Hops in or hops out?

[stuknkrvl]

I brewed my first RIS back in November, sitting in secondary for aging right now. I'm worried I messed up though because I never strained out the hop debris after the boil so all those hops are still just sitting in there.

Is that going to have a big impact on the overall flavor? Should I have strained out the hops back at the very beginning? Does it matter either way?

Thanks!

 

[buzzerj]

I usually strain out what hops I can from the boil pot to the fermenter. But with pellet hops you can't strain out everything. So there is always residual hop material in the fermenter. Then think a minute. People actually do add hops in the fermenter for extra aroma (dry hopping). So what's really the difference in your situation? Russian Imperial Stouts have such a high %ABV that you do have to have enough hops to balance everything out. I think you are fine. Don't worry, be happy. After a while when that batch comes into the zone, you won't be worrying then. After the first pint, you won't be worrying about much at all. Cheers!

 

[stuknkrvl]

Right on, didn't even think about dry hopping. It's coming in just under 9% by my calculations right now. Just have to see how it tastes in a couple months! Thanks!

 

[JimRausch]

When you racked to secondary, didn't you rack above the trub so as to not transfer the gunk? That's one of the few benefits of using a secondary. In any case, you probably have a nice solid layer on the bottom of your secondary. When you rack for packaging, just be careful not to suck anything up. No biggie.