Hop spider vs filtering hops later

[mtnagel]

I made a couple beers that were heavily hopped and just threw the hops in loose. I ended up getting hop debris in the bottles (which sucked). Because of that, I made a hop spider and now I use that on all my heavily hopped beers, but I do fear that I'm not getting as much extraction from them, especially from my whirlpool hops/aroma steep hops since I can't really put the kettle lid on with the hop spider. So I'd like to go back to throwing the hops in loose (possibly just for the aroma steep hops), but I don't want to get the hop debris in the beer.

My thinking is after getting everything cooled completely and I'm ready to transfer to my fermentor (I transfer everything), I could put my BIAB (which is pretty fine mesh) in my bucket and send the wort through that. Would that remove all the hop debris so I don't get any in the bottle?

I actually keg now, so would I be better off cold crashing before kegging to get the hops to drop out and then kegging? I don't really have a good way to cold crash, so this is more difficult than filtering.

 

[Nagorg]

I use a hop spider with great success. For me, the hop spider is a must because I have had bad experiences with "commando". I cant say I've had hops in the bottle though because they usually don't make it into the fermenter and any that do get in have dropped into the trub.

My biggest issues with commando hopping have been stuck/slow kettle draining. The hop spider is my friend!

 

[mtnagel]

I dump from the kettle, so no issues with transferring.

Do you do aroma steeps with the hop spider? I really feel like putting the lid on would be better to contain the volatile aromatics (which I can't do with the hop spider).

 

[Nagorg]

I do whirlpool in the kettle with the hop spider. No issues that I have noticed...

 

[mtnagel]

Ok thanks. In the tips for IPA thread, I remember it being brought up that it was important to be able to close the lid on pot during the aroma steep, so I'm hoping to do that, but I don't want to get any of the hop debris. So I'm hoping that filtering through my BIAB will help with that.

 

[dobe12]

Leaving the lid off is ok. I do it all the time. For beers with small hop additions I just toss them in and don't worry about the spider. But for APA, IPA, etc that use larger amounts of hops, I use a spider. I also do a 10-20min steep addition after the boil. I haven't done any side by side comparisons, but I'm happy with my beer's hop aroma, flavor, etc.

 

[WayFrae]

I could put my BIAB (which is pretty fine mesh) in my bucket and send the wort through that. Would that remove all the hop debris so I don't get any in the bottle?

Yes, that is exactly what I do and it works great! Just put the bag in your bucket pour the wort in and lift the bag out. It takes a little while to drain but it works really well.

 

[mtnagel]

Yes, that is exactly what I do and it works great! Just put the bag in your bucket pour the wort in and lift the bag out. It takes a little while to drain but it works really well.

Thanks. I think I'll give it a try next time.

 

[dtwhite]

I'm not sure that keeping the lid on is going to do a whole lot regarding keeping the hop oils in. Once they gas out of solution, they aren't likely to float back in just because there's a cover on it.