Do you remove(filter) the hops?

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Thelostcircuit

Thelostcircuit

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I am a home brewing noob. I mad my third batch of beer from a kit that had me add pelitized hops in the boil. That is the first time I have had to do this. My question is should I have filtered out the hops before transferring it to the fermenter? from what i have read it seems to be a fifty fifty think some do and some done. What are the pros and cons?

Thanks
 
You want to try to remove as much as possible. This is because you will pull out grassy, nasty flavors if it sits in the fermentor. Dry hopping is a different story all together and is when you add new hops to the fermenter for 7 days after fermentation is complete to add a nice aroma and some flavor.

How do you transfer from your kettle to your fermentor?
 
Some people do and some don't. I started to a while back just to keep the trub down. Recently built a hop spider as well so I don't burn them fingertips anymore.

beerloaf
 
Celticway said:
You want to try to remove as much as possible. This is because you will pull out grassy, nasty flavors if it sits in the fermentor. Dry hopping is a different story all together and is when you add new hops to the fermenter for 7 days after fermentation is complete to add a nice aroma and some flavor.

How do you transfer from your kettle to your fermentor?
Click to expand...


That's interesting, because I never heard that before. I don't filter out my hops (except for leaf hops that clog my March pump) and my beer has been ok so far without "grassy nasty flavors" from hops debris in the fermenter.

All of my wort tends to go right into the fermenter, unless there is a ton of sludge and hot break that settles in the bottom and it's easy to avoid. Otherwise, it just all goes right into the fermenter and settles out with the trub.
 
If I were you, I'd buy a nylon mesh bag. It cost $4 at my local brew shop, and it is re-usable. Mine came in a size that fits a 5 gallon container. If you line the container you are racking into with this, you will removed 99% of the debris when you remove it at the end.

I make my life even easier by simply racking with the bag around my racking cane....The nylon is heat tolerant.

This is a nice method because you can just throw your hops loose into your boil and leave them in the primary. Of course this does require racking to a secondary.
 
Yooper said:
That's interesting, because I never heard that before. I don't filter out my hops (except for leaf hops that clog my March pump) and my beer has been ok so far without "grassy nasty flavors" from hops debris in the fermenter.

All of my wort tends to go right into the fermenter, unless there is a ton of sludge and hot break that settles in the bottom and it's easy to avoid. Otherwise, it just all goes right into the fermenter and settles out with the trub.
Click to expand...

You never heard that before? Certainly people leave them in there, but it is generally a good idea to remove break, trub and boil hops before you go into your fermentor. Now does it always effect it negatively, no. But if you think about it, you wouldn't dry hop longer than 7 days (at least try not to) so why would you want your boil hops to sit in there for the length of your fermentation plus the time that you let your beer clear. We're usually talking 10 days or more here?
 
Yooper said:
That's interesting, because I never heard that before. I don't filter out my hops (except for leaf hops that clog my March pump) and my beer has been ok so far without "grassy nasty flavors" from hops debris in the fermenter.

All of my wort tends to go right into the fermenter, unless there is a ton of sludge and hot break that settles in the bottom and it's easy to avoid. Otherwise, it just all goes right into the fermenter and settles out with the trub.
Click to expand...

I agree with this 100%....I add hops loose into my boil, and let them hang out in my wort/beer until I'm ready to rack/bottle.
 
This is a case for to each their own I suppose. I have done it both ways, and have found a general although probably slight improvement with a cleaner taste when I remove them first. Especially on lighter breers.
 
Celticway said:
You never heard that before? Certainly people leave them in there, but it is generally a good idea to remove break, trub and boil hops before you go into your fermentor. Now does it always effect it negatively, no. But if you think about it, you wouldn't dry hop longer than 7 days (at least try not to) so why would you want your boil hops to sit in there for the length of your fermentation plus the time that you let your beer clear. We're usually talking 10 days or more here?
Click to expand...

Nope, I never heard anybody claim that hops debris affect (positively OR negatively) the finished beer.

I have heard Jamil Zainasheff say that leaving hot break in the fermenter can impact the final flavor, but never hops.

My thought was when the hops were spent (in the boil) that they were spent and fell out with the trub.
 
I've decided to always leave my hops loose and allow them to transfer into the fermenter unless 1) I'm using leaf hops, or 2) I plan to wash the yeast. In both cases I'll use a hops bag.
 
Yooper said:
Nope, I never heard anybody claim that hops debris affect (positively OR negatively) the finished beer.

I have heard Jamil Zainasheff say that leaving hot break in the fermenter can impact the final flavor, but never hops.

My thought was when the hops were spent (in the boil) that they were spent and fell out with the trub.
Click to expand...

I see your point, but what about late hops put in there at knockout? This is a good debate on both sides I think. It is interesting.
 
Celtic, I just siphoned it into the fermenter. I will rack it into a secondary after a week or maybe 10 days.

I like the bag idea. I have seen the mesh bags at the local brew store but didn't know what the uses where for them so I haven't purchased one yet. Ill have to get one before my next batch.
 
I like to filter the hops with a mesh bag when I make IPAs or other beers that call for a lot of hops. When I'm making low IBU beers I don't bother filtering the hops out. I just throw them into the boiling wort and then later allow them to be transferred into the fermentor with the rest of the trub.
 
Thelostcircuit said:
Celtic, I just siphoned it into the fermenter. I will rack it into a secondary after a week or maybe 10 days.

I like the bag idea. I have seen the mesh bags at the local brew store but didn't know what the uses where for them so I haven't purchased one yet. Ill have to get one before my next batch.
Click to expand...

Well if you do want to remove them, and as a brewer I encourage you to try both methods to get your own experience with it, then you can stir your wort vigorously for a few minutes then start your siphon on the side of the pot. Most of the hops will be piled in the center.
 
Celticway said:
I see your point, but what about late hops put in there at knockout? This is a good debate on both sides I think. It is interesting.
Click to expand...

I use knock-out (flame out) hops often. Today, I had three ounces of knock out hops, so I whirlpooled about 15 minutes after the flame was out before starting the chiller. I kept the BK (and gentle whirlpool) at 130-180 for those 15 minutes before sending the wort to the fermenters. They stay in there as well, as I have no way to differentiate between bittering hops, flavor hops, or whirlpool hops.
 
Yooper said:
I use knock-out (flame out) hops often. Today, I had three ounces of knock out hops, so I whirlpooled about 15 minutes after the flame was out before starting the chiller. I kept the BK (and gentle whirlpool) at 130-180 for those 15 minutes before sending the wort to the fermenters. They stay in there as well, as I have no way to differentiate between bittering hops, flavor hops, or whirlpool hops.
Click to expand...

Have you ever tried removing your hops?
 
Delaney said:
If I were you, I'd buy a nylon mesh bag. It cost $4 at my local brew shop, and it is re-usable. Mine came in a size that fits a 5 gallon container. If you line the container you are racking into with this, you will removed 99% of the debris when you remove it at the end.

I make my life even easier by simply racking with the bag around my racking cane....The nylon is heat tolerant.

This is a nice method because you can just throw your hops loose into your boil and leave them in the primary. Of course this does require racking to a secondary.
Click to expand...

How do you santizie the bag just throw it in with some boiling water?
 
How do you get rid of hotbreak if you are leaving the hops in there? I had been using mesh or a colander to get the hops but the last few I just dumped them in since a lot of people said it's all good. I figure it's one less thing that could possibly infect the beer.
 

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