Hopping with pellets and a SS tea sphere ?

[brewman !]

I've got a question about hopping. I generally use hop pellets and they tend to break up during the boil and collect on the lid and the inside of the kettle. (The lid if I let the boil get too high.)

I was in a store today and saw some SS perforated tea egg things that look like they would be perfect for putting hops into the boil.

Is there any advantage to doing this ?

Thanks.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

get a hop bag. Disposable ones are .50, reuseable ones a couple bucks.

The tea strainer would be a bit small (least the ones I am thinking of)

If the hops can't get much movement I do not think you will get as much utilization. Depending on the tea strainer also, the pellet particles would probably escape anyways depending on the hole/mesh size.

 

[feedthebear]

You would need a really large tea egg or you'd need several of them.

Either buy a hop bag or just pay the extra $0.15 to $0.50 per ounce for whole hops.

 

[Reidman]

I think hop pellets are designed to break up and disolve into the wort but they are messy from I understand..

Not sure if you're supposed to use a hop bag with pellets...

 

[feedthebear]

A hop bag doesn't hurt anything and it helps contain the mess a little bit.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I use hop pellets and just strain my wort as i pour it into the fermenter.

 

[Bobby_M]

I recently used a hop bag for the first time and I was really impressed how well it contained the particles left over. If you do multiple additions though, it's nice to have 3 bags. It's a pain to open up the bag on every addition.

 

[BierMuncher]

I use 1 gallon nylon paint strainers from Lowes. They work great and they are easy to pull out, open and add more hops for flavoring and aroma....

A 2-pack is like $2.00 0r something. They're great on the end of a racking cane for filtering our dry hops goo too.

 

[WOP31]

From the sounds of your post, you are boiling with the lid on? From my understanding you may not want to do that. I remember reading why but can't think off the top of my head the exact reason. I am sure that someone else will be able to pontificate on the subject a little more.

But as far as the tea strainers go I have seen some that are pretty big and should work fine.

Cheers

 

[BierMuncher]

From the sounds of your post, you are boiling with the lid on? From my understanding you may not want to do that. I remember reading why but can't think off the top of my head the exact reason.

Same reason you don't want to boil pasta with a lid on. Foam up and boil over....

 

[Yooper]

From the sounds of your post, you are boiling with the lid on? From my understanding you may not want to do that. I remember reading why but can't think off the top of my head the exact reason. I am sure that someone else will be able to pontificate on the subject a little more.

But as far as the tea strainers go I have seen some that are pretty big and should work fine.

Cheers

According to Palmer, the reason you don't want to boil with the lid on is DMS. You want a vigorous boil, quick cooling, and to let the substance evaporate. See this: http://www.abtonline.com/dms.html and Palmer's How to Brew says this:

Dimethyl Sulfides (DMS)/ Cooked Vegetable Flavors
Like diacetyl in ales, DMS is common in many light lagers and is considered to be part of the character. DMS is produced in the wort during the boil by the reduction of another compound, S-methyl-methionine (SMM), which is itself produced during malting. When a malt is roasted or toasted, the SMM is reduced beforehand and does not manifest as DMS in the wort, which explains why it is more prevalent in pale lagers. In other styles, DMS is a common off-flavor, and can be caused by poor brewing practices or bacterial infections.

DMS is continuously produced in the wort while it is hot and is usually removed by vaporization during the boil. If the wort is cooled slowly these compounds will not be removed from the wort and will dissolve back in. Thus it is important to not completely cover the brewpot during the boil or allow condensate to drip back into the pot from the lid. The wort should also be cooled quickly after the boil, either by immersing in an ice bath or using a wort chiller.

Anyway, a boil over would stink, too.

As far as hop pellets go, I just throw them in. When I strain my cooled wort into primary, most of the gunk is stopped. Then, they settle out in the primary and when I rack to secondary I just leave the sediment behind.

 

[Zymurgrafi]

From my understanding you may not want to do that. I remember reading why but can't think off the top of my head the exact reason.

Sulpher is given off during the boil. If the lid is on completely it stays in the pot and supposedely dissolves back into the wort. I think I read that it is fine to leave the lid on, just have it slightly off so that vapors can escape. I also believe I read that it is not really a concern for extract brews, as the extract has already been boiled and sulphur is gone.

(edit) doh, too slow again. Yooper Chick's answer is much better!

 

[david_42]

If you can find a tea infuser designed for an entire pot of tea (2.5 in. or larger), it would work. Don't fill it more than 1/2 full, pellets swell up.

 

[brewman !]

Great advice, people.

I bring the wort up to boil with the lid on to keep the heat in. Once its boiling I remove it. Sometimes I partially cover the pot with the lid, but there is always of open area for the vapors to escape.

 

[abracadabra]

There's a devise called a herb ball that works well it's stainless steel. Seems like it cost $7 or so you can find them online at most any cooking or kitchen site. I made a couple using 2 stainless steel sink strainers $2 each and wired them together with a small piece of copper wire.

I use the herb ball for pellets and the homemade units for plugs.

 

[Reidman]

There's a devise called a herb ball that works well it's stainless steel. Seems like it cost $7 or so you can find them online at most any cooking or kitchen site. I made a couple using 2 stainless steel sink strainers $2 each and wired them together with a small piece of copper wire.

I use the herb ball for pellets and the homemade units for plugs.

Great idea man!

 

[brewman !]

Do you have a picture, abra ?

 

[BierMuncher]

I'm telling ya, I use a 1-gallon paint strainer from Lowe's with a small paper clamp. Plenty big enough to let the hops float within the bag but fine enough mesh to hold 98% of the pellet material. Plus, I just grab it out of the wort with some tongs, open and add my flavoring and aroma hops.

Never failed me yet and at $1.0 for a 2-pack, pretty cheap. They're also mult-taskers as you saw (pictured) in an earlier post.

 

[AleHole]

They're also mult-taskers as you saw (pictured) in an earlier post.

someone has been watching to much Good Eats

Really though I gave the ole 1 gallon paint strainer a try a couple days ago when racking from my secondary to bottling bucket and it worked awesome to filter all the dry hop junk. It was tough getting the Autosiphon down the neck of my carboy with the strainer attached by I managed. With my next batch I will use one to contain my pellet hops during the boil.