# Who Uses a Hop Sock/Bag



## Fylp (30/9/15)

Hey All, 

Just wondering who uses one during the boil and why. I started using one- just because- and stopped a while back. 

Phil


----------



## Dae Tripper (30/9/15)

I went away from it as well as I was using lots of hops but did a 60L batch of an American Wheat beer on the weekend and had both my hop socks out for the occasion just to keep the cubes a little clearer.


----------



## fraser_john (30/9/15)

I used one, then stopped and have started using one again.


----------



## glenwal (30/9/15)

I used one when I started out ag brewing in a 19l big w pot to maximise the wort I could get out of it, but haven't bothered since moving up to a larger system.


----------



## mattlea266 (30/9/15)

Just throw them in now. Used to use sock but felt I wasnt getting all the goodness out of my hops. I do 44l batches so quite a bit of hops. I like the idea of the hops swimming around getting full contact with wort. Just whirlpool at end of boil.


----------



## Coalminer (30/9/15)

Good to let your boys swim free :lol:


----------



## Crusty (30/9/15)

I prefer boxer shorts over undies.


----------



## Matplat (30/9/15)

For the couple of (extract with grain) brews that I did without a hop sock, I found my beers came out exceptionally bitter.

Since using a hop sock and actually being able to remove the hops after 60 mins, beers have been on point. I have not strayed since!


----------



## RobW (30/9/15)

I use a hopsock because I have a counterflow chiller and I like to be able to pull the sock out at the end of the boil.
This means the hops aren't in the wort during the whirlpool and then for the 15 minutes or so it takes to run through the chiller.


----------



## razz (30/9/15)

I've dusted my Craftbrewer hop sock off since using a Braumeister. A couple of reasons why.
I put a pickup on the back of the tap to leave a small amount of trub in the kettle and run the wort through a plate chiller. 
Cleaning up the kettle is a lot easier with just some trub to wash out.


----------



## wildwhitty (30/9/15)

I use Skimmer socks. About $8 for 5. Woolies or Coles. Put each addition in its own sock and tie with string.


----------



## GABBA110360 (30/9/15)

single hop addition 60 min i use a stocking thing from coles cheap as chips


----------



## BJB (30/9/15)

razz said:


> I've dusted my Craftbrewer hop sock off since using a Braumeister. A couple of reasons why.
> I put a pickup on the back of the tap to leave a small amount of trub in the kettle and run the wort through a plate chiller.
> Cleaning up the kettle is a lot easier with just some trub to wash out.


Pool shops sell something remarkably similar, but much cheaper.


----------



## fdsaasdf (30/9/15)

Used to use socks, picked up a Keg king hop spider, have never looked back!


----------



## thylacine (30/9/15)

pic


----------



## zeggie (30/9/15)

Used to use a hop bag, now use a KK hop spider.


----------



## Danscraftbeer (30/9/15)

Never used socks for boils. Throw them in to swim. Calculate in trub loss instead. (For chilled worts).
My keggle is 4lt trub with clear wort above that. So your boil needs to end at 4lt bigger than your final yield volume.

I only use hop socks for dry hopping in the keg. Its still restricted. You have to use a hop bag much bigger than the hop pellet so they are loose. 
Hop pellets expand to (my guess) 5 times their size. If you fill a bag to more than 1/5 it will just swell into a hard block, or pillow and you will waste the potential of the hops. They wont disperse their full glory.


----------



## sp0rk (30/9/15)

I only use them when I'm using whole flowers, otherwise my pickup tube gets blocked


----------



## spog (30/9/15)

I use the large " tea balls " from the cheap shop they are the 50 mm ones , I must get more as I have found that the become compacted if you bung too many pellets in them so I've decided to split the hops into more of them to get the best from the hop pellets.
Using the tea balls helps with not having to worry about the left overs clogging the pump etc.
I use an immersion coil so a hop sock is out of the question due to space restrictions and the tea balls are easy to clean.


