Hops addition question

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hockeygreg44

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I have been brewing for a few months now and have a question about adding hops to my boils. Currently I am an extract brewer so I get my hops in pellet form. How do other people add their hops. By that I mean, I've added the pellets right to the wort and I've put them in a small mesh bag Is one way better than the other?
 
personal preference I think. I've always used bags....both leaf and pellet. My bags are probably larger than necessary but 1 gallon paint strainer bags are cheap and readily available. I just drop empties in star-san solution prior to last minute boils and then put hops in and into boil. I remove the bags with sterilized tongs before I whirlpool prior to chilling.
 
It really doesn't matter. You may get clearer beer and possibly more wort into the fermenter if you use a bag (if you're trying to avoid hop sludge in the fermenter), but IMHO it is negligible.
 
I just throw my hops right into the boil pot, I do rack from the pot to the fermenting bucket though.
 
Is there anything wrong with just throwing the pellets in the boil, and using a sanitized strainer when pouring into the fermenter?
 
dadshomebrewing said:
Is there anything wrong with just throwing the pellets in the boil, and using a sanitized strainer when pouring into the fermenter?

This is what I have done with much success. Just be careful when pouring into your primary. Your screen with clog fast, especially with an IPA or other hoppy brew. I tried to transfer my boil with three oz of pellet hops and it took a while scraping the hops back and forth to force more liquid through the screen.
 
dadshomebrewing said:
Is there anything wrong with just throwing the pellets in the boil, and using a sanitized strainer when pouring into the fermenter?

That has been a PITA for me in the past. Works, but aggravating. For me, I would just let the trub go into the fermenter. It'll all settle out anyways.
 
I built a cheap "hop spider". It holds a large bag in the boil but lets the top stay open for more hop additions.
 
I use a hop screen I bought from Chad Beauchamp, of Arbor Fabricating (found him on these forums). It works great! It's a cylindrical 300 micron stainless steel screen that hangs on the lip of my boil kettle. I just drop my pellet hops into the cylinder, they do their thing, and the hop gunk is contained within the cylinder, preventing it from gumming up my drain port or making it into the fermenter.

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