Muslin bag issues

I've had an issue with my las test batch and I'm worried it may have scrapped the batch...

The mesh on my muslin bag seems to have been to large and most of the hops winded up in my worth.
I left it there and put it in my primary fermenter for 3-4 days before racking it. Most of it seemed to have stayed in the primary fermenter.

Obviously, I didn't bother to dry hop it since there was already a bunch of hops in the primary.

Could this have caused any issues withe end result?

Did you use pellet hops or whole hops? Pellets will break up regardless of if you try to put them in a bag. I always use pellets and I just toss them in the kettle (or the primary if I'm dry hopping.) Theres really no need to put them in a muslin bag. They will break apart and either settle out with the trub, or stay sort of floating on top, in which case I would just rack from underneath it.

The only issue I can see is that you might transfer over some little, flakey hop bits. I've done this. They settle out in the bottles so it was never a big deal for me.

So did you add these to the primary after fermentation had started? Or was this from the boil?

In at boil. I changed types of muslins recently and with the old ones never had that issue.

I guess the muslins will stay for the steeping of grains.

Thank you

I use pellet hops and use voile bags. They hold a lot of hops throughout the boil.

It won't hurt your beer it just adds trub to the fermentor.

blouic said:

I've had an issue with my las test batch and I'm worried it may have scrapped the batch...

The mesh on my muslin bag seems to have been to large and most of the hops winded up in my worth.
I left it there and put it in my primary fermenter for 3-4 days before racking it. Most of it seemed to have stayed in the primary fermenter.

Obviously, I didn't bother to dry hop it since there was already a bunch of hops in the primary.

Could this have caused any issues withe end result?

Click to expand...

There is nothing to worry about from the hops getting into the wort. Many put all the hops in the boil loose.

You racked (to secondary) after 3-4 days?? If so this is not a great procedure. It is most common to wait for final gravity, then transfer. (if at all).

If your recipe called for dry hopping, you should still have done so. The effects of hops is different to the beer depending on when they are added regardless of the amount of debris they contribute.

So yes there will be some issues. But you still made beer. Without the dry hops there will be a difference.

kh54s10 said:

You racked (to secondary) after 3-4 days?? If so this is not a great procedure. It is most common to wait for final gravity, then transfer. (if at all).

Click to expand...

I think this comes from BeerSmith. It says that for all brews for some reason. At first I followed it because I figured it must know more than I do. Luckily it was before I had a fermentation chamber and thus my temps were a bit high (72-75) and this helped it ferment out really quickly (the first batch used Nottingham and was done in 60 hours....not even 3 days). It wasn't until I was a few brews in that I realized this value (length of primary) never changed - it always suggests 4 days.

Now I wait until about 2-4 gravity points from FG and then rack to secondary and let it finish in there. It's usually about 5 days I'd say, but depends on the strain of yeast obviously.

don't scrap the batch. your beer is fine. TASTE IT!

blouic said:

I've had an issue with my las test batch and I'm worried it may have scrapped the batch...

The mesh on my muslin bag seems to have been to large and most of the hops winded up in my worth.
I left it there and put it in my primary fermenter for 3-4 days before racking it. Most of it seemed to have stayed in the primary fermenter.

Obviously, I didn't bother to dry hop it since there was already a bunch of hops in the primary.

Could this have caused any issues withe end result?

Click to expand...

the only thing bad I see that happened was fermenting 3-4 days then racking. Did you check your FG? you removed the wort/beer from the yeast bed and it might not have been done fermenting. IMO you should have dry hopped also(if recipe calls for it)

I agree with the others. 3-4 days is much too soon to transfer to secondary..it can stall fermentation. I don't ever use secondaries anymore, but when I did it was after at least a week in primary to make sure it was done fermenting. Then I would transfer to get the beer off the yeast and let it clear up. But, like I said, I do not use secondaries anymore..I just let it ride out in primary. Whenever I dry hop, I just open the primary carboy or bucket and toss the pellets in loose. They do their thing and settle out for the most part. If the recipe calls for dry hopping, then dry hop!

