No hop bags

[dhelegda]

Started my mash an realized I didn't have hop bags! I have a strainer in my kettle but it's probably going to get clogged. What are some tips to help the wort flow during the transfer.

 

[Yooper]

Started my mash an realized I didn't have hop bags! I have a strainer in my kettle but it's probably going to get clogged. What are some tips to help the wort flow during the transfer.

I don't use hop bags very often. What kind of method do you use to move the wort? A pump? A siphon? Do you have a diptube in your kettle? Where is the "strainer" you mentioned?

 

[dhelegda]

I use the gravity method. The strainer is in the inside of the kettle attached to a valve.

 

[ejf063]

I get a colander which fits nicely on top of my funnel which leads into the carboy. The colander I use is lined with a screen type of material and is stainless steel. As the wort is chilling, I use my big stainless spoon and "whirlpool" by stirring in the same direction which helps the hops/trub settle into the center of the kettle. Then, with someone's help, I pour the wort from the kettle, over the sanitized colander and into the carboy. Using that aforementioned stainless spoon, someone scrapes away any sediment which makes its way into the colander. If the whirlpool is successful, I rarely clog my colander.
Good luck!

 

[Yesfan]

I use the gravity method. The strainer is in the inside of the kettle attached to a valve.

That sounds like a bazooka screen. Does it look like this?

If so, it will get clogged. If you haven't done it yet, I'd just run the boil kettle without one and dump the entire wort in your fermenter. If it's a very hoppy beer you're brewing, maybe bump up the preboil volume a bit more than usual to account for excess hop absorption.

 

[dhelegda]

It's actually a braided wire from a water line.

 

[dhelegda]

My wife is out shopping so I am going just pour it through her screen colander...shhhh, she gets pissed when I use her kitchen stuff for beer making!

 

[d_boosh]

I use a keggle with a dip tube. After cooling I open the ballvalve fast to get wort which is very "trubby" flowing. I use a stainless strainer I got at a grocery store and tun wort thru that. If it gets clogged up I dump the junk into trashcan and flip strainer over and wash it out with wort into fermentor.

Cost like $6 and does a pretty good job of eliminating junk in fermentor