fermenter, it is an even bigger concern going into the bottling bucket.  The filtration at that point needs to be free of O2 ingress to the extent possible to avoid quick staling.  Better to rack gently after the beer has cleared.  IMHO.  Good luck!

[Slowbrew]

If oxidation was a concern on the way in to the fermenter, it is an even bigger concern going into the bottling bucket.  The filtration at that point needs to be free of O2 ingress to the extent possible to avoid quick staling.  Better to rack gently after the beer has cleared.  IMHO.  Good luck!

I want to clarify that Hot Side Aeration (HSA) only happens at high temps.
Once the wort is below ~100F oxygen is actually beneficial to our yeasts.
We can't simply say O2 exposure going into the fermentor is bad since the chemical reactions are temp dependent.

I agree 100% that oxygen should be avoided as much as possible during bottling.

Paul

[ynotbrusum]

Gotcha, Slowbrew.  My statement was a bit inartful - you are correct.  We need to oxygenate (pre-fermented) wort to promote conditions for healthy liquid yeast or re-pitched dry yeast metabolization.  My point is that some would be concerned with filtering both aspects of post boil - HSA (at high temps, admittedly, that is the "hot" in hot side aeration) and also in prematurely oxidizing wort that isn't fairly quickly inoculated with the yeast to consume the O2 before preliminary staling precursors set up (really only applicable in long-delayed pitching that is practiced by some - though no chill has its adherents and seems to work well for those who give it a try with an Aussies cube or the like). 

With finished beer, O2 is to be avoided as much as possible, of course, hence the gentle racking mentioned.  I think we are in agreement - Cheers.