Hop bag, strainer or all the gloop into the FV?

jon_ish · Aug 9, 2017

I have made 8AG brews now in a Bulldog brewer. The hops I have been using are all pellet. After the wort has been chilled, I have been letting it settle to get as much of the hops to settle as possilbe. However, by the time the brewer is drained into the FV there are still a few litres of gloop with hop mush, it seems too much to let this into to the FV. What do other people do? Hop bags, hop strainers or just put it all into the FV and leave at the bottom of FV when racking and it is truly settled?

Gerryjo · Aug 9, 2017

jon_ish said:
I have made 8AG brews now in a Bulldog brewer. The hops I have been using are all pellet. After the wort has been chilled, I have been letting it settle to get as much of the hops to settle as possilbe. However, by the time the brewer is drained into the FV there are still a few litres of gloop with hop mush, it seems too much to let this into to the FV. What do other people do? Hop bags, hop strainers or just put it all into the FV and leave at the bottom of FV when racking and it is truly settled?

Personally I dump the lot most of the time and find no significant difference tbh.

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BREWERS DROOP · Aug 9, 2017

jon_ish said:
I have made 8AG brews now in a Bulldog brewer. The hops I have been using are all pellet. After the wort has been chilled, I have been letting it settle to get as much of the hops to settle as possilbe. However, by the time the brewer is drained into the FV there are still a few litres of gloop with hop mush, it seems too much to let this into to the FV. What do other people do? Hop bags, hop strainers or just put it all into the FV and leave at the bottom of FV when racking and it is truly settled?

I leave it to settle for a few hours after chilling,or overnight,then put a nylon coffee filter over the tube into the FV,I have a strainer in the bottom of my tank made from a stainless flour shaker which seems to work fine for me.

foxy · Aug 9, 2017

You don't want it in the fermenter, hop socks are alright but you will not get full value from the hops, and it is hard to resist not giving the bag a squeeze which will add more tannins. Just dump the slurry left over.

Fil · Aug 9, 2017

+1 for NOT SQUEEZING Hop Socks or bags!!!

a hop spider is my favorite solution for minimal wastage, however i also recirculate the boil thru my hops with the usual lil brown solar pump to maximise utilisation however the hop container does remain a degree or 2 below the rolling boil temp in the kettle.

Clint · Aug 9, 2017

...oops I gave mine a squeeze last time as it was that clogged it was full of wort when I lifted the hop spider out of the kettle and refused to drain. Ah well you live and learn....it'll still get drunk as long as it's not worse than Boddingtons!
Hmmm looking around some American forums and in particular the threads concerning big hopped ipa and the like...they wholeheartedly recommend squeezing the daylights out of the hop sock to get all the flavours out especially with late addition hops.
Incidentally what hop sock or bag are people using? I'm using a nylon 100 micron filter sock that lets no pellet through whatsoever.

Fil · Aug 10, 2017

Ive been using my old grain bag suspended by a 10mm soft copper tube ring over the kettle.
the first brewday with the big kit i brewed a favorite challenger smash, and i wrung the b'jesus out of the hop bag and there was a definite increase in IBU of that particular batch, until then my hops had been loose in a smaller kettle filtered out with a SS braid.

next brew wring out your hop bags into a sterile jug/bowl, and give the 'juice' a wee taste test before deciding if you want to add that extra'flavour' to the beer perhaps? you wont be looking at a significant volume, but it will pack a hell of an astringent punch i bet

foxy · Aug 10, 2017

I think one of the biggest problems that home brewers face is not knowing the difference between astringency and bitterness, hops by weight introduce more polyphenols to the kettle (and fermenter if dry hopping) than grain. A damn good boil not a simmer, a proper boil coagulates tannins from grain and hops in the hot and cold breaks.
For me squeezing the hop sock after the boil will release more tannin which could be contained within the close confines of a sock.(also pH has a major part to play)
I do believe Dr Charlie Bamforth did a podcast on polyphenols.
In a post I did earlier I put up some photos of my method in the BM of filtering the wort from the trub here are the results with the Ace.
The wort in the glass is the last out of the kettle where I threw in the pellets without any confinement.

