Hello!
(I'm new here, and french, so please excuse me if my English is not perfect or if I have broken any forum-specific rules.)
I have a recurring problem with my brews, and the friends I brew with sometimes have the same problem on their side.
We all use 10-12L brew kits of different brands, some waiting to move on to bigger ones, others (like me) to experiment before switching to bigger volumes.
Generally it goes well, until after mashing, when it's time to filter the beer and recirculate the wort. Then it's a mess
Personally, I transfer the wort from my kettle to the fermenter bucket through a sieve, then run hot water over the spent grain cake.
But I often get bits and pieces falling through the strainer, and I feel that these beers lack body (probably because of the residual sugars stuck to the spent grains?)
As far as filtration is concerned, sometimes I manage to make up for it with a good cold crash before bottling, but sometimes it's not enough.
Any suggestion to improve the quality of the filtration? And/or give the beer more body?
I was considering switching to a brew bag, and/or adding a custom filter bottom to my fermentation bucket. Is this a good idea?