----------



## rude (30/9/15)

spog said:


> I use the large " tea balls " from the cheap shop they are the 50 mm ones , I must get more as I have found that the become compacted if you bung too many pellets in them so I've decided to split the hops into more of them to get the best from the hop pellets.
> Using the tea balls helps with not having to worry about the left overs clogging the pump etc.
> I use an immersion coil so a hop sock is out of the question due to space restrictions and the tea balls are easy to clean.


I'm the same as Spog but have 75mm ones

Might try some smaller ones for the cube hop


----------



## danestead (1/10/15)

I am free range at the moment however im buying 1 or 2 stainless hop spider type things to cage up my hops for the hoppier brews like ipa and iipas


----------



## Alchomist (1/10/15)

Picked up a few of these http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/5CM-7CM-9CM-Sphere-Locking-Spice-Tea-Ball-Strainer-Mesh-Infuser-Filter-/151521842373?nav=SEARCH

The 90cm ones work well in the boil & also fit nicely into the converted cornies I use for secondary/dry hopping.


----------



## Alchomist (1/10/15)

9cm that should read


----------



## rehabs_for_quitters (1/10/15)

I was using a K K hop spider, shit of a thing struggled to get a good load of hops in it, anything more than 100g was too much for it, since I have stopped and gone nude my bittering charge is around 25% of what it used to be and get a better depth of bittering and flavour from the hops, put a strainer on your kettle outlet and let them swim free, a good whirlpool at the end of boil and they'll hang out in the middle of the kettle so you don't have to worry about too much crap getting to the strainer


----------



## QldKev (1/10/15)

At home I let them go nude swimming, but at work I use hop bags for all except the flame out pellet addition.


----------



## zarniwoop (1/10/15)

I use a plate chiller so I use them, easier than clearing a blocked chiller.


----------



## technobabble66 (1/10/15)

Mine swim free. I've also got a plate chiller, but I've got a large hops bazooka screen (30cm?) on my outlet. A little gets through but not too much for the pump or chiller. It's only really important when I recirc thru the chiller to drop the kettle temp below 70*C after flameout (~5 mins). After that I'll whirlpool (scrape the screen clear) and all the hops then stay in the cone. 

One thing I have found my hops sock to be great for is when cleaning the plate chiller and pump. I recirc hot sodium perc to clean the pump and chiller. I tie a hops sock onto the outlet hose to capture and filter out hops debris so I don't just recirc that back into the gear, and I don't need truckloads of water/sod perc doing only a single pass. It's great! 2L of hot sod perc recirc'd for 20mims each way. Clean as a whistle!


----------



## IsonAd (1/10/15)

Mine mostly swim free but if I'm doing something with a heap of hops I'll use a big biab bag - kind of a middle ground like barn laid eggs - not caged but not free range either.


----------



## eMPTy (1/10/15)

Alchomist said:


> Picked up a few of these http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/5CM-7CM-9CM-Sphere-Locking-Spice-Tea-Ball-Strainer-Mesh-Infuser-Filter-/151521842373?nav=SEARCH
> 
> The 90cm ones work well in the boil & also fit nicely into the converted cornies I use for secondary/dry hopping.


 How many grams of hops do you reckon would fit in each mate? They look pretty useful.


----------



## Coodgee (1/10/15)

I use bags since I started brewing again. I hang them over the outlet pipe of the grainfather and then they swirl around the top of the boil. I figure they pretty much float on the top anyway so it makes them easier to pick out. However doing this you need to be careful when you are chilling with the grainfather - if you put the counterflow chiller outlet pipe as far as it will go into the wort it will create a hot layer at the top of the wort. I only figured this out after the digital display read 65 degrees but I nearly burnt my hand on the side of the grainfather because the top was so hot. Now I make sure the outlet pipe of the CFC is right at the surface and creates a weak whirlpool. 

I also remove the bags at flame out and put them back in once the wort gets to 80 degrees now. The brew I am doing right now has 90 grams of simcoe at 2 minutes so I need to control the bittering from that amount of high alpha hops.


----------



## SBOB (1/10/15)

rehabs_for_quitters said:



> I was using a K K hop spider, shit of a thing struggled to get a good load of hops in it, anything more than 100g was too much for it


Is this the new stainless 'hang over the side' hop spider they sell? Was interested in one of those and hadn't seen any negative reviews until yours.