Duxuk · Aug 10, 2017

I filter the hops with a piece of net curtain, boiled for hygiene. I find it's OK to give it a reasonable squeeze. What I find gives a massive amount of extra bitterness is the use of pellets. I would never use pellets at flameout without first cooling the wort to below 80C. This is just my experience, not a scientific proof!
I even find that pellets as dry hopping increases bitterness.

marlon · Aug 10, 2017

I use a muslin bag that Mrs. M made for me, that fits my Brewster boiler. ( she used to be a dressmaker, so piece of cake to her ). It seems to work well for me. I use leaf hops btw, not sure pellets would be contained so well in muslin.

Braufather · Aug 10, 2017

Foxy, is the the BAC springer?

Fil · Aug 11, 2017

foxy said:
I think one of the biggest problems that home brewers face is not knowing the difference between astringency and bitterness,

Astringency is also the dry, puckering mouthfeel caused by tannins found in many fruits such as blackthorn (sloe berries), Aronia chokeberry, chokecherry, bird cherry, quince and persimmon fruits, and banana skins.

well I'll Be.......

till mentioned i was under the impression astringency was simply a synonym for bitterness

foxy · Aug 11, 2017

Braufather said:
Foxy, is the the BAC springer?

No I made up my own for the BM using the copper tee piece and elbow, had to find some 21mm silicone to fit into the outlet, got that off Aliexpress, so everything sits nice and snug.All for about 20 gbp.

foxy · Aug 11, 2017

Fil said:
well I'll Be.......

till mentioned i was under the impression astringency was simply a synonym for bitterness

Well you wouldn't be alone.:wink:

Braufather · Sep 27, 2017

Does anyone use the stainles steel jobbies for dry hopping?

terrym · Sep 27, 2017

Braufather said:
Does anyone use the stainles steel jobbies for dry hopping?

No, but one of these nylon mesh sock thingies over the submerged end of the siphon tube at packaging time works fine, and means you can chuck the hops in as they come and not bother with a bag.
Mine came with a Festival kit.

Braufather · Sep 27, 2017

trouble is bottle from the FV via the tap, and what to avoid it getting blocked. I want something that's simple to use and easy to sanitise and clean too.

dan125 · Sep 28, 2017

foxy said:
No I made up my own for the BM using the copper tee piece and elbow, had to find some 21mm silicone to fit into the outlet, got that off Aliexpress, so everything sits nice and snug.All for about 20 gbp.

The results looks great Foxy, and could be just the type of thing I'm looking for to replace the bazooka filter in my pot, that clogs with even the smallest amount of pellets.
Where did you get the spingy coil thing? (what are they called??)
: cheers:

foxy · Sep 28, 2017

dan125 said:
The results looks great Foxy, and could be just the type of thing I'm looking for to replace the bazooka filter in my pot, that clogs with even the smallest amount of pellets.
Where did you get the spingy coil thing? (what are they called??)
:

https://store.brewpi.com/brewpi-matmill-lauterhexe-kit-bsp

MattMill call it the Lauter Helix but as you can see from the link it is expensive so I got mine made in China, I have thought about sending some to the UK, the cheapest way would be to send them in a 20 kilo carton and I have a cousin over there so he could post them out. Be about 30 GBP delivered.
Easily made to fit the Braumeister also.

dan125 · Sep 29, 2017

foxy said:
https://store.brewpi.com/brewpi-matmill-lauterhexe-kit-bsp

MattMill call it the Lauter Helix but as you can see from the link it is expensive so I got mine made in China, I have thought about sending some to the UK, the cheapest way would be to send them in a 20 kilo carton and I have a cousin over there so he could post them out. Be about 30 GBP delivered.
Easily made to fit the Braumeister also.

Thanks for the link Foxy - it helped me find the lauter helix with original fittings at an interesting Belgian HB shop at a lower price:
https://homebrewshop.be/en/filtering-sparging/959-mattmill-läuterhexe-1000.html

Hop bag, strainer or all the gloop into the FV?

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