Brewing supplies

Hi all!

I'm a novice (prepping to brew batch no.2), and have a question on brewing supplies. First I should say that I brew 1gallon batches. Previously when pouring out the wort/grain mix, I used a large, fine-mesh strainer, which despite being the largest one I could find, wasn't quite big enough and made for a bit of a mess. Moving forward, is there any reason why I can't use cheesecloth draped over my larger (and more substantial) pasta strainer during this process? If not, should the cheesecloth be sanitized first??

Thanks in advance for any help!

Have you tried siphoning it out? You can avoid most of the gunk by siphoning.

Which step are you talking about, you mean separating the grain from the wort for an all grain batch? If so BIAB would be easiest (mash in a big bag, then lift and squeeze). If you're talking about trying to prevent trub getting into the fermenter I'd personally just dump it all in. Straining was just too messy for me and I found it doesn't make a difference in the final product.

What chickypad asked.

Pasta strainer and cheesecloth will work. You only need to sanitize if this is post boil.

I don't think we're sure of your method. It sounds like you are using something similar to a Brooklyn brew kit[*]. We all use different methods so your desc of the strainer grains and wort doesn't have a universal meaning to all of us.

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[*] if so you might consider chickypad's suggestion for BIAB (Boil in a bag). It's basically the same thing except all the grains are in a large mesh bag (a *large* bag so the grains are loose; word on the street says a paint strainer bag is ideal) and instead of rinsing with sparge water you simply dunk and squeeze the grains.

Actually even post boil you don't need to sanitize as the boiling wort will sanitize it automatically.

Thanks chickypad & woozy. You're right on, I'm using a Brooklyn Brew kit, so am brewing all grain batch, and was referring to straining the grain from the wort. I've thought about doing BIAB...maybe will do next batch.

For now will use the cheesecloth. Thanks!