Are hops bags essentiall useless??

[heertsy]

Just finished a honey brown ale, and a guy I buy supplies from told me not to even bother with hops bags, just throw em right in. I did that, and they broke down almost completely. Didn't have ANY problem getting any hops during racking from the fermenter. So i say he suggestion was accurate.

Saw a post on the extract forum about hops bags so i thought i would ask here. Do most of you use them?? Is their a point to it???

I would say at this point, i am always just gonna throw them in the boil and not bother with the bags.

 

[EdWort]

I tried them for the first time this week and they worked great in the boil. There was nothing to strain after the boil was over. I'll use them again.

 

[heertsy]

I didn't strain them at all, they went into the fermenter with my boil. Maybe this will present some different flavors???

They were completely broken down by the time i racked to the bottling bucket I know that.

 

[david_42]

Leaving the hops in the fermenter will change the flavor and aroma profile.

 

[magno]

I havent used hop bags in over a year, and I havent looked back. One less thing to buy (I know ... they are cheap) and one less thing to run out of.

They may change the flavor and aroma, but I haven noticed. This may be because I use mostly pellets for bittering, and I try to use whole leaf for flavor and aroma. I always leave a bit of wort with most of the residue in the kettle too.

 

[malkore]

i wouldn't bother with putting pellets in a bag. just whirlpool and avoid pouring trub into the fermenter (or use a strainer).

someone yesterday posted about using the hop bag plus clothes pins over the strainer to strain the hops, rather than a tiny wire mesh strainer insert for the funnel.

 

[Got Trub?]

Pellets - no hop bag, whirlpool and transfer
Whole Hops - hop bag, especially if over an oz or so in a 5 gal batch as you'll end up with a large volume of hydrated hop material after the boil that is a pain unless you want to filter your wort when you transfer to your primary.

 

[heertsy]

i usually buy beer ingredient kits and most of them come with the pellets.

 

[Buford]

With pellets there is no need. With leaf hops bags are very necessary unless you have a screen to filter them out. My last batch using leaf hops left my kettle looking like it had a thick layer of small green pasta shells in the bottom, and leaf hops will clog up an auto-siphon like something fierce.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I guess it all depends on what you do post boil, and what kind of chiller you use. I've pretty much used just pellets without bags, so whirlpooling hardcore and draining from the spigot has worked well for me. I use a good sized IC, and with a strong whirlpool I can drop the temp quick enough to separate quite a bit of cold break proteins with the hops. There's a good pile of stuff packed in the center of the kettle, and as long as I drain carefully, I can leave it undisturbed.

 

[cubbies]

With pellets there is no need. With leaf hops bags are very necessary unless you have a screen to filter them out. My last batch using leaf hops left my kettle looking like it had a thick layer of small green pasta shells in the bottom, and leaf hops will clog up an auto-siphon like something fierce.

While leaf hops can be a mild pain when transferring, they are very good for clarifying beer. The hops give a place for coagulated protein to 'land' and therefore settle out. And in my book, less coag protein, the better. Since I am using a bucket for primary, I can use a big strainer and just pour my wort through, thus leaving the hops and protein behind, if using a carboy, it would be more difficult.

 

[heertsy]

Still bit of a noob, but why is just leaving hop pellets in alright but not the regular hops???

Do pellets break down easier or something???

Also, i have a wort chiller the attached to the garden hose, but what does the chiller have to do with anything??

 

[cheezydemon]

Still bit of a noob, but why is just leaving hop pellets in alright but not the regular hops???

Do pellets break down easier or something???

Also, i have a wort chiller the attached to the garden hose, but what does the chiller have to do with anything??

cubbies just gave a great reason for leaving leaf hops in.

Your chiller is fine. It will come out with hop residue on it, nothing worse than that. Relax!!

I filter when racking to secondary or kegging, regardless of leaf or pellet or plug.
To each their own, it is not an exact science, and whichever method YOU like best is the one to use.

 

[WortMonger]

I used plugs for the first time on my last batch of APA, and man I wish I had used my hop sack. I put a stainless scrubby on my kettle valve and it did nothing to stop the hops from plugging. Before I have only used pellets, even at the brewery I worked at, and they were easy to whirlpool and transfer the wort from. I have to say that I will always use whole leaf or plug from now on for aroma and flavor hops, but it is pellets for IBU's. I have never had a beer smell so hoppy in the fermenter without dry hopping before. My previous beer I simply whirlpools, transfered through a hop sack in my grant, and then recirculated back into the kettle after going through my therminator wort chiller. I have 70* tap water to cool with so it takes two passes nearly to get me in pitching range. I am very pleased with using a hop sack as a pre-chiller filter though, and will do so from now on. I got the idea from the brewers who taught me the big toys. They used to put a hop sack over the kettle-in piping to slow the wort down so it wouldn't splash in the bottom of that huge kettle. Wish I had done this way back when. The first time I used my therminator I had to clean it several times, and I still had hop remains coming out .

 

[King of the Swill]

I am not sure why anyone would not use the hop bags for the pellets. They are very cheap, and they make it so easy.

 

[cheezydemon]

Like using a bag to steep grains, you will not get the full benefit if they are stuffed in a bag. But if you add a little extra it probably makes up the difference. Also some people like the hops in their primary to give protiens something to cling to and sink, actually aiding in clarification.