Too much trube/hop residue in fermentor!

[godrick]

Hi,
I've been making my full-mash IPA successfully for months now with one problem. The recipe uses 5 ounces of hops and when my wort is chilled & in the fermentor it quickly settles out to about two inches of trube/hop residue in the bottom. I transfer to a secondary fermentor @ 7 days, losing nearly a gallon of wort. Then when I transfer to a corney @ 3 weeks, I lose another half gallon. What is the best way to eliminate some of this gunk from my wort? I'm considering a large stainless strainer over my fermentor bucket(expensive), or perhaps some kind of bag that will hold the hop pellet residue. Ideas appreciated.
Thanks,
Frank

 

[JLem]

I use a small mesh colander and have had no ill effects as far as I can tell. You could also use the whirlpool method and siphon from the kettle to the fermenter, leaving behind most of the hop and break material.

 

[mrk305]

Lots of us (including me) don't use a secondary anymore. Every time you transfer you leave some behind. It doesn't hurt anything to leave it in the primary for a month or so. All of the trub will settle to the bottom & just tilt your bucket a little & siphon off the top.

 

[KAMMEE]

Go to the hardware store, Lowes, Home Depot, Menards, etc, And get a couple nylon paint strainer bags for about five dollars. You can fit it over the bucket and pour and it will strain out your hop trub. Use two if you really want to catch the fine particulate matter. Also, you can rinse and re-use these bags. Just make sure you give them a dunk in star-san solution or other sanitizing solution as your cooled wort will be touching it.

 

[bmckee56]

I use this type of strainer:

http://www.thecarycompany.com/adobe/EZStrainer_Price_List.pdf

Salute!

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

You could also scale your batch up to 6 gallons. I usually do this on beers with tons of hops because I know im going to leave about a gallon of wort behind with the hop matter in my boil kettle. I find the extra dollar or two in ingredients is worth not using a strainer or some other piece of equipment to get every last drop out.

 

[godrick]

Thanks for all the advice guys!