Elastic-rimmed bag

[The Happy Mug]

I just bought a new bag from the homebrew store. It's just the right size for a brewpot, and with an elastic edge to it holds secure to the rim. First batch with it is a standard extract brew.

My first thoughts were that it saves me from having to tie off a bag and drop it in. No more hot knots and such to deal with.

It worked great for steeping my grains, nice and easy. Great thing to have.

When I stuck my hops in it at a boil, I quickly realized a problem. The boiling wort quickly built up bubbles beneath it, and lifted part of the bag out of the boil, leaving a small part of my hops steaming instead of boiling.

Then, it hit me as I fumed over it. Would this not help my hop profile? Certainly, those leaf hops sitting above are going to distribute their oils at different times, making it more complex.

Anybody else have thoughts on this? I think I like it.

I just realized I have to move it aside to put my wort chiller in 20 minutes from now. I might use this bag exclusively for steeping grains.

 

[The Happy Mug]

Okay, it's easy to stretch these bags between the handles on the brewpot. I can sink my wort chiller and put the bag in place, no prob. This also keeps those bubble-ups down, but they still happen.

 

[The Happy Mug]

Okay, the bag and chiller don't mix. The chiller has copper wires holding the loops in place, and a final twist pointing down. It was a pain clearing the bag of these wires while pulling it out.