Need Help soon - question on hop pellets!

So I'm brewing a batch of AHB American Red, and my boyfriend doesn't seem to think that the hop pellets should be added outside of a grain bag. Do I need to add these in the grain bag and then pull them out at the end of the boil, or do I add them directly to the boil pot and transfer them to the primary along with everything else? The reason I ask is that with our blonde AHB kit we put the hop pellets in the bag. The directions don't say implicitly whether or not to put them in a bag or not to.


Thanks!

I always just throw them in the boil, and if they make there way into the primary no big deal.

After more searching I came across a thread regarding having less sediment. Someone suggested using a hop bag(which I have) and boiling the hops in that. As my brew's almost at the point where I add them, I'll put them in the bag. If I get a reply before it's time to add to the carboy stating that I should do otherwise, I'll dump them out. TIA!

{edit} Thanks Dave! Will this effect the end bitterness of the beer, or will all of the hops flavors be "spent" by the time the boil's up?

You'll probably get mixed responses. Pellet hops make lots o' trub, but there is an argument that you'll get less isomeritazation of alpha acids when you use a grain bag.
Personally, I use a grain bag

I like just dumping them in because you can obviously tell that you are getting the full utilization of the hops as they are turning and boiling with the water. With a bag they cant do that, I'm not saying that it doesn't allow the hops to do its thing. I just don't use a bag. Of course if you just throw them in you might have more sediment in the bottles, If you are not using a whole lot pellet of hops it doesn't affect it much. (at least that has been my experience) But like Mr. Davidson said you will get a few mixed responses.

Back in the day I used to siphon my wort to the fermentor and didn't really have a problem with transferring the hops over.

Either will work.

Alright, well they went in with the bag. This recipe uses 3/4 oz amarillo hops for bittering (60 minutes), 3/4 oz amarillo (15 minutes) and then another 3/4 oz of amarillo for the final 5 minutes. I added just a little extra (1/16 oz) for the 60 minute boil just in case it doesn't utilize them quite as well.

I don't use a hop bag for pellets personally but thats mostly because I hate cleaning the damn thing afterwards. Loose hops on the other hand always go in a bag.

GT

Laurel said:

Alright, well they went in with the bag. This recipe uses 3/4 oz amarillo hops for bittering (60 minutes), 3/4 oz amarillo (15 minutes) and then another 3/4 oz of amarillo for the final 5 minutes. I added just a little extra (1/16 oz) for the 60 minute boil just in case it doesn't utilize them quite as well.

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Good choice!!! I ALWAYS use a bag I think its easier to clean the bag then the kettle BUT my kettle is a fixed piece of a system.
Welcome to the forum!! enjoy the brew session:rockin:
Cheers
JJ

Well it's in the primary, and everything's cleaned up. My pot's soaking in some PBW overnight. It smells good, but my sample was really sweet! I've never tasted it before the primary fermentation was done!

Laurel said:

Well it's in the primary, and everything's cleaned up. My pot's soaking in some PBW overnight. It smells good, but my sample was really sweet! I've never tasted it before the primary fermentation was done!

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ummmmmm. wort tea you gotta love it
Congrats!! do you and your boytoy brew alot???
JJ

We're fairly new to it. We got the kit around the beginning of the year, and have since made a wheat beer, and a blonde. Both have been bottled and all of the wheat, and part of the blonde have been consumed. I figured I should probably ramp up production so what we do have doesn't all get finished off before it's at its best. We have a whitbier, amber and vanilla porter in the wings. He's decided that he doesn't like brewing it so much, but likes drinking it. Luckily, I like brewing it and drinking it, so it works out fine, he gives me a hand when I need it.

I have to say, I'm a little disappointed by how light and un-red this turned out. Perhaps things will changed when all the solids make their way to the bottom.

Laurel said:

I have to say, I'm a little disappointed by how light and un-red this turned out. Perhaps things will changed when all the solids make their way to the bottom.

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ya well you cant judge a BEER till its in the toilet LOL

JJ

Laurel said:

Well it's in the primary, and everything's cleaned up. My pot's soaking in some PBW overnight. It smells good, but my sample was really sweet! I've never tasted it before the primary fermentation was done!

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wort is supposed to be sweet...almost undrinkably sweet....that's all the sugar that's about become alcohol

for the record, I've never put pellets in a bag. Just don't see the need to. Whole hops are a little annoying to work with, in terms of draining a kettle with a drain valve (vs. pouring or siphoning). pellets and plugs just get dumped right in on my batches.

As you gain more experience, you'll determine which methods you prefer. There are a lot of right answers to the same question in this hobby

I used a wyeast smack pack, and after nearly 11 hours, I don't have any foam at the top, nor any bubbling in the air lock. Up until now, I've only used dry yeast packs. The smack pack got really swollen, so I don't think that dead yeast was my problem, it went in at about 75º, and I shook it up madly to make sure everything was well-oxygenated. I had a few bubbles of star-san in the carboy when I dumped everything in, but according to my reading, it shouldn't matter. Of course I still have some time for it to get started, but up until now, I've had almost instant fermentation, at least by the next morning it's had a nice head on it, and it's been bubbling away.

malkore said:

wort is supposed to be sweet...almost undrinkably sweet....that's all the sugar that's about become alcohol

for the record, I've never put pellets in a bag. Just don't see the need to. Whole hops are a little annoying to work with, in terms of draining a kettle with a drain valve (vs. pouring or siphoning). pellets and plugs just get dumped right in on my batches.

As you gain more experience, you'll determine which methods you prefer. There are a lot of right answers to the same question in this hobby

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Yeah, I knew that it was supposed to be sweet, but since I've never tasted it before, I didn't know just how sweet! I think I've gained that experience, and I don't need to do that again.

I think that I like pudding the hops in a grain bag. Less sediment means more beer ends up in the bottles in the long term, washing the grain bag really isn't so bad.

The suspended materials are making the beer look less red than it actually is. Once fermentation is done & the batch has cleared, it should be fine.

I think I'm just being paranoid. I looked again and though I'm not getting any airlock activity, the airlock looks a little low which might be at fault, so I boiled some water to add to it. The solids in the beer also appear to be moving around in a convection current, and the beer temp is a couple degrees warmer than ambient room temperature (71º).

Brewing bucket or carboy? Brewing buckets often leak co2 out along the lid edge.

Denny's Evil Concoctions said:

Brewing bucket or carboy? Brewing buckets often leak co2 out along the lid edge.

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Carboy. I didn't have quite enough liquid in my airlock. I added some boiled water and it started bubbling away.

Holy COW! So I took a photo of the bottom of the carboy this morning and I just went to admire my handiwork. It's churning SO RAPIDLY that it's actually eroded the trub in areas down to the very bottom!
Before

After


We might need to move the beer somewhere else. We have kept it under my 75 gallon fish tank that holds a constant temperature of 80º, in a cabinet, so it stays a steady temperature, but it's sitting at a constat 71º. Should I move it?