Leaving hop gunk behind in the boil pot

[JBrady]

I've always poured all the contents of my boil pot into the fermenter but recently I've thought about siphoning to leave the hop junk behind. By leaving all the hops behind shouldn't I improve the quality of my beer a little? It just seems to me like late addition boil hops that make it into the fermenter might impact flavor a little. Am I right or wrong on this?

 

[Dwain]

You'll get a gozillion different answers. Do a search for hop bag. A lot of people use paint strainer bags form Home Schlepo or the equiv. Luck - Dwain

 

[JBrady]

You'll get a gozillion different answers. Do a search for hop bag. A lot of people use paint strainer bags form Home Schlepo or the equiv. Luck - Dwain

I've been skeptical about using a hop bag because I'm afraid of getting less hop utilization. If I whirlpool good and transfer with a autosiphon, I should be able to leave most of the hops behind shouldn't I?

 

[donjonson]

I am interested in the flavor impact of leaving them in and on into the fermenter VS letting them stay in the boil pot. Has anyone tried the same recipe both ways to see the difference?

 

[jtkratzer]

I did not strain the hops out of my first batch on the recommendation of the clerk at the LHBS, but there was stuff still floating in the beer when it came time to bottle. It was a hefeweizen, so I wasn't too worried about not having a clear beer, but I certainly didn't want chunks of floaties in it.

All the batches since then, I have strained the wort prior to pouring it into the fermentation bucket. Even so, there is still some sediment that's too fine for the strainer.

 

[Revvy]

It really doesn't matter either way.

Some dump everything in, without straining, just pour it in the bucket or in the funnel....Some use a big strainer that fit in the funnel for a carboy, or a sanitized 5 gallon nylon paint strainer bag in the bucket...

I have done it all ways. It really doesn't matter...anything will settle.

In other words, there is no wrong way to do it, or better way, or way that will make the best beer...they all work...the choice is what will work the best for you. That's how you develop you own unique brewing process. By trying all ways and deciding what works best for you.

What I do with my IC, is chill the wort, then I lean the bottom of my autosiphon about two coils up from the bottom on the metal of the siphon. That rests it above most of the break material and trub, then I rack it to the fermenter until I'm down to that and carefully lower the siphon down into the gunk, just trying to get as much of the wort as possible without letting in the hops and break matter.

But pretty much up until I got my immersion chiller for christmas last year I just dumped for the majority of my batches. And I still managed to do well in contests...

*shrug*

 

[JBrady]

It just seems to me that if leaving your dry hops in to long can result in grassy flavors, then having alot of late addition boil hops that didn't see alot of boil time might be capable of leaving the same kind of flavors. Not sure if I'm right or wrong on this one though.

 

[bennyd]

That's a good question and I've wondered the same thing. I always just dump everything simply because dumping back and forth a few times is also the best way for me to aerate before pitching.

 

[Yooper]

It just seems to me that if leaving your dry hops in to long can result in grassy flavors, then having alot of late addition boil hops that didn't see alot of boil time might be capable of leaving the same kind of flavors. Not sure if I'm right or wrong on this one though.

Nah, it's fine. It's probably counterintuitive but the little bit (or a lot) of hops debris doesn't matter, as the only time bitterness is extracted is during the boil. The hops are "used up" so to speak when you go to primary after chilling.

Let me give a (probably bad) analogy. I love garlic. I use it in my spaghetti sauce all the time. I use lots. But once it's simmered over the course of hours, it doesn't get more "garlicky" than it was before. Sure, the garlic is still in there, but you only get so much out of it. Then it's finished. It's still there, and you don't have to take it out. The flavor is the same.

Kinda the same way with boiled hops in the wort- they're there. They've done all they're going to do.

Dryhopping can be a bit different. Mostly because the hops aren't boiled, and if you use leaf hops, I've heard that some vegetative qualities can come out if left too long. That's never happened to me, but I can see how it could happen since there are leaves (unboiled) that you're throwing in there as part of the hop "cone". I dryhop in the keg all the time, and never have had a grassy or vegetative flavor. At room temperatures, though, I've never dryhopped more than 10 days. I still haven't ever had a grassy quality to any of my beers.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I've got a nice deep strainer that fits in my funnel. Not sure if it makes a difference in flavor, but I would sure rather clean up a strainer than trying to clean out my fermenter. Besides, I figure I can get more wort out if I strain the hops rather than trying to rack off of the top of a bunch of hop sludge.

 

[hereforbeer]

I do the whirlpool+auto siphon.No more carrying a big pot,and it lets me aerate(swirl) my fermenter while it's filling.
Also,the trub might not damage,but I bet it won't help,so leaving it behind makes me feel better about myself.
The cons might be the extra time for the cone to form,and leaving a bit of wort in the pot.