Hop Pellets - Steep or full boil??

[kfgolfer]

Hi.. Have a question about Hops... Do most of you just throw them in the boiling wort or put them in the bag?? When I transferred wort to primary I had so much "gunk" (for lack ofa better word) to filter out because of the hops and my LHBS told me to put the hops in the bag instead of throwing them in. Can you get the same flavor with this? Is this the preferred method??

 

[Buford]

I just toss them in the boiling wort. Most of the stuff ends up in the primary since I haven't got the hang of whirlpooling before I siphon, but it gets left behind when I rack to secondary.

 

[Monster Mash]

To get the best utilization just throw them in the boil, if you don't want to hassle trying to keep them out of the fermenter use a bag.

I just throw them in and deal with them later.

I put screens on my pickup tube to filter and I whirlpool to get them in the center.

 

[david_42]

I toss them in & cuss when they clog the bazooka. I may go back to bagging them, as I've never noticed any difference. Whole hops, yes. But not with pellets.

 

[RoaringBrewer]

I've done it unbagged (twice), but mainly bagged. I've never brewed the same beer and tried a different approach, so I really can't say scientifically it makes a difference. However, it always (yes, two times) seems when I throw them in without a bag I get better hop flavor (better utilization?).

I may go back to doing it unbagged. The clarity of the beers with the hops just tossed in has been on par with those where I've bagged them, so it makes no difference. Actually, the clearest beer I've made to date I just tossed the hops in... Just don't suck them up when racking, etc. and you'll be fine.