Filtering Out Hops

[ledzilla]

Howdy. New to the forum, still somewhat new to brewing.

I've brewed a couple extract kits so far, and they've turned out well. However, I'm looking to make the hops filtering process easier. When pouring the wort from the kettle into the fermenter, I've been using a combination of a large mesh strainer and an in-funnel strainer to remove the mess of the hops pellets. However, this is very cumbersome and time-consuming as the strainers quickly clog up with hops debris. Is there a better way of doing this? I came up with the idea of maybe installing a ball valve connected to a false bottom, but I'm not sure how well that would work. I figure installing a ball valve and thermometer in my kettle couldn't hurt either way, though. Would certainly reduce the mess from pouring from the top of the kettle.

 

[LLBeanJ]

No need to filter. Dump it all in. Seriously, people really get hung up on sending clear wort to the fermenter, but it's a total waste of time and effort. The beer doesn't care.

 

[kh54s10]

Just so that I don't have a lot of beer lost in a deep layer of trub on the bottom of the fermenter, I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag clipped to the lip of my boil kettle. Or you could make a hop spider. After that just dump it all into the fermenter like LLBeanJ said.

 

[ledzilla]

Just so that I don't have a lot of beer lost in a deep layer of trub on the bottom of the fermenter, I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag clipped to the lip of my boil kettle. Or you could make a hop spider. After that just dump it all into the fermenter like LLBeanJ said.

Yeah, that's why I want to filter it out. I wasn't looking for anything perfect, just enough to not have all of the hops continue through. I'll give the paint strainer bag a try, see how that works. Still going to modify my kettle, but I imagine this should make things easier.

 

[Atlmustang]

Use a hop bag to keep a good bit of the hop sludge out of the wort on the front end. Your beer will get plenty of bitterness and/or aromas in the bag just as they would be floating about freely only you keep the sludge out and easily removed. I have tested this myself on my IPA. One hopped with the bag and the other not. I had the same bitterness perception and aroma. Except one was a little clearer.

Honestly though, using a fining agent such as whirlfloc or gelatin coupled with a cold crash should help get most of the hop matter to the bottom of the fermentor and cleaerer wort.

 

[V-Fib]

For my beers that have over 4oz of hops I've been using a 5 gal paint strainer that has an elastic band at the top. I haven't detected any loss in flavor or aroma but I also haven't done a side by side comparison.

Normally all the hop material isn't a problem but one of my kegs have a different post that is prone to clogging so I decided to filter some. Plus I'm in the habit of getting the most beer in to my kegs which leads to sucking up junk.

 

[ledzilla]

Ok, so I'm not sure the paint strainer bags would work well for me, given the size of my pot. It's an 8-gallon pot (12.5 x 15) and the recipe kits I've used so far have called for boiling no more than 3 gallons. I figure it wouldn't make much difference boiling 5-6 gallons, but it would mean having to be more careful in preventing boil-over.

How well do hop bags work for multiple hops additions during the cooking?

Also, a thought occurs. I'm planning to install a thermometer into the side of my kettle. Wouldn't the probe on a thermometer be likely to cause damage to some of these "bags"? Or, at the very least, catch on them?

 

[Atlmustang]

Hop bags are fine for multiple additions. The bag pulls tight with a drawstring. I tie the drawstring after I pull thg bag shut to the handle on my kettle to easily add more when its time. Also, by tying to the handle you keep the bag near the top so it should be well out of the way of any probes. Also, by keeping the hops near the top they are up there with all of the turbulance from the boil which creates greater friction and can really increase the amount of oils and aromas extracted from the hops.

 

[Konadog]

I would just whirlpool at the end of your boil during cooling, once all the trub settles, you can drain and leave around 90% of the junk behind. What makes it into the fermenter doesn't matter. At the end of fermentation, if you cold crash, all the trub that made it into the fermenter will be compacted under a layer of yeast. Pretty easy to rack clear wort after that.

 

[Mothman]

As a new brewery who just had a horrible bottling day due to a thick, sloppy, layer of crud at the bottom of the fermenter (dumped the entire kettle contents into the bucket), I am following this thread and definitely going to put some effort into reducing the hops that go into primary for my next batch.

I'm a bit in awe of how people deal with dry hopping. Lol

 

[Konadog]

This should give you an idea of how much crud you can add and still have clear beer. This was "before" dry hops were added, so even more.

 

[brewcat]

Don't worry about it. I basically just dump the kettle. If you really want, hop bags work good. Or just slow down your pour at the end. A lot of debris, which you can leave, sinks to the bottom.

 

[ledzilla]

Hop bags are fine for multiple additions. The bag pulls tight with a drawstring. I tie the drawstring after I pull the bag shut to the handle on my kettle to easily add more when its time. Also, by tying to the handle you keep the bag near the top so it should be well out of the way of any probes. Also, by keeping the hops near the top they are up there with all of the turbulence from the boil which creates greater friction and can really increase the amount of oils and aromas extracted from the hops.

I guess I'll pick one up and see how it works for me with my next batch. Need to finish my fermentation cabinet first, though, so I have a spot to keep the carboys again.

I would just whirlpool at the end of your boil during cooling, once all the trub settles, you can drain and leave around 90% of the junk behind. What makes it into the fermenter doesn't matter. At the end of fermentation, if you cold crash, all the trub that made it into the fermenter will be compacted under a layer of yeast. Pretty easy to rack clear wort after that.

