Boiling with a Hop Sack

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JSomps6

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So my batch on Saturday (8 gallons of an Oskar Blues Gordon clone) called for 6.5 oz at 10 min left in the boil. That is a lot of hops and I didn't want get them into the carboy after the boil so I decided to use a hop sack. I got a 12" by 23" sack and used a 4" pvc coupler and a 24" piece of threaded rod. I drilled 2 holes in the pvc and put the threaded rod through the handles of my keggle on each side. Then I used binder clips to keep the sack in place.

My questions:

- I've head this can hurt hop utilization, but I've also heard it's negligible.

- After the boil and cooling, should I be squeezing all the liquid out of the bag? Seems like there would be a lot of bitterness that could come out of those hops. Especially the 10 minute hops. Or should I just let it drip for a few minutes?

- How do I clean the bag after use? Are there alpha acids in the mesh? Should I just boil the bag to make sure it's cleaned up, or just left it dry and put it away until next time?
 
I've squeezed and not squeezed, I don't think it makes a huge difference either way.

For cleaning, I just spray it really well with the hose until all the hop particles are off of it. Then dunk in the sanitizer bucket, leave out to dry.
 
i squeeze them out and there is usually a decent amount of liquid. never let it drip dry and ive never not squeezed them out though so im not sure if im doing anything positive or negative. and i do the same as bruin by just cleaning them out in sink and them throwing them in sanitizer. they stay greenish yellow but it hasn't effected my brews. at least not in a negative way
 
I was thinking it might be interesting to try sparging the damp,full hop sack the way you would grains in a bag. See if that does make some small difference.
But I drain mine,un-knot them,& dump out the spent hops in the garbage. Then rinse the bag to get the lil grainy bits off it,after turning it inside out. Then,dip it in a small pan of simmering water for a few mins to get the green color out. Then just ring it out & hang it up to dry. Looks good as new.
 
I decided after tasting my last batch, which was a 2nd identical batch of that particular recipe, that I'm doing away with hop bags, just tossing them in the boil letting them go in the fermenter! This last batch seems to have much better hop flavor and aroma than the one where I used paint strainers..

No more hop bags for me! FWIW
 
After doing some more looking I saw where somebody just throws the hops into the boil and then sanitizes the hop sack. They put that into the funnel and run the cooled wort thru the hop sack before it goes into the carboy. I like that idea. You don't risk losing utilization of the hops in the boil, plus you filter out anything else (pieces of grain, spiders... whatever) before getting to the carboy. I would think boiling the bag for 10 min at the end of the boil while you cool would be sufficient.
 
jakecpunut said:
I decided after tasting my last batch, which was a 2nd identical batch of that particular recipe, that I'm doing away with hop bags, just tossing them in the boil letting them go in the fermenter! This last batch seems to have much better hop flavor and aroma than the one where I used paint strainers..

No more hop bags for me! FWIW

+1... Been doing this forever.. everything falls out over time.. My trub/yeast cake is like cement and I never pull anything up when racking!
 
I've done dozens of batches now with paint strainer bags. My advice is not to wring out the hopsacks too much. Let them drain for a few minutes and give them a gentle squeeze.

I've done a few and really squeezed them good and those beers had salty/harsh flavors.
 
After doing some more looking I saw where somebody just throws the hops into the boil and then sanitizes the hop sack. They put that into the funnel and run the cooled wort thru the hop sack before it goes into the carboy. I like that idea. You don't risk losing utilization of the hops in the boil, plus you filter out anything else (pieces of grain, spiders... whatever) before getting to the carboy. I would think boiling the bag for 10 min at the end of the boil while you cool would be sufficient.

not a bad idea the problem there is if your draining into carboy then there is always the problem of ball valve getting clogged. if your just picking up kettle and pouring it would probably work alot better
 
I've done dozens of batches now with paint strainer bags. My advice is not to wring out the hopsacks too much. Let them drain for a few minutes and give them a gentle squeeze.

I've done a few and really squeezed them good and those beers had salty/harsh flavors.

do you notice difference in quality? then boiling without using strainers
 
MrStrangeBrew said:
do you notice difference in quality? then boiling without using strainers

I feel its negligible for me, I tend toward very hoppy beers. If flavor is lost you certainly can't tell in the end product.

I feel that any brewer should work toward a perfectly engineered solution for hops if using pellets. In the meantime, a paint strainer bag is a perfectly acceptable no tech solution.
 
I've tried hop bags v hops straight into the boil and squeeze the bag v drip only. I have after time decided that I will use a bag always for dry hop but not for additions to the boil. When I was using a bag in the boil I ended up with a gentle squeeze....mostly because I was concerned about keeping the hop bag sterile at that point in the process and a hard squeeze was a lot more difficult than just pushing the bag up against the side of the boil kettle with the back of the mash paddle. If you use hops bags the only time that you have to do and more than just clean them up well, soap and lots of water, is if you use them for dry hop. Adding the hop bag to the boil will sterilize it. Just to get the whole story, which may or may not matter, I use whole hops almost all the time. I would encourage you to try different methods and see which you like the best.
 
:
I've squeezed and not squeezed, I don't think it makes a huge difference either way.

For cleaning, I just spray it really well with the hose until all the hop particles are off of it. Then dunk in the sanitizer bucket, leave out to dry.

Same thing I do, no problems here.:mug:
 

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