How do you drain the hop bag? At boiling temp??

[seanhuber]

I'm an extract brewer and am up to my 6th batch now. Every part of the process seems to go fairly smooth now except when it comes time to remove the hops from the wort after a 60min boil.

I use one of those nylon mesh bags for steeping grains and for hop additions as well. It's very fine and seems to clog up easy from the hops so when I pull it out of the wort it's filled with a lot of liquid. What I've been doing lately it squeezing the bag between two plates but the boiling liquid just seems to splash everywhere and I end up burning myself.

What do you guys do? Do you just not drain the thing? Do you have giant rubber gloves to protect your hands?

 

[springer]

I lift the bag out and put in my IC then the bag goes back in Chill drain with the bag still in the keggel it drains out after a few minutes

 

[Girlsfartoo]

I throw the bag into a strainer which fits over a large pot. Let the juices drain and/or help them along but pushing on it with a large spoon then dump 'em back into the pot.

Kind of like what you'd do with a tea bag but with larger tools.

 

[david_42]

I leave the hops in the kettle while cooling and draining to the fermenter.

 

[Yooper]

I don't use straining bags, but if I did I'd chill the wort then remove the hops bags. No sense burning yourself!

Plus, when you add aroma hops at flameout (0 minutes additions), they stay in there for the cool down anyway.

 

[carl spakler]

If the mesh is fine enough such that liquid can't drain out is enough of the wort in contact with the hops for proper utilization? It would seem to me no.

I just throw my hops straight in the kettle and use a large strainer after the boil/cool down to keep most of the hop sludge out of the primary.

 

[EdWort]

I used lined neoprene gloves (normally used to pull pork and handle hot briskets). I put them on and wash them like I would wash my hands, dry with a clean paper towel, then spray with starsan. 60 seconds later, I am able to pick up the hop bag, let it drain, then squeeze out the remaining wort with concentrated hop goodness without burning my hands.

 

[TommyBoy]

I just twist the bag and squeeze it like a bag of icing... and burn my hands.

 

[bpugh1975]

I set up a ladder over my kettle after flameout, then just hang it from one of the rungs until it's done dripping.

 

[marubozo]

I just twist the bag and squeeze it like a bag of icing... and burn my hands.

That's what I did. It only hurts for a second

 

[theguy]

I have found that 2 pair of tongs work pretty well. Use one pair to grab the bag from the hot wort and then use the second pair to squeeze our the liquid gold. Haven't burned myself yet using this technique.

 

[JPicasso]

Take out the bag after it's cooled.

Is this a trick question?

 

[Hang Glider]

+1 strainer.
just pull them out and let them drain in a seive or collandar. Once they've almost drained, press against them with a spoon.

Lately, I leave 'em in while the wort cools.

 

[seanhuber]

I've found that when I add the hops directly to the wort they clog up my strainer when I try pouring into the fermenter, so that's why I started using the nylon bag. Waiting to take them out after the wort has cooled sounds like a good idea, but I'd be afraid of contaminating it by touching the bag.

Tongs sound like a good idea. I think I'll try that next time.

 

[peter4jc]

We brew in my kitchen on the stove, with cabinets above the stove. I fashioned a sort of "S" hook, with one end a fairly tight hook and the other end has a point. The pointy end grips the wood as it hooks into the cupboard, and the grain bag cinches into the tight end. It stays in place, dripping into the kettle with minimal pressure, but we just put a little spring clamp on it.

 

[GregR]

just man up and grab it with your bare hands. squeeze the sacred juice and call it good.

I'll just hold it above the pot with some gloves and give it a decent sneeze once everything has cooled. I'll then take another hop or grain bag and put it over the funnel and pour through that into the fermentor to get rid of any strays that found their way into the wort.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

I like to put mine in a french press made of fine crystal. Press at 3.8 psi. Either that or a vaccuum at 3 bars, I'm still not sure.

OK I made that up, I don't even use a hop bag.

 

[carl spakler]

Squeezing a grain bag, if used, is generally considered a no-no, what about the hop bag? Is there any harm from squeezing the bejeebus out of it to get all the elixir that saturated the hops?

 

[Girlsfartoo]

Squeezing a grain bag, if used, is generally considered a no-no

Newb question: Why not squeeze the grain bag?

 

[JPicasso]

You can squeeze a hop bag. But don't use your bare hands, because y ou'll be introducing whatever was on your hands to the post-boil wort. Use sanitized tongs, and feel free to take the bag out after it's cooled down.

Squeezing grain bags is said to produce astringent flavors. I lightly squeeze my grain bags as I'm ramping up to boil. But don't squeeze be-jeebus out of the grain bag.

 

[mr_clean]

Thats what i thought but everybody in this thread does it.Hmmm.

 

[TeufelBrew]

I use the muslin bags and leave them in for while draining the pot through plate chiller. When I can see the bags I use two large SS spoons and squeeze the bag between them. The last of the hops goodness goes throught the chiller and none of the particles can block it up.

 

[ChickenSoop]

Leave the hop bag in the wort pot when cooling, then when transferring to the fermenter, catch it in the strainer, then squeeze your bag, with a stainless steel sanitized spoon.

 

[julian81]

I just twist the bag and squeeze it like a bag of icing... and burn my hands.

lol, I was waiting to see someone say this, cuz that's exactly what I do (or did before the Hop Stopper...but will probably be going back to the hop filter paint strainer method since the Hop Stopper failed me first brew).

 

[Ralelen]

I have found that 2 pair of tongs work pretty well. Use one pair to grab the bag from the hot wort and then use the second pair to squeeze our the liquid gold. Haven't burned myself yet using this technique.

Same here.

 

[Jakemo]

I pull mine out just before I'm ready to chill the wort and put them in a colander over the pot and squeeze all of the liquid out with my stir spoon...

Considering using my other paint strainer bag for hops, but then I'd feel guilty for buying hop bags. :-/

 

[unionrdr]

I was just using tongs to pull them out & holding them to drain. I'm wondering,why not use a big,fine mesh strainer & sparge with hot water like a grain bag to wash the goodness out? What say you?

 

[Hang Glider]

sparging with hot water would dilute your wort post-boil, affecting gravity, no?

 

[Spreadhead]

Hold hop bag with tongs.

Squeeze the bag against the inside wall of the kettle with a stainless mash paddle.

 

[Stweeb]

I pinch a bottom corner of the bag with my sanitized fingers and tilt the bag. That way, the liquid moves to an area of the bag that isn't clogged. Tongs do sound safer, though.

 

[biochemedic]

Resurrecting an old thread here, but I just let my hops go commando...after cooling I pour the wort through a nylon filter over my bottling bucket, then from there into the carboy.

In my imagination, I may get better hop utilization this way, and perhaps better aeration of my wort before pitching.