Whole Leaf Hop Issues

[Jablestein]

Hey all,

So today I was attempting to bottle a Maharaja clone that I made with the help of some friends and a recipe we found here on the forums. When I initially racked the beer into secondary there were several additions of whole leaf Simcoe hops.

However, today I ran into several issues when attempting to transfer into a bottling bucket and even when trying to get the beer from the bucket into the the bottles individually. My equipment continued to get clogged up due to the hops. This caused for lots of beer loss and issues along the way. I'm just curious if anyone has some suggestions for better process that would yield results when it comes to using whole leaf hops. Should I just stick with Pellet hops from here on out?

 

[idigg]

Sanitized mesh or muslin bag over racking cane works wonders.

 

[unionrdr]

Put whole leafe "raw" hops in a muslin grain sack. Too many folks on here are too impatient to take steps that'll save them grief later. Or if you put them in the boil loose,use a fine mesh strainer when pouring chilled wort into the FV. Don't be freaking lazy trying to save time NOW,'cause you'll spend it later. Trust me. Take the time now & you'll go smoother & faster & cleaner later!!!

 

[Calder]

I use 5 gallon paint strainer bags from the hardware store. About $4 for 2 and you can clean and re-use them.

I got them initially to do partial mashes on the stove, but I also use them to strain the beer going into the fermenter.

If I dry hop with whole leaf, I like to let them swim free, so when I rack the beer from the hops, I sanitize one of these bags, and put the end of the racking cane in the bag before putting it into the fermenter. No mess, no lost beer.