I'm a noob, but this mistake just pisses me off!

I've brewed about ten or twelve batches now, so I thought I've learned enough to try out a new beer. Because of the cost and long brew to drink time, I wanted to make sure that everything went perfectly during this brew day. Today I made a Rochefort 10 clone that I invested the last three weeks on the recipe. Recently I bought one of those tea steeping balls to use for hops. (Im betting seasoned brewers already know this outcome) I packed the ball with two ounces of bittering pellet hops, then thew it in at the start of the boil. Everything went fine for the rest of the day, until the end, when I opened the damn steeping ball! I had a brick of f**king hops that never saw boiling wort at all! C'MON!!!! It looked like the s**tty ass weed I smoked in high school. (for the record I don't smoke now) I know I'm smart enough to know that was a stupid decision, I've seen how pellet hops expand when you throw them in hot wort. But why the hell did I have to miss this detail?? According to Beersmith, this cut my IBU in about half. Im crossing my fingers, but I don't have much hope. I think I might sit on this beer for the next six months only to be disappointed. Guess I'll start another. Don't do the same stupid s**t I did.

Positive way to look at it. It'll still be beer and it'll still be good, but different. You might look into some of those unique hopping techniques like boiling hops in water or using a french press to extract some more bitterness and aroma and add that mix into the fermenter, or just enjoy it the way it is.

Sorry.

I don't even use a hop bag any more, just dump them all in, and after chilling carefully just rack leaving everything behind...sometimes I dump to a bucket strainer, but just as often I have dumped the kettle right into the fermenter...I've never had an issue with hoptrub...


But you still made beer.

Thanks guys,

I can say one thing, that tea ball when straight to the trash. I'd guess it's only good for about a half ounce of hops, which at that point, I may as well just dump them in!

NewBrew75 said:

Thanks guys,

I can say one thing, that tea ball when straight to the trash. I'd guess it's only good for about a half ounce of hops, which at that point, I may as well just dump them in!

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You could have used it for dry-hopping in kegs, I think

If you don't want a lot of hopscum, there is plans for a suspended hopbag doohickey in our DIY section....I think it's one of biermuncher's inventions.

Revvy said:

If you don't want a lot of hopscum, there is plans for a suspended hopbag doohickey in our DIY section....I think it's one of biermuncher's inventions.

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Nope, that honor would belong to Lil Sparky, as in https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/lil-sparky-tha-man-40738/

McKBrew said:

Nope, that honor would belong to Lil Sparky, as in https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/lil-sparky-tha-man-40738/

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Are you sure??? Sadly the pics in that thread are down...

i would try the french press method in the secondary. usually i just throw all the kids in the pool, right on into the boiling wort. then strain it out before the fermenter. i used to not strain and found out very early on that 2 inches or trub causes stuck fermentation. try throwing that curve ball to yourself when youre first learning.

I'll need to look into the french press method. But what about boiling some hops in a small batch of wort, then adding that to the fermentor?

you can try that as well, but it might cause changes in your clarity and color. youre also going to have a change in gravity, fermenting time, yada yada. with the french press, you have the advantage of boiling specified amount of hops in a small amount of RO water. then just pour the water into your fermenter. no change in color, no change in clarity, no change in anything except your ibu. good luck!

I like to let my hops free to swirl around and do as they wish. I'm not comfortable having them restricted and confined to a small area. I also wear boxers.

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

I like to let my hops free to swirl around and do as they wish. I'm not comfortable having them restricted and confined to a small area. I also wear boxers.

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The visual on this is not pretty.

McKBrew said:

Nope, that honor would belong to Lil Sparky, as in https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/lil-sparky-tha-man-40738/

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Revvy said:

Are you sure??? Sadly the pics in that thread are down...

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There are plenty of pics on the ensuing pages. I use a variation of the as well. Great system, and the paint bags are reusable.

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

I like to let my hops free to swirl around and do as they wish. I'm not comfortable having them restricted and confined to a small area. I also wear boxers.

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So you're saying you teabag your hops before adding them into the boil?

note to self; don't do beer swaps with gnomes.

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

I like to let my hops free to swirl around and do as they wish. I'm not comfortable having them restricted and confined to a small area. I also wear boxers.

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oh no! Don't tell me swmbo left you alone again today!