Hop in a bag?

[Simdop]

Hey chaps,

I'm an all-grain brewer and I'm wondering what effect, if any, having the hops in a grain bag would have on the the beer? The idea being that when I cube it I can leave a lot of the matter behind as I'm not having a huge amount of success with whirl pooling. Would this have any bad side effects on the brew?

 

[Coodgee]

No it's a very common practice to contain hops in a bag during the boil and afterwards either as a whirlpool, cube or dry hop addition. You can buy specific hop bags that are little nylon bags or you can get stainless perforated pipes called hop spiders that hang over the side of the boiler. I use the bags with all my hop additions and never get hop fragments in the finished product. Neither do many people who don't use hop bags but they work well for me. I don't believe there are any utilisation issues but I'm not sure about that at all.

 

[kaiserben]

Commonly called a hop sock.

 

[smcc3573]

I prefer the hop spider

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-14-35cm-Stainless-Steel-Hop-Spider-Home-Brew-Beer-Hop-Filter-/291303476641?hash=item43d30a4da1:g:Ln8AAOSwwbdWMavL

I used to use the nylon bags and during boil I would still get some hop sediment coming through, it depends on the gauge of the bag plus i found the bags smell after even one brew, using this I can almost get everything from the boil kettle in the fermenter its also easy to clean and sanitise. You can even use it for dry hopping if you have a wide necked fermentor that it can fit in.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I use a hop sock, 400 micron, doesn't smell, will last for years even though it will stain, $2.00.

 

[SBOB]

I use a hop sock, 400 micron, doesn't smell, will last for years even though it will stain, $2.00.

+1
grabbed a couple from WEAL. Seemed to work well for my first brew with it and easy clean up

 

[Reman]

When I got SWMBO to sew a brew bag out of Swiss Voile, I got her to make 4 smaller ones about 7cm across and about 40cm long. They work really well and contain all the hop sludge. The extra length means I can twist the tops and use a slip knot so they can be undone an emptied easily. Hop sludge goes in the bin, they get a rinse and then chucked in the wash. They don't come out pristine, but close enough.

 

[Coodgee]

I throw them in the fermenter and soak both with napisan and they come out white as snow

 

[Bribie G]

I use the grain bag from CraftBrewer.

Peg in around the top of the urn and it makes a hoppy swimming pool. All the steam has to go through the hops to escape. Then hoist on the skyhook.

 

[Killer Brew]

I copied and knocked up one of these. Too easy. Nylon paint strainer bags size small x 3 from the big green shed only cost about $8 and will last me a couple of years I expect.

http://byo.com/component/k2/item/2427-build-a-hop-spider-projects?Itemid=398

 

[nosco]

I use a swiss voil hop bag and then squeez it out with a silicone glove when done to get every bit of goodness out of it. Works great. Ive tried the paint strainer bàgs as well but i reckon you may as well throw the hops straight in as they dont really filter much out.

 

[Reman]

I just let my hop bags just swim around, they usually float around the top anyway so it's pretty easy to fish them out at the end of the boil.