----------



## rehabs_for_quitters (1/10/15)

Yeah it not a negative as such as much you will use a lot more hops per batch with it, its different strokes for different folks, bit like the dry yeast argument h34r:

I just found my hop utilisation was crap when using it and when your trying to fit 200 to 400 grams in a 40Litre batch it was a waste of time, 100gram bittering charge of warrior @ 14% AA netted about 30 IBU in real terms


----------



## menoetes (1/10/15)

I use one of these courtesy of Martin at National Homebrew.






It's a super fine wire mesh and keeps the hops from spreading throughout the boil while allowing the movement of hot liquid to pass in and out of it. Basically just another hop spider of sorts.

It works a treat. For those of you who use a hop sock when cubing, do you just do the full 60min boil then remove the hop sock before cubing or do you do the 45 min boil, remove the sock and cube expecting more bitterness to develop cooling period?


----------



## SBOB (1/10/15)

menoetes said:


> I use one of these courtesy of Martin at National Homebrew.


Isnt that the one that rehabs_for_quitters is talking about above? Thats the one I'm planning to get once my local Country Brewer gets them back into stock. Just got a plate chiller so need something to remove the hops as currently get a lot in the bottom of the urn and due to expose element it doesnt whirlpool very well


----------



## rehabs_for_quitters (1/10/15)

Yes the same one, for really small hop additions go for it as they are beaut for that, just shite for large additions according to my brewing


----------



## fdsaasdf (1/10/15)

rehabs_for_quitters said:


> Yes the same one, for really small hop additions go for it as they are beaut for that, just shite for large additions according to my brewing


No issues with up to 150gms in 42-50L batches using mine, curious to know if you have a particularly violent boil? 

I actually find it is almost equally useful for catching sediment when transferring from MT to BK, particularly making my first bock with a mate when we had some issues a blocked false-bottom.

When it comes to hop additions, I don't let it hang over the side, I lock it in place with a vice grip and it sits maybe 2inches higher than if it was just over the side (of an 80L pot). Come flameout I give the wort a gentle stir with the hop spider. Haven't measured the difference but I figure it can't hurt as a gentle hop-infusing whirlpool...


----------



## Crakkers (1/10/15)

I use one of these http://www.bunnings.com.au/morgan-laundry-wash-bag_p4510438 for my bittering hops.
They're plenty big enough to give a decent amount of hops lots of swimming room.
I just lift it at the end of the boil and give it a squeeze with some sanitized tongs.
For the later additions I have a whole stack of the 90mm tea balls.


----------



## nala (1/10/15)

Free style for me when boiling.
One of these for filtering into the keg after free style dry hopping.


Never get even the smallest hop residue in the keg,just a small voille bag attached to the transfer tube from the fermenter.


----------



## spog (1/10/15)

eMPTy said:


> How many grams of hops do you reckon would fit in each mate? They look pretty useful.


I found that 10 g of hops into the small tea balls ended with it being compacted so much that I've had to tap the tea ball to get the left overs out.
10 g in a 50 mm tea ball works well as at the end of the boil when the tea balls are taken out there is a lot of free space inside,so to my understanding I'm getting better utilisation of the hops which over time made me think about how much I lost using the smaller ones.
I am going to buy some 90 mm " balls for use for additions over 10 g.
It's easier to have the hops pre loaded in the " balls" all lined up and at the required time drop it in rather than split each addition into 2 or 3 smaller ones and end up having to clean too many balls  .


----------



## Rocker1986 (1/10/15)

I have one of those Craftbrewer hop sock/bag things that I turned into a spider of sorts by wrapping stainless wire around it and bending 3 legs to hold it to the urn. I don't know what the difference is in my beers between using it and not using it as I've rarely not used it, and the last time was so long ago that I can't even remember if there was a difference now. Either way, my beers turn out as I want them and expect them to when I create my recipes, so I am happy to continue using it.


----------



## Black Devil Dog (1/10/15)

I use a hop sock, have been trying to source a stainless steel hop spider, but it seems stocks are currently low in Australia.

