Hops clogging my bottling wand

I made my first IPA and it tastes great! Can't wait to make another batch.


One issue though...

I dry hopped (hop pellets dumped straight into the fermenter) for 6 days and then bottled. After transferring to the bottling bucket, I started filling the bottles with my bottling wand. It kept getting clogged up. I had to stop every few bottles and take the valve end of the wand apart, unclog it, pour some one-step over the parts, put it back together, and continue bottling. It sucked but the IPA is awesome.

Any tips? I've heard of hop bags and will check my LHBS for them.

As always, thanks in advance.

Chris

I don't use hops bags at all, but careful racking before you bottle is key!

After I dryhop, I siphon carefully starting in the middle of the fermenter so that I start the siphon below any floating hops and above any trub. As the level lowers, I lower the racking cane. By doing this, I don't suck up any hops at all. (The racking cane also has that black piece to help stop chunks from being sucked up). Then, when I bottle, the bottling wand doesn't clog at all.

One trick I use is to put a nylon knee-high sock over the end of the syphon and secure it in place with a sanitized cable tie. It keeps any particles from clogging up the works.

Yooper ... obviously you have great taste in television viewing. Red Green is my role model.

I put a sanitized muslim bag on the autosyphon to filter the hops and trub out during the transfer to the bottling bucket.

gestyr said:

Yooper ... obviously you have great taste in television viewing. Red Green is my role model.

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Mine too!

Lately, I've been breaking all sorts of things- the kitchen faucet, a friend's vacuum, etc. Then I've proved my handy dandy skills by fixing them. :rockin:

All you really need in life is duct tape. Oh, indoor plumbing is nice too. But the duct tape is crucial.

johnmcc said:

I put a sanitized muslim bag...

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I think the term you're looking for is muslin bag...:cross:

PseudoChef said:

I think the term you're looking for is muslin bag...:cross:

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Good tips. Thanks!

1gal. paint strainer bags are key.

PseudoChef said:

I think the term you're looking for is muslin bag...:cross:

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LOL thanks, just caught that, typed it fast before I ran out the door, oh well

PseudoChef said:

I think the term you're looking for is muslin bag...:cross:

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nono... muslin is like Obama, right? He wants the other kind.