Pellet Hops on Muslin Bags

Any problem with putting pellet hops in muslin bags during boil? They can be a nuisance to get strain out when they are added without a bag. In most of the books pellets seem to be suggested as free additions while plug can be bagged.

I have done both, and I am starting to wonder if their is a loss in hops bitterness and flavor when they are in muslin. Or it could be in my head... either way I would be interested to hear some opinions.

i always use a bag. i want to make one of these soon:

[YOUTUBE]xFxuooOKe4o[/YOUTUBE]

Video No Longer available?

You mean one of these?

Good lord man, you still haven't cleaned up the cut? If I fly to St Louis, will you let me recut that for you?

I use pellet hops and haven't noticed any flavor/bitterness loss.

I use the reusable nylon bags and just tie the drawstring to my boil kettle handle. Pretty simple.

BierMuncher said:

Video No Longer available?

You mean one of these?

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video works for me...but yes, i mean one of those

I have the parts to make one of those now, but I'm going to build mine with the large mouth side of the flange facing down.

maltMonkey said:

I use pellet hops and haven't noticed any flavor/bitterness loss.

I use the reusable nylon bags and just tie the drawstring to my boil kettle handle. Pretty simple.

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I think the advantage is for late hops additions. I toss in hops at 20, 15, 10, 5 and 1 minute intervals.

Bobby_M said:

Good lord man, you still haven't cleaned up the cut? If I fly to St Louis, will you let me recut that for you?

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Those edges are my sober-izer. They remind me not to drink too much till the airlocks are fastened.

BierMuncher said:

I think the advantage is for late hops additions. I toss in hops at 20, 15, 10, 5 and 1 minute intervals.

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Your contraption would make all those additions easier--I just do a 60 & a 10 (usually) so I don't need anything fancy.

Do you guys find that the large hop bag that BM posted works well in 5 gal batches? I just did my first test with it in my keggle and I don't know if it moved around a lot during the boil.

conpewter said:

Do you guys find that the large hop bag that BM posted works well in 5 gal batches? I just did my first test with it in my keggle and I don't know if it moved around a lot during the boil.

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curious about this as well.

i'll mainly be doing 5gal batches and have the stuff to make the hop bag, so i'm curious how well it works out in smaller batches.

I use the same setup with a keg and 5 gallon batches, and it works great!

I do not have any problems. I chill, let it rest for 15 minutes then rack to my fermenter. All the hops remains are left in the kettle.

I for one wonder if the hops are getting as integrated well in the boil when they are hung at the top.

e lo said:

I use the same setup with a keg and 5 gallon batches, and it works great!

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do you (or anyone else) use anything to weight the bag down? or does is sink pretty good on its own?

I've been using nylon bags and noticed they like to float on top so I usually weight them down by sticking my thermometer on them. With the keg that wouldn't be doable and I want to make sure i get as much as the hops in the wort as possible.

riored4v said:

do you (or anyone else) use anything to weight the bag down? or does is sink pretty good on its own?

I've been using nylon bags and noticed they like to float on top so I usually weight them down by sticking my thermometer on them. With the keg that wouldn't be doable and I want to make sure i get as much as the hops in the wort as possible.

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Nah, the hops take up water (and become hop sludge), and that weighs the bag down just fine. I suppose you could throw a couple of clean stainless steel nuts or some scrap copper pipe in if you wanted to, but I haven't found it to be necessary.

e lo said:

Nah, the hops take up water (and become hop sludge), and that weighs the bag down just fine. I suppose you could throw a couple of clean stainless steel nuts or some scrap copper pipe in if you wanted to, but I haven't found it to be necessary.

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thanks.

I have a couple extra SS nuts laying around, so i'll use that idea just incase it doesn't want to sink.

riored4v said:

do you (or anyone else) use anything to weight the bag down? or does is sink pretty good on its own?

I've been using nylon bags and noticed they like to float on top so I usually weight them down by sticking my thermometer on them. With the keg that wouldn't be doable and I want to make sure i get as much as the hops in the wort as possible.

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That's a good point. I forgot to mention that I toss is a handful of marbles.

CEMaine said:

I do not have any problems. I chill, let it rest for 15 minutes then rack to my fermenter. All the hops remains are left in the kettle.

I for one wonder if the hops are getting as integrated well in the boil when they are hung at the top.

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I do the same I chill my wort to 65f cover and let sit for 45-60 mins then rack off the top, crystal clear wort no hop mess.

Brew-boy said:

I do the same I chill my wort to 65f cover and let sit for 45-60 mins then rack off the top, crystal clear wort no hop mess.

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I used to do that. But the more I started hopping up my beers, the more junk I was leaving behind. Then I had to up my boil volume...then my grain bill...and ironically...my hop volume.

I will say this, no matter how much I whirlpooled or let the kettle sit...my beers were never this clear right out of the kettle: