Coffee filters as mini hop bags?

[DonkeyShoes]

I was wondering if anyone has tried using paper coffee filters as small pellet hop bags...

I was thinking I might be able to take a coffee filter, put in the correct amount of hop pellets, and then just tie it up with some string. Kind of like a teabag. I would make one ahead of time for each hop addition and just toss it in when it's time.

Didn't know if they would hold up in boiling wort, any suggestions?

 

[Freddy57]

I haven't tried coffee filters but I tie my hops up in cheese cloth before I toss them in the boil. That works really well to contain the mess.

 

[Arneba28]

I have used it and it worked fine. You just have to put your bag in a minute earlier then you normally would. The bag is thicker then a muslin bag and therefor will take a minute for the bag to become saturated and the pellets to help dissolve.

 

[DonkeyShoes]

Thanks for the quick response!

I was looking for an easy way to add pellet hops without opening and closing the muslin bag throughout the boil. It will also help when I do my first all grain this weekend, since I have to do a split-pot batch on the electric stove.

I'm also lazy and wanted to be able to throw the hop bags in the trash when I'm done.

 

[Kevin Dean]

I'm also lazy and wanted to be able to throw the hop bags in the trash when I'm done.

Go to the women's clothing section of walmart and grab a few handfuls of knee-high nylons. They're $0.33 per container (the little plastic bubbles that come out of those gumball-style toy machines at the store, not the "egg") and each bubble has two knee highs. At that price, you can put each hop addition in a different color so you don't have to open it up, and then just toss the whole thing out when you're done.

It's what I do.

 

[Freddy57]

Go to the women's clothing section of walmart and grab a few handfuls of knee-high nylons. They're $0.33 per container (the little plastic bubbles that come out of those gumball-style toy machines at the store, not the "egg") and each bubble has two knee highs. At that price, you can put each hop addition in a different color so you don't have to open it up, and then just toss the whole thing out when you're done.

It's what I do.

That's a great idea, I'm going to have to give that a try. One question though, you don't have problems with dye from the fabric getting into the wort when you boil them?

 

[Brew-Happy]

Has anyone every tried a tea infuser?
This one holds 4-6 cups worth of tea, so there is plenty of room for hops.

It is reusable and doubles as a strainer(fits my funnel nicely).

You could as many infusers as hop additions to your wort.

Of course, this doesn't speak to the laziness that was mentioned before

 

[DonkeyShoes]

Of course, this doesn't speak to the laziness that was mentioned before

Also I've got 700 coffee filters at my house, so as far as I'm concerned, they're free!

 

[Brew-Happy]

Also I've got 700 coffee filters at my house, so as far as I'm concerned, they're free!

LOL! You make an excellent point! If I had 700 of anything, I would have to find a use for them as well.

 

[Bobby_M]

Get the nylon paint straining bags at HD or Lowes. They're dirt cheap and reusable. It's the perfect mesh size to contain hops but also allow for wort flow.