Boiling Hops In A Tea Ball

[cfresh]

I recently did a couple of all extract brews and boiled 12-14g of hops in a tea ball at the required times.
When I emptied the tea ball for the next part of the boil and added new hops I found the contents of the tea ball were quite compacted which leads me to 2 questions.
1. With the compaction of the hops in the tea ball am I limiting the amount of hop flavour that can be utilised? Should I be using a sock instead?
2. I have been adding boiling hops at the start of the boil, then pull out the tea ball and add aroma hops, then pull out the tea ball and add flavour hops. Should I be leaving what I have already added in the boil and just add more? Obviously if this is the case I would need to use a sock.

 

[peas_and_corn]

TBH if you're using that small an amount of hops it wouldn't matter too much if you just threw it in the boil and dumped it all in the fermenter.

 

[jonocarroll]

Not sure if this helps at all...

I've tried doing this with up to 25g of hop pellets, and I've found that on emptying the tea ball (yes, very compacted) the very centre is a different color compared to further out. This may imply that there is a different level of extraction. YMMV.

 

[Cube]

You will no doubt be buying hop pellets any time soon.

In the mean time, after steeping the hop tea bag, cut it open and empty the contents into the fermenter. It's no problem at all to do this.

 

[mckenry]

You will no doubt be buying hop pellets any time soon.

In the mean time, after steeping the hop tea bag, cut it open and empty the contents into the fermenter. It's no problem at all to do this.

I dont think he's using hop tea bags. As I read it, he's putting hops into a tea ball. I agree with other. Small amount - just dump them all in. No sock, nuthin.

 

[unterberg]

I have used the tea ball but mainly to dry hop. And thats just to prevent getting too much loose hops into the keg.
I would not recommend more than 10g per tea ball. If you put more in you will just have it compressed and probably not use the hops as efficiently.
For your boil I would just chuck it in the pot loose and then strain into the fermenter if you want.
But then again it should have settled after fermentation and you can take the supernatant of.

 

[Gavo]

Should I be leaving what I have already added in the boil and just add more?

Yes. If you are taking out the hops before the end of the boil and then adding your flavor and aroma hops then you are not getting the full extraction out of the hops. For example if you put your bittering hops in at 60 min then take them out at 15 min, then they have only had 45 min boiling time. As a result you haven't achieved full extraction from the hops.
Just add the hops at the required time and strain the wort into the fermenter or dump them in the fermenter, they will settle to the bottom anyway.

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[mwd]

Are you using the larger size of teaball 2.5 inches diameter.

Just checking as there are two sizes available

 

[raven19]

+2 for throwing them into fermentor.

Then rack into secondary for bottling/kegging later on.

Another alternative is the old washed, boiled, cleaned stocking?

 

[cfresh]

Thanks for the replies.

By the comments posted my tea ball is too small and I should be leaving the hops in for the entire boil.
I dont do a secondary racking and I dont really want to just dump the hops in, (my past experience with straining has been messy) so a sock/stocking it will be.

 

[buttersd70]

the dedicated hopsocks as sold by craftbrewer are excellent. Some consider that they slightly reduce utilisation, others believe they don't effect it. I have used one for yonks and yonks...I'm in the camp that considers that they leave plenty of room for the hops to move around, and don't significantly impact on utilisation.