Hop Bags?

Do you guys use hop bags for boiling hop pellets, or do you just chuck 'em in?

Monk

I just chuck them in, but I also use a Whirlflock tab to help settle out most of the "floaties".

Thanks for responding.

The whirlfloc goes in during the boil, right? Do you have a special technique for not leaving much wort in the pot when you transfer to the carboy?

I've always used hop bags and never really knew any better. Someone suggested that I just throw the hops in, lately, so I'd like to try it.

monk

I use a bag to minimize the amount of material that I have to strain when transferring.

I chuck 'em in and don't bother trying to get them out. I use extracts amd bags for steeping grains so the hops are the only things floating around. I just dump the whole boil (I use two gallons of water plus hops and extracts) into the primary, cover, pitch when the right temperature is reached, and close it up.

SteveM said:

I chuck 'em in and don't bother trying to get them out. I use extracts amd bags for steeping grains so the hops are the only things floating around. I just dump the whole boil (I use two gallons of water plus hops and extracts) into the primary, cover, pitch when the right temperature is reached, and close it up.

Click to expand...

Thanks for responding, Steve.

So, for you, all the hop bits settle out into the trub in the primary, and you rack the beer off of it at some point? Do you need to secondary, then?

It all depends on your system and your preferences.

If you brew in a kettle with a valve, a lot of hops material may tend to clog your valve/drain system, so hops bags may be the best solution.

If you siphon, you can whirlpool (to get all the solids in the center of the kettle) and then siphon off the edge.

If you just dump it into the primary, then you can just toss hops in the kettle with impunity. You might want to pour through a (sanitized) strainer in that case.

There's really no right or wrong answer. If you dump a lot of trub into the primary, just be sure to carefully siphon so as to leav most of it behind when you rack.

Monk said:

Thanks for responding.

The whirlfloc goes in during the boil, right? Do you have a special technique for not leaving much wort in the pot when you transfer to the carboy?

I've always used hop bags and never really knew any better. Someone suggested that I just throw the hops in, lately, so I'd like to try it.

monk

Click to expand...

I never gave it much thought. I just tilt the pot and siphon from there. What does get through settles on the bottom of the carboy.

We dumped into a bottling bucket and used the spicket to get it into the carboy... once the liquid was below the spicket we tilted and used our eyes to reduce trub...

Monk said:

Thanks for responding, Steve.

So, for you, all the hop bits settle out into the trub in the primary, and you rack the beer off of it at some point? Do you need to secondary, then?

Click to expand...

I use a secondary for specialty beers - for example, I make a Raspberry Ale about once a year and this requires three stages. But for non-complex brews (like my house beer, a generic pale ale), I use only a primary. The hops settle into the trub and I just siphon carefully. When it is young it can be slightly cloudy but as it ages and the sediment compacts, it gets nice and clear.

I do use Irish Moss to help make it clear also, and try to get a hard cold break when I finish the boil.

Edit - as cweston says, there are lots of variables, not the least of which is personal preference. That's why I highlighted that I use a bag for my steeping grains and I brew with extracts. With no grain in the mix, the little bits of hops are not much of a factor.

Thanks a lot for all the input, guys. I'm starting to realize that a lot of people use a lot of different methods to produce great beer. It's nice to know there isn't just one way to make kick-butt beer.

monk

I use the mesh hop bags, but when the pellets 'explode' there is undoubtedly some hop particals that get into my boil as well.

I try to strain most out through my funnel into carboy, but some still make it into primary. I'm pretty sure they all settle out though, as I've never had green hop particals floating in my finished beers...

SilkkyBrew said:

...I've never had green hop particals floating in my finished beers...

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I've been thinking one of these beers I'm going to add 1 whole hop to each beer for fun. Just toss one in each bottle and fill 'er up. If you ask me it beats putting a worm in a bottle of ta-kill-ya and it'd be kinda fun. (of course now I'm trying to compare apples and oranges, but you get the point )

I use hop bags since I dont have a hopstopper or any type of strainer on my dip tube... I still get some hop material in the kettle but now nearly as much...

I use the pellets and just let them fly freely in the boil, as I think that they should. Getting the full effect of the oils. The way I finish is, I put my wort chiller in the kettle and let that run for say 20 min. until 75* ish. The whole time, not stirring or disturbing the crud on the bottom. As still as you can get. And then I open my valve which is located about a 1/2" above the bottom of the kettle(On the side). Outside of the valve I Zapstrap a nylon paint strainer over the valve and let the wort splash away in the bucket( good areation). @ first the paint strainer lets a little hops get through but then it gets plugged up a bit and the hops that get all caught up kind of act like a filter unto themselves... Overall seems to work really well. Barley any green in the primary yeast cake when I rack.

Grimsawyer said:

I've been thinking one of these beers I'm going to add 1 whole hop to each beer for fun. Just toss one in each bottle and fill 'er up. If you ask me it beats putting a worm in a bottle of ta-kill-ya and it'd be kinda fun. (of course now I'm trying to compare apples and oranges, but you get the point )

Click to expand...

LaConner Brewing used to do that with one of their IPAs. It was great (althought the first time I had one like that I was like, WTF??)!


Back on topic... We just chuck the hops in the boil and pour through a sanitized strainer on the "dump" to primary. Always works just fine.