• Welcome to the new forum! We upgraded our forum software with a host of new boards, capabilities and features. It is also more secure.
    Jump in and join the conversation! You can learn more about the upgrade and new features here.

You be the judge

brewmeisterintng

Apprentice
Joined
Jan 21, 2011
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
I just went over to a friends to watch him brew. He is a new brewer (batch #2). He didn't use hop bags... just dumped them in at the perscribed time. I use bags but was good so far however when he dumped everything into the fermeter after chilling... I became concerned. Sure, I do transfer break material into my fermeters but not my hops.
My question is... is there anthing wrong with dumping everything into the fermeter?
 
I've been doing that for years and honestly never had a bad beer.  I just started using hop bags and I love them.

I can't see anything bad from having the beer sit on the hops in a carboy or plastic bucket but that's just my non scientific 2 cents.  Conical fermentors might be different.

 
I get plenty of the trub and hops in my carboy.  Mostly it takes up space for beer which is why I try to keep it out.  It is sanitary having been boiling for an hour. I now I use hop sacks to prevent clogging when I transfer to the carboy.
 
jomebrew said:
I get plenty of the trub and hops in my carboy.  Mostly it takes up space for beer which is why I try to keep it out.  It is sanitary having been boiling for an hour. I now I use hop sacks to prevent clogging when I transfer to the carboy.

Did you find that you had to increase the hops to keep the hop bitter/flavor/aroma profile of your beer consistent when you started using the hop sack?  I like the idea of the hop sack but I also like having the hops floating through the boiling wort to maximize extraction.  I worry about losing some of the oils from the late hop additions to the sack material or being trapped in a big wad of hops.

Regarding the OP's post.  I try to minimize what goes into the fermentor but I get a fair amount of trube and hop material in anyway (Some times a lot if it is a heavily hopped beer like an IPA).  I haven't noticed any adverse effects but it does make harvesting the yeast for another batch more difficult.
 
Minimizing trub is a good thing; I've not read hops are bad in the fermenter.  But if you do want clean wort in the fermenter, then I recommend finding a way to add a s/s scrubby on the inside of your boil vessel. 

I have a converted keg with a nipple inside, to which I add a coupler.  Over that I jam a s/s scrubby and it quickly gets covered with hops and acts as a filter.  Amazing difference in wort clarity. 
 
glastctbrewer said:
Did you find that you had to increase the hops to keep the hop bitter/flavor/aroma profile of your beer consistent when you started using the hop sack?  I like the idea of the hop sack but I also like having the hops floating through the boiling wort to maximize extraction.  I worry about losing some of the oils from the late hop additions to the sack material or being trapped in a big wad of hops.

Not at all.  I suspend a big hop sack from the kettle handle and just keep adding my hop additions to the one sack.  If I clone a brew,  usually try to make a beer in the spirit of the original and not the original. 
 
I'm on the fence. To answer your question: No there's nothing wrong with dumping everything in.
Since I started using hop bags and removing as much trub as possible my beers "seem" to have improved. There is also a lot of information in brewing books that suggest why you want to minimize trub in the fermenter. However, one time I wasn't thinking and dumped hop bags and all the trub into the fermenter. The beer was great anyway.
 
From time to time, I filter through a sanitized nylon stocking.  This captures a lot of trub but is a pain in the butt to get out of the carboy.  If I were to use a bucket, I might do it more often.
 
I have a converted keg with a nipple inside, to which I add a coupler.  Over that I jam a s/s scrubby and it quickly gets covered with hops and acts as a filter.  Amazing difference in wort clarity.

I've never tried to filter, other than whirlpooling. I normally use hop pellets and just throw them into the boil. My question is are there benefits to pre-fermentation filtering, vs post-fermentation? Rather than simply wanting clean wort in the fermenter.

It seems like a simple idea to "jam a s/s scrubby" somewhere - insert favorite joke here. ::) And frankly I can't think of that being a bad idea, unless it were to clog and create issues with draining through my cooler, at that point I think the scrubby would not last too long. That's also why I hesitate to try the nylon stocking. Oh, did I mention I have zero patience?
 
I have used a hopstopper and counterflow for the last years and nothing but good beer from it. I was going to try the nylon hop bag but have reservations about it (I would melt it)
 
We chime in on using hop bags. We didn't when we first started but now we try to keep everything as clear as possible.  We also like to be thrifty (cheap) so we use the 5 gal paint filtering bags from Lowes. They are large enough to allow plenty of boil circulation. I might add that we use whole/leaf hops to allow us to use the bags. They may be a bit corse for pellets. Not sure .... Never tried. Anyway the large bags come in a package of two for less than $5.00. I can't tell you how long they last as we're still using & washing our first of two we bought last year.

Preston
 
I use hop pellets and throw everything into the fermenter.  I've never read anywhere that it poses a problem for the flavor, aroma, or body of the beer though, as I understand it, it sure makes clearing the beer easy if it's not there.  Having said that, many people don't secondary anymore and if I didn't I might be more careful regarding what ends up in the fermenter but since I do, I use that time to make sure the beer gets moved off the trub, hops, yeast etc...

Works for me anyway
 
roger said:
.....unless it were to clog and create issues with draining through my cooler, at that point I think the scrubby would not last too long.


So far, and even with 5 oz of loose pellet hops in the boil, the transfer to fermenter flows freely.  You can sort of see the scrubby in the lower right of the kettle during sparge, and then the transfer out to carboy.  I found a 3 by 8 nylon mesh bag at a fish store that fits nicely in the neck and catches the first gunk that gets through.  Helps aerate too.

I would not use anything but s/s in the boil kettle. 
 

Attachments

  • DSC00386.JPG
    DSC00386.JPG
    81 KB · Views: 6
  • FilterCarboy copy.jpg
    FilterCarboy copy.jpg
    112.5 KB · Views: 5
Hey, thanks to everyone, I'm still learning, but I seem to need to know the "why's" and not just the "how's". It makes sense to keep the wort as clean as possible, even pre-ferment. Since I have to go to Lowes anyway, I'll be checking out the paint filters. Its great to know how others are attacking the same issue.

Preston, your pic is beautiful, looks a lot like Charleston. If so, you're so lucky.
 
Roger,

Thanks  :D The picture was taken by the Princess (my wife). She was sitting on the "The Princess Seat" in the front of our little inflateable boat. We are leaving our little sailboat (that's it behind me) heading into shore. It was a 9 hr sail from our home waters in Luna Pier, MI out to Put In Bay on South Bass Island in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie.  Historically, Put In Bay is where Admiral Perry built the American ships that defeated the Brittish Navy in the Battle of the Great Lakes during the American Revolution!
It is now a beautiful place to go and quite a "Party Town". I'm smiling because we are on the way into The Boardwalk to have our traditional Margerita at the 3rd storey bar overlooking the bay. We drink our margarita's and watch the boats come into the bay until the sun goes "SSSSSSS" when it hits the Water!  ;D

You will do fine!

Preston
 
Back
Top