Don't put fresh hops into the garbage disposal LOL

First of all I used fresh hops for the first time tonight and I'm not fond of them. What a freaking mess even with a hop bag. I had to use a grain bag as 11oz of fresh hops is the size of a pillow (small exaggeration there).

Then once I emptied the hop mush into the sink I tried to garbage disposal them - NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

Pallets are so much cleaner.

I normally do not brew on a Tuesday night but . . FRESH CASCADE HOPS!!

 

Plumber here...

Disposals really aren't meant to handle large amounts of anything. Starchy stuff is the worst, turns to paste in the drain line. Vegetable matter isn't much better, it turns into a tight plug that just expands in place.

If you must use the disposal, keep cold water running, grind in small doses, and fill the sink up at least halfway when your done and pump it out with the disposal. That will flush most of it down the drain.

Disposals are the worst thing for drain lines, but at $204 a pop, I'll come snake the drain line out for you...

 

you're spendy, had to have a plumber out here to snake a line going from the back of my house to the front and he only charged about $125.

From what he was telling me, it sounded like the clog was more or less just beyond what my snake could get to.

 

the other thing about disposals is that after you turn it off, you should let an additional 30 seconds to a minute of water run down the drain to move stuff along. I like to fill a pot with a couple of gallons of water and let that go down the disposal after everything is ground up.

 

I guess it depends on the local market. Here in Northern VA, the going rate is anywhere from $100/hr to $250/hr plus materials. My company is right in the middle at $169/hr.

 

Damn, I didn't know plumbers made such good money. My line got clogged recently and I just removed the pipe sections myself and cleaned it out. Do people really pay that much for something they could do themselves in 30min? I suppose not everyone is mechanically inclined, but it's typically not that hard to clean out pipes under the sink.

 

why did you not just throw the used hops in the flower bed or across the lawn ??

 

Because I dog rolls in the spend barley and hops. I make Dog treats now out of the barley but the hop goop went into the garbage disposal.

BTW - why call a plumber????? Plumbing is not hard you know!! I've taken out and replaces many disposals. This was not a problem anyway.

 

in my case I have a drain stack at the back of the house and one in the front and a line that runs under the house to connect the two. Mine clogged in the line under the house and was apparently further than the 15' that my snake will go.

 

All depends on how you handle them. Whole hops do seem to have much more matter but it is in much larger pieces. This lets you use a kettle screen or similar item to screen them out of the wort. The small particulate matter of a pellet clogs screens very quickly.

The technique I have found that works quick and easy for both types is to use a jumbo strain bag to line my bucket fermenter. I then pour the wort from the kettle into the fermenter, and remove the strain bag taking the hops with it. Quick and easy. The hops then get added to the compost pile. Never, Never throw that much matter down a disposal. If you can compost, if you can't put them in the trash.

Craig

 

I've heard that hops can kill a dog if it eats them.

 

Yea, that's been pretty well not confirmed; there's like two cases where people thought that it might have been a problem.

I also seriously, seriously doubt that boiled hops, which have everything boiled out of them, would even rate the slightest scare. Last time I made dog treats with spent steeping grains, I left the hops in and my dog and all my friends dogs have not had a problem at all.

 

All professionals are the same. None of them are worth what they charge....UNTIL you need them! I'm sure most Plumbers, like most Carpenters, Electricians, etc., make the majority of their money by doing things for people who have decided that performing the plumbing work is not worth their time or, like my 3 sisters, can't wait until their brother has the time! - Dwain