Hops Without A Bag

[nalidixic]

Well I learned a good lesson. When brewing up my latest batch of beer (my third) I decided to boil my hops without a bag. There was only 2oz so I didn't think it'd be a big deal.

Well after sitting in the primary for a week I wasn't able to syphon all the beer into the secondary due to hops plugging up my hose. Rather then fighting it and syphoning to much yeast cake I just left the last few bottles in the primary.

Anyways lesson learned. Don't boil so many hops without a bag!

 

[MikeinCT]

I think with a little more practice the hops in the bottom of the fermenter will not keep you from getting the last bit of wort. I never use a bag and don't sacrifice much beer in the process. The brew I did today had 3.5 oz of hops. I use a rod that keeps my siphon off the bottom to start. At the end I tip the pot to make the wort deeper. And just be careful.

But if you like using the bag then that's fine too. I just see it as some thing else to clean up.

good luck, Mike in CT

 

[Captain Damage]

Whole hops or pellet? I normally boil 2 or more ounces of pellet hops without a bag and dump everything in the fermentor. No problems with bottling. I do usually use a bag for dry hopping.

 

[ChessRockwell]

I just dump the batch through a strainer while pouring into the primary. Helps aerate too. No more worries about hop trub unless I dry-hop.

 

[lowtones84]

I just dump the batch through a strainer while pouring into the primary. Helps aerate too. No more worries about hop trub unless I dry-hop.

Yeah, I do this too. If you use pellets you have to dump the pellet gunk out of the strainer a few times usually but it works pretty well. I never have to do any extra aerating and get some pretty nice, healthy fermentations. But some people do well just dumping it all in, so just find out what works for you. Perhaps that's using a hop bag

 

[Yooper]

I have to bag leaf hops in my current system, but I don't like doing that. I was talking to some friends yesterday about adding a false bottom and bottom drain to my boil kettle so I wouldn't have to bag the hops (my pump clogs with leaf hops).

I don't use a bag for dryhopping either. Careful racking works for me. But each brewer should do whatever works best for them- there isn't any "right" or "wrong" answer here!

 

[msa8967]

Well after sitting in the primary for a week I wasn't able to syphon all the beer into the secondary due to hops plugging up my hose.
!

I don't know if this makes any difference or not but I rarely rack my beer to a secondary and I usually let the primary go for 3 weeks. This extra time might allow more of the hop pieces to settle in the trub. I cannot say that 1 week is not enough time because I have never tried to rack after just one week.

 

[homebrewdad]

Whole hops or pellet? I normally boil 2 or more ounces of pellet hops without a bag and dump everything in the fermentor. No problems with bottling. I do usually use a bag for dry hopping.

This is exactly what I do, too. Let the hopjunk settle in with the yeast cake.

 

[shizzy77]

I just dump the batch through a strainer while pouring into the primary. Helps aerate too. No more worries about hop trub unless I dry-hop.

Ditto.

I pour nice and fast. Seems to aerate quite nice and I always have a big load of hop pellet mass sitting in the strainer. It's just one of your run of the mill kitchen units.