MagicMatt said:

I think this comes from BeerSmith. It says that for all brews for some reason. At first I followed it because I figured it must know more than I do. Luckily it was before I had a fermentation chamber and thus my temps were a bit high (72-75) and this helped it ferment out really quickly (the first batch used Nottingham and was done in 60 hours....not even 3 days). It wasn't until I was a few brews in that I realized this value (length of primary) never changed - it always suggests 4 days.

Now I wait until about 2-4 gravity points from FG and then rack to secondary and let it finish in there. It's usually about 5 days I'd say, but depends on the strain of yeast obviously.

Click to expand...

I just looked at Beersmith and don't find anything where it gives any days then transfer.

The practice of transferring while fermentation is still happening is outdated. It was of a concern with less modified malts and inferior yeasts of days past. Current wisdom it to reach final gravity, give it another couple of days to a couple of week to clean up then transfer.

That is if you do a secondary at all. More and more brewers are skipping the secondary and get clear beers.

kh54s10 said:

I just looked at Beersmith and don't find anything where it gives any days then transfer.

Click to expand...

I'm not at home right now so I can't give precise instructions on where it is at, but if you just create a random recipe with today's date and a 2-stage fermentation, then go look at the calendar you'll see it says primary for 4 days, then secondary for 2 weeks.

MagicMatt said:

I'm not at home right now so I can't give precise instructions on where it is at, but if you just create a random recipe with today's date and a 2-stage fermentation, then go look at the calendar you'll see it says primary for 4 days, then secondary for 2 weeks.

Click to expand...

OK, I found it. I would most definitely ignore that!!

Honestly I got into the habit of racking a while back. The reason is pretty simple, my primary is plastic and my secondary it a glass carboy. The plastic tends to retain some smell if I leave the beer in there too long. So I rack grabbing some of the yeast bed into the secondary and leave it in there 10-14 days before bottling.
Is this a horrible way to proceed?!?
By the way I stopped using the carboy as primary after having a few batches overflow from the carboy and Poping off the airlock

It is not the process of racking. Many do use secondaries, others including myself rarely use a secondary. It is the timing of racking after 3-4 days. At one time it was normal practice to transfer to secondary before fermentation is done. That practice is outdated. It is now common practice to reach final gravity usually 7-10 days, wait another couple of days for the yeast to finish totally then transfer to secondary.

You do not need to transfer any of the settled yeast to secondary. There is plenty of yeast in suspension in the beer.

Personally I don't like fermenting beer in buckets. I like to be able to see that the fermentation is progressing, I hate bucket lids, and I find Better Bottles easier to clean than my buckets. I also will never own a glass carboy. They are too dangerous, IMO. But that is another thread.

Advice: Blow off tube.....

I need to find a way with my current setup to have a low off tube while keeping a high sanitation level. Haven't found a way for that yet.
If I could I would finally kick the bucket and be able to do all in one fermenter

blouic said:

I need to find a way with my current setup to have a low off tube while keeping a high sanitation level. Haven't found a way for that yet.

Click to expand...

What's stopping you from using a blow off tube? Buy a 1" tube from any online brew supply site. It fits right into the neck of a carboy, and you submerge the other end in a small container/bucket/cup of sanitizer. As long as you sanitize the tube itself (inside and out) you'll be fine. Or you can even use smaller diameter tubing and force it onto the small tube inside of a 3-piece airlock. I did that until I got the larger tube.

Do a Google image search for "blow off tube" to see examples.

I changed types of muslins recently and with the old ones never had that issue.

Is there anything special about the 1" blowoff tubing from LHBS (many miles away) or can I get plastic 1" tubing from Lowes/HomeDepot (just around the corner)?

My issues is simply a question of room. Don't ask for details, just know I'm ridiculously tight. But all this talk gave me ideas.

Tennbrewer; the only thing I think you have to be careful about getting it at Home Depot is to get food grade. Other types may not be safe/healthy

Yeah I'm not sure about the tubing. I think it's just PET (same as beverage lines). Technically it shouldn't come into contact with anything, but I'd err on the side of caution and go with food grade if possible.

I just ordered mine online and had them bring it to me. :rockin: They sell it in 3ft and 6ft sections; the 3ft seems to be perfect.

The vinyl tubing from the Depot is the exact same as any other. It's all I use aside from the 2 feet that came with my starter kit. 40 cents a foot for 3/8", 1" might be 75.