Main reason for using a hop sock is so that the hops can go into the wheelie bin, instead of the garden with the rest of the trub, where the dogs might be tempted. :excl:

Keg hop for the ultimate hop aroma.


----------



## wide eyed and legless (2/10/15)

I use a hop sock same, or similar as the one Razz uses but a 400 micron, I bought 50 of them (a minimum order)
but they just keep on lasting, I doubt whether I would ever use more than the one.


----------



## Eagleburger (2/10/15)

I use ss hop spider and just bought a sock as well. I usually pour a few scoops of hot wort in the top, whilst boiling, to help the goodness leach into the wort.

I have a plate chiller and never had any blockage issues even when not using a sock etc. I use brewbrite and also give the kettle tap a purge. It clears any trub in the pipe/tap and I use that 100ml for gravity check n taste.


----------



## Coalminer (2/10/15)

nala said:


> Free style for me when boiling.
> One of these for filtering into the keg after free style dry hopping.
> 
> 
> ...


Yep, exactly what I do
Never have problems with blocked poppets


----------



## yankinoz (2/10/15)

I mostly use them, because after chilling I filter out trub; a few dispersed pellets help with that, but a lot of them create a clogging problem .I stir the sack around if the addition is late, but don't worry about that in early additions. For dry hopping I never use a sack.


----------



## kaiserben (2/10/15)

rehabs_for_quitters said:


> Yes the same one, for really small hop additions go for it as they are beaut for that, just shite for large additions according to my brewing


I bought one. Used it once. Then went back to hop socks. 

My problems with it were that the inside of the mesh got clogged with hop matter (a medium sized addition, not ridiculously large at all). After pumping my wort out to a fermenter this thing was left still full of wort - that's how badly clogged it was. 

And afterwards I couldn't clean all of the hop matter out of it. Gave it several cleans (and tried to remove remnant flakes of hop matter while they were both wet and dry, but couldn't remove it all).


----------



## SBOB (2/10/15)

wide eyed and legless said:


> I use a hop sock same, or similar as the one Razz uses but a 400 micron, I bought 50 of them (a minimum order)
> but they just keep on lasting, I doubt whether I would ever use more than the one.
> 
> 
> ...


where did you buy these from?


----------



## wide eyed and legless (2/10/15)

USA $2.00 each plus postage.


----------



## SBOB (2/10/15)

wide eyed and legless said:


> USA $2.00 each plus postage.


got a link?
though not sure I would need the 50 min order


----------



## wide eyed and legless (2/10/15)

You will definitely not need 50 and that is the minimum order they will just last, get discolored but will last. If you want some send me a pm.


----------



## time01 (2/10/15)

What is everyone's process for no chill, hops in cube? Do you put them in a sock and remove once ready to ferment or just chuck the hops in cube as are, and then pour into fermenter as well?


----------



## wide eyed and legless (2/10/15)

I get the large Chinese spice or soup bags from Ali express, put the dry hop pellets in them then remove them before they get to grassy.


----------



## Alchomist (2/10/15)

eMPTy - I normally get about 50g in each one, then squash them down (keeping the precious elixir) & maintain the same hop variety in each ball during boil additions. 

Looked at hop spiders but couldn't justify the cost, & these work great for dry hopping as well.

Just received another few from Mr H Kong & plan to try 4 different Hop Hog Clone versions this long weekend

Happy brewing


----------



## goid (2/10/15)

time01 said:


> What is everyone's process for no chill, hops in cube? Do you put them in a sock and remove once ready to ferment or just chuck the hops in cube as are, and then pour into fermenter as well?


I just throw them in loose in cube. Then pour the whole cube into fermenter. The hops sink to the bottom into the trub.


----------



## Barge (2/10/15)

Goid said:


> I just throw them in loose in cube. Then pour the whole cube into fermenter. The hops sink to the bottom into the trub.


Tried that on the last batch. Ended up with hop debris in the airlock/blowoff tube. PITA to clean up. The batch is conditioning so I will see how it tastes. I'm worried it will be a bit grassy as it was Fuggles. 

I usually use a hop sock in the boil though. Clean up seems to be easier and I lose less wort to trub so it helps with efficiency. I haven't noticed any issues with bitterness either.


----------

