Forgot to strain hops from primary fermenter

So, I've just started brewing and on my second batch, a dry stout, I spaced and forgot strain out the 1oz. of hops from the pot into my primary fermenter bucket. Pretty bone-headed of me, I know.

I didn't realize it until today when I transferred from the primary fermenter bucket to my secondary carboy and saw the hops in there.

They had been in the primary for about 6 days since brewing.

It obviously won't taste like the recipe should, but how did I screw the batch up?

I had a sip of the brew today and it was pretty damn bitter, but perhaps okay if it mellows a little over the next 4 weeks.....?

Thoughts?

John

Don't worry, some people never strain. A few times, I've accidentally ripped my hop bag, and I've just left the hops in the wort. Everything settles out fine, no worries.

Your beer will mellow substantially over the next several weeks, you'll be amazed.

Not a problem - as mentioned many people do not strain it.

Nothing to worry about. Even when you do strain, particles get in primary, especially if you use pellets. They land on the bottom and are soon covered with dead yeast - they are a normal part of the trub. Don't stress, it will be fine.

BlindLemonLars said:

Don't worry, some people never strain.

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Yup...that'd be ME!

Cool. Thanks for the feedback. I'll look forward to it conditioning over the next month.

John

BigKahuna said:

Yup...that'd be ME!

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+1 Another non-strainer here.

I never strain, but then again, I use pellets.

Your beer will be fine. I use pellets and do try to strain if possible. Last time my 10" strainer kept clogging up so I said screw it and just poured the rest of the stuff into the fermenter.

I'm curious though how much additional bitterness not straining and leaving the hops in the wort for 6 days would add?

Has the boiling process already extracted the majority of bitterness from them?

Are there any additional chemical reactions taking place with the hops over the week?

Thanks,
John

I'm curious though how much additional bitterness not straining and leaving the hops in the wort for 6 days would add?

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Isomerization of the alpha acids requires the boil- and all the goodness has been extracted by the time you are going to the fermenter. Remember as well that your higher AA hops have already been boiled for 60 minutes as your bittering addition.

I made a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone and thought it tasted pretty bitter from the start. It has been over two months since it was made and it is mellowing out fine now. I think with more age it would be better, but I checked my keg and found out there isn't much left. LOL

I use pellets, (All I can get here), and have never bother to strain. When I did PM/steeping/Extract I would just dump everything into the primary. With AG, I rack to the fermenter and never strain, but I do leave around 1 qt of trub / cold break in the pot.
Always good beer, so don't worry.

Just an update to say that I just took a gravity sample from my Dry Stout and its already mellowing out a week later...tasting very nice.

I forgot to strain 4 different types of hops. The 2nd day of fermentation, when I realized that i hadn't strained the pellet junk out, I skimmed what was floating on the top. I tasted it at that time. I was quite bitter. I hope it will calm down after a few weeks in the bottles. Would it be better to bottle it early or late in order to reduce the bitterness? Its been a week sinse I made the batch. I transfered it to a carboy acouple of days ago. It is still slowly fermenting. The alcohol is at about 4.5% by volume.

On my 7th-ever batch last night I decided to strain the hops out of the wort. I noticed that it also provides aeration, perhaps better than the whisk I had used in the past. I think I will strain going forward for this dual purpose, unless others disagree?

I used my auto siphon with a spray aerator as my only means of aeration and filtration. What do you guys think?

I don't strain. Some hops tend to fall to the bottom, but others float around in the beer. It is look like their are floaties, I just attach a sterilised fine mesh bag over the tap when I am transferring from Primary to Secondary fermenter barrels. This catches the floating bits.
Hope this helps.