I didn't have any problem with the trub during fermentation or bottling. Seemed pretty well self-compacted into the bottom of the carboy. Kind of a pain to rinse out, but not too troublesome.

 

[Atlmustang]

Good luck to you! Trying new methods is all part of the fun!

 

[Revvy]

No need to filter. Dump it all in. Seriously, people really get hung up on sending clear wort to the fermenter, but it's a total waste of time and effort. The beer doesn't care.

I used to do this all the time, ESPECIALLY if you're opting for a month long primary/no secondary- that yeast cake and the hops are going to compress after a month, the beer that was mixed in with the trub is going to "come back" as the yeast stratifies, and the hops will get left behind when racking to bottle. AND your beer will be crystal clear... PLUS when leaving the beer in primary long enough to let the yeastcake contract, I would usually get between 48 and 52 beers out of the batch.

BUT the other option, and the one I've been doing probably for 7 or 8 years now is instead of pouring the chilled wort into the fermenter I chill wort completely and rack it over to my fermenter with my sanitized autosiphon, leaving all the break material and hops behind.

And also using a hops spider (mine is your basic piece of large bore pvc pipe reducer, a small mesh bag zipped tied to the narrow part -with a few glass marbles to keep the bag from floating, and some coat hangers to suspend it over my kettle) will limit the amount of hopgunk being carried over, it will also mean your autosiphon won't get gunked up by vacuumed up hop pieces.

 

[Opiate42]

As a new brewery who just had a horrible bottling day due to a thick, sloppy, layer of crud at the bottom of the fermenter (dumped the entire kettle contents into the bucket), I am following this thread and definitely going to put some effort into reducing the hops that go into primary for my next batch.

I'm a bit in awe of how people deal with dry hopping. Lol

Egad yah been there. I don't have a bucket with a spigot so use a siphon. Trust me, never wrap cheese cloth around the bottom of the siphon to act as a filter. It's a bad thing.

Ended up oxidizing a batch of a ginger IPA I made for a buddies wedding, about half the bottles went off before he got to drink them.

Damn shame as it was a fine tasting batch.

Have done bagged hops and no bag, just dumped in the fermentor for dry hopping. Definitely a hop bag makes life easier and less to floss out of your teeth afterward.

Bottling is definitely my least favourite part of the process, besides the cleaning, and periods of not drinking.

From the kettle to fermentor I'm still using a steel strainer, slow and messy but gets the job done.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I've been trying different methods to see what works.
The dump-it-all-in approach for me (1-gal batches) seems to decrease my final beer yield (deeper trub) and creates a really messy blow-off situation for the first couple days due to all the gunk (additional loss). Otherwise it's fine; for larger batches the loss is probably negligible.
I rack it into the fermenter to leave as much behind as reasonably possible. That's the easy way to compromise.

Any sort of filter clogs very quickly with one exception that I tried.... My most recent brew I ran through a sanitized canvas bag. The bag filled with hop debris and mostly clear liquid came through the fabric. I put as much clear liquid through first as I could. Squeezing the bag emptied out all the liquid. The wort had super amazing head retention too, oddly enough. I haven't bottled this beer yet.
My mistake was putting the bag in through the mouth of my glass carboy. Once filled it was wider than the mouth so I had to dig out the hop mud from the bag to get it out. If I do this again I will probably just use the auto-siphon to pump the non-clear liquid through the bag right back into my brew pot just as a quick and easier way to remove most of the solids while still wasting as little liquid as possible.
Is this a crazy additional step in the brewing process with "minimal" gain? Maybe, but if I get one extra bottle that's another 10% or more beer I get from the batch. I'd call it a win.

Cheers!

 

[ledzilla]

Ok, so it seems like the biggest deal with this all comes from two points:

1) Method for removing wort from kettle
2) Personal preference and comfort level with hops debris

I'm figuring that since not only do I have a personal preference to just have the hops debris removed, I am altering my methods and trying to improve my process (which means changes in equipment here and there), I figure I ought to find a good method for removing hops debris now if down the line I adopt some methodology where the debris could cause a clog in equipment. I did happen upon a way to build my own hop spider, and I like how that works, so I figure I ought to build one and see how it works for me, given that I can buy a pack of hop bags and then use those attached to the spider. I have all the tools necessary to build one and have three hardware stores within two miles of me.

 

[Chrisbrewbeers]

Hop debris will clog your bottle wand or keg poppet, that's all I would worry about. I use hop spider and I think I do maybe gain a little volume by squeezing the bag dry. You also can use a stainless steel dip tube and siphon filter.

 

[christyle]

If you guys are having problems with hop debris in your kegs or bottles, you've not properly cold crashed/racked the beer to your serving vessel. A hop spider costs all of about $20, or get the ~$40 stainless basket version from many different vendors and reduce it before you have to dump it into your fermentor. You should be able to transfer from your fermentor to your serving vessel with little debris if you are properly waiting until fermentation is done, and the debris has settled.

 

[bajaedition]

If you guys are having problems with hop debris in your kegs or bottles, you've not properly cold crashed/racked the beer to your serving vessel. A hop spider costs all of about $20, or get the ~$40 stainless basket version from many different vendors and reduce it before you have to dump it into your fermentor. You should be able to transfer from your fermentor to your serving vessel with little debris if you are properly waiting until fermentation is done, and the debris has settled.

sage advice but not just any screen check to see if it has a micron level of 300 or less. Lose screens do little and are a waste

wirlfloc in the last 15 minutes of boil helps a lot