Hops beginner

[Gorillaboogers]

G'day,

First time hops user and tad unsure how to use them. My brews have been drinkable but I would love to improve it (hopefully).

I've purchased the 'tea bag' hops and from what I can read everywhere I should introduce it to my brew once fermentation & the airlock isn't bubbling. Is this the most recommended/only way to do it? How long should I leave it in for? Are they a single use product? (only about $2.20 so not to fussed)

Unfortunately I forgot to ask all questions to my local home brew shop and I wanna put a brew down tonight

Thanks in advance!
Mitch

 

[Thomas Wood]

I'm a fairly new brewer but here is what I do:

After active fermentation is complete (~ 5-7 days in) I spray my 2x hop socks, and 1x SS hop ball with sanitiser, then I add no more than 15-20g of hop pellets to each one. Tie them up as high as possible so that the hops can spread out and dont lump together, and then loop them together so that the hop ball weights them down a little (alternatively you can put a marble in each sock, but you don't need to worry too much about this).

I carefully put them into my wort trying to minimise oxidation risk and after ~3 days I pull them out.

After that fermentation should pretty much be done and you can cold crash if you want from there.

I then give them a good wash with the hose a few times, inside and out, let them dry and if they look good as new I put them away.

 

[Naboo]

If the hop teabags are the ones in the packet with the hops already inside, you've got the right idea.

They should be fine to leave in until bottling time.

Yep, they are single use.

You can buy hop pellets at most homebrew shops (brick and mortar as well as online). They usually work out to be more cost effective.

 

[koshari]

I mucked round with all that stuff but now just throw em in when pitching the yeast.

Cold crash before kegging and they all sink to the bottom. You het more flavour out of em this way.

 

[mongey]

Yep chuck it in. Don’t worry about pulling it out before bottling. Just risking infection. It won’t get in the way.

Pellets are way more bang for you buck. I just chuck em in raw. Cold crash gets rid of all the bits anyway.

 

[theQuinny]

I've been quite vocal on the forum tonight ... dunno, just want to throw in my two cents worth ... I'm a new brewer too. Sometimes the people on here are very advanced in brewing (all grain for eg) ... and us newbs miss out ...

First time hops user

I guess i need to understand, how you are making your beer, if you're not using hops in each brew... I ask why not ?

I do extract ... so I'll go to the brew shop and buy (for example):

2.5 kg Light Liquid Malt Extract (LLME)

1kg Light Liquid Wheat Extract (LLWE)

maybe some dry extract of some kind - or some dextrose ... depends...

Grains are nice too ... I quite like crystal (both light and dark) ... caripils, vienna ... choice is yours.


Now to the hops ... most important !

Hops - bittering, flavor and aroma ...


Get a recipe from a home brew store or from here ... buy a 19L pot from Big wubbleloo ...


[an hour later] drunk now ... hope this helped ...





I personally do ales as I don't have a temperature controlled fermentation ... they handle slightly higher ferment temps ...





Q

 

[YAPN]

I use plain beige coloured stockings. I can cut to any length I like, soak in Starsan, fill with pellets, add to FV after krausen drop and remove (with a gentle squeeze) before cold crashing.

I know that a lot of people like to just throw the pellets in loose, but that does not work for me because I normally collect the yeast sludge and tip it into the next brew.

 

[koshari]

I use plain beige coloured stockings. I can cut to any length I like, soak in Starsan, fill with pellets, add to FV after krausen drop and remove (with a gentle squeeze) before cold crashing.

I know that a lot of people like to just throw the pellets in loose, but that does not work for me because I normally collect the yeast sludge and tip it into the next brew.

I often collect yeast for a following brew. No prob. Just slightly aggitate the film on the top of the sludge after coldcrashing with a few mm of remaining beer. It will turn cloudy and pour that into the next brew. It may have a tiny amount of hop matter in it but that will just sink to the bottom of the next brew just as the new hops will.

 

[hellbent]

Now to the hops ... most important !

Hops - bittering, flavor and aroma ...

Q[/QUOTE] maybe this will help with the hops
https://www.brewps.com/hop-chart-hop-substitutes.html

 

[theQuinny]

Thanks for following up for me

 

[altone]

Well if you're using prehopped cans the main improvement area is the Aroma/flavour hops, so post boil and/or secondary Yes?
Anyway flav/aroma whack in a bunch of style suitable hops.

 

[garage_life]

Get a 60g of your aroma hop of choice sealed pack.
Throw 30g on the wort at flameout below 80g for 15 mins before chill / mixing with cold / whatever you do.
Throw the other half in after 5 d of fermentation or when activity has slowed.
You can buy a hop bag or use whatever your usual method is, steralise etc.
If you want to do staggered multiple dry hops or remove them before transfer etc put a low grade stainless washer or nut in the bag and use a neodymium magnet (eBay -super cheap) to magnetically attach it through the fermenter wall you can pull it out as required without having to open the lid or try and fish out.
Just throwing in commando works too and with cold crashing and or gelatin and care you can get a commercial clarity beer pretty much.

This is just a noob guide, obviously tweak the amounts of hops and any additions 15 - 0mins on the boil (before cooled time also counts) will add flavour and aroma.

Adding all the "dry hop" chage in the last 5mins or at 0min if not chilling will give great result and save dicking around dry hopping if your just doing kit and want quicker turnaround.

 

[YAPN]

I often collect yeast for a following brew. No prob. Just slightly aggitate the film on the top of the sludge after coldcrashing with a few mm of remaining beer. It will turn cloudy and pour that into the next brew. It may have a tiny amount of hop matter in it but that will just sink to the bottom of the next brew just as the new hops will.

I agree that loose hopping will bring out more flavour but I worry about plant matter being in direct contact with the yeast cake. Maybe I should just give it a go, anything that simplifies my processes is a good thing.

 

[koshari]

Yes you should. I suspect like me you wont look back.