hazedandconfused

Recipes 

So i recently bottled two batches of beer and my fermenters were looking a little sad and lonely - so im planning my next brew. I was curious as to how much of a difference using a hop bag vs just tossing hops into wort will make on the taste/bitterness of the brew. Ive always used hop bags, but since i have a strainer i was thinking of just throwing them in the boil and straining it out afterward. Any thought?

BendBrewer

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Theoretically, you would get better utilization by not having them in the bag but unless you were putting too many hops into too small of a bag, i.e. cramming the hops together, you probably won't notice any difference.

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h22lude

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As long as the hops in the bag have enough space to move freely, there will be no difference. Like Bend said, if you cram them in and the hops stuck in the middle don't come in contact with the wort, then you will have less bitterness coming from those crammed hops. Put them in the bag and if you can move them around freely without problems, you are fine.

osagedr

Recipes 

I've been using hop bags but am thinking of switching to just dumping them in loose. It'll be a bit messier but maybe I'll start pouring my cooled wort through a sanitized grain bag or paint strainer bag into the fermenter. I'll give that a try on my Schwarzbier this weekend.

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@evilgoatbrewing

brewit2it

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The trub will clog the bag and you will have a mess trying to strain it. If you want to use hops without a bag use whole hops and strain through a metal kitchen strainer.

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kansasbrew

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I've never used the bag. I just pour the wort through a sieve. That's good for aeration as well, so I kill two birds with one strainer.

edmanster

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Or don't strain at all and account for a little loss in volume...

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Dougan

Recipes 

x2, if you are using more than an ounce or two of pellet hops you will struggle to get this to work, i think.

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