Hopburst Technique - Leave Hops in Primary or Strain the Wort?

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milo_leon

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Hello all,

I recently made a 115th Dream Hopbursted IPA extract kit from Northern Brewer this afternoon. :mug:

This is my second batch and I decided to strain the wort as I poured into primary since I read it clears the beer and helps aerate the wort. Honestly, it was a pain in the ass because there was so much plant matter- I had a pound of hops in there and had to clean my strainer out three times.

I am wondering if straining the wort was a good idea. This recipe did not call for any dryhopping in secondary, and instead used 12 oz total of hops in the last 15 min of boil + flameout (hopbursting). Should I have poured all the plant matter / gunk into primary to imbue more of a hoppy flavor during fermentation?

From what I've read on the forums, the taste doesn't really change with or without straining, so I am confident my beer will taste good. Just wondering if due to the hopburst technique, straining may not have been a good idea?

I do think straining made me add a little too much water to reach 5 gallons since there was less gunk to take up the volume, as my OG was 1.078ish and should be 1.085-1.090.

Appreciate any thoughts on this.
 
You definately don't want all that hop gunk going into the fermenter. Hop bursting is just what you said; lots of late additions to compensate for no bittering additions, you prevent the boil hops from going to the fermenter just as you would a typically hopped beer.
 
You definately don't want all that hop gunk going into the fermenter. Hop bursting is just what you said; lots of late additions to compensate for no bittering additions, you prevent the boil hops from going to the fermenter just as you would a typically hopped beer.

Thanks for the reassurance! To clarify I did add 2 oz cluster hops (??) at 60m and 30m of boil. The rest was the hopburst blend - the recipe did not specify what kind of hops I was using.
 
I almost bought that kit, but read that it didn't carb up, at least little to no carbonation.
 
You did fine.


OT, with 2oz additions at 60 and 30 doesn't really sound like hop bursting. I've done quite a few and will first wort hop or use a small 60 min charge for a little bitterness. Once you start adding other additions early than say 15 min then that's more traditionally hopped. I'm sure it'll make a good beer regardless.
 
There are easier methods for straining, too. When i'm not using a hops bag, I like to strain out my wort by lining the primary with a big fine mesh BIAB bag. Most good LHBS's will carry them. I use sanitized folder clips to secure it around the lip of my fermenting bucket and then pour the chilled wort from my brew pot into the fermenter after it's cooled down. Then, I just lift out the bag and it strains out all of the hops trub. I give it a few good squeezes to get out as much of the wort as I can and then toss out the spent hops.
 
There are easier methods for straining, too. When i'm not using a hops bag, I like to strain out my wort by lining the primary with a big fine mesh BIAB bag. Most good LHBS's will carry them. I use sanitized folder clips to secure it around the lip of my fermenting bucket and then pour the chilled wort from my brew pot into the fermenter after it's cooled down. Then, I just lift out the bag and it strains out all of the hops trub. I give it a few good squeezes to get out as much of the wort as I can and then toss out the spent hops.

That is a good idea! will keep in mind next time I do an IPA or beer with a lot of additions. My previous batch, a breakfast stout, didn't have that much gunk so I think my strainer will work fine most of the time.
 
There are easier methods for straining, too. When i'm not using a hops bag, I like to strain out my wort by lining the primary with a big fine mesh BIAB bag. Most good LHBS's will carry them. I use sanitized folder clips to secure it around the lip of my fermenting bucket and then pour the chilled wort from my brew pot into the fermenter after it's cooled down. Then, I just lift out the bag and it strains out all of the hops trub. I give it a few good squeezes to get out as much of the wort as I can and then toss out the spent hops.

This is exactly what I do. But I dont use clips, the bag stays in the bucket just fine. I use 5 gallon paint strainer bags, sanitized of course. I have been using the same one for a year. Just rinse it out when done!
 
I just bottled this beer last week...bastard better carb. I brewed the all-grain kit using BIAB and dumped the grain after the mash and used the bag in the boil for the hops. Took a minute to drain, but worked really well.
 
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