Hops in wort or muslin bag?

[flywallyfly]

I'm brewing my first batch tomorrow (a Bass ale knockoff) and was pretty confident I had all the info i needed to do it until I watched a video where the guy put his hops in a muslin bag instead of dumping them in the wort (which i thought was the way to do it). Which is the correct way or is it just a matter of personal taste? Thanks for any help!

 

[BigB]

Matter of preference. THe muslin bag makes for easier clean up. Personally I like the fermenter bag and filter everything at once.

EDIT: The fermenter bag I am referring to is nylon and has elastic that snaps over the top of an ale pale.

 

[impatient]

I think utilization is best when they are free to move about during the boil. It helps disperse the oil in the hops. Whole hops filter out the best.

 

[ChshreCat]

I used a hop bag at first but gave it up. I just throw 'em in the boil and pour my wort through a big kitchen strainer into the fermenter after it cools.

 

[flywallyfly]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I'll throw 'em in and let them do their thing free.

 

[jescholler]

It's estimated that you will get about 10% more IBUs by letting the hops be free in the boil. Here's the link that talks about it:
http://realbeer.com/hops/FAQ.html#units

Near the top of the page, "Al Korzonas suggests adding 10% more hops if used in a hop bag, and 10% more than that if loose hops or plugs are used".

That said, you need to follow the method stated in your recipe to get the IBUs that it claims (the formula depends on each individual system, so in reality it won't be exact anyways). If you're OK with a 10% difference, then it doesn't matter.