Hopsock vs Hopscreen

[unclebarrel]

Hey Rambo,
I got them on ebay, from china.
Not sure about the locking pin Ross, I'll go have a look now…..


……its magnetic. Bugger. That would mean the rims around the side would be the same. I'll just use them until the plating looks dodgy then discard.
Maybe Lady Gaga could use them for a bra !?!?!

 

[nala]

That's the wonderful thing about this hobby, we all believe and brew differently. Some believe filtering, no chilling, skimming, racking, gelatine, etc makes a difference to their beers, and if they believe it does and it could, good on them. Hey there's even a bloke who can pick a Braumeister beer at 50 paces :lol: :lol: :lol: .

Each to his own, but it's nice we can all have a say here.

Batz

I am addressing this question to Batz and QLD Kev:
If you free style your hop additions does it become essential to chill the wort immediately after the end of the boil, as I would think that any additions made automattically become 90 minute additions if one does not chill.
I do not want to make this topic a "no chill " discussion but I have tried the no chill method and find that the bitterness is far too great, even when selecting the "no chill" option in the software....I use Brewmate.
Could you please talk us through your hopping schedule and method, including keg hopping please.

 

[mckenry]

mmm well i have a large hop sock that i dont use anymore. my hops go in commando and i have a plate chiller that never blocks. what am i doing wrong?

   


Your plate chiller may not be blocked, but it's possibly full of crud that will bite you in the *** one day

(that, or you're the king of whirlpooling)

Nope. Plate chiller gets a good backflush, then at brewday boiling wort gets pumped through it for nearly 10 mins, as part of my 75 minute boil. The first 15 mins I dedicate to getting a good hot break, skimming the foam and sanitising the chiller. Easy. I just looked up my records and have chilled 99 brews! Have to think of a fancy name for chilled 100th brew.
So, I'm pretty confident its not going to bite me on the arse.
Yes, my whirlpool is good and I have an 80L kettle, so allow for losses of 6.5L and therefore put minimal hop/break into my 30plate anyway.

 

[browndog]

I used to use a hop sock but noticed that the mesh seemed to be getting blocked up with proteins and yes, it seemed to drain very slowly back into the kettle at the end of the boil. So I let my hops swim naked. Now I've been considering going back to a hop sock as a way to reduce the amount of wort I am loosing to trub. Should be interesting to see how it works out.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

This is Jacobs second post about hop socks, I am sure he has enough information now about what to do,Batz I agree with, this is a hobby where the brewer takes all in to consideration and makes up his own mind, as for the Braumeister comment, it isn't worth going there, people like that are not worthy of a mention. Jacob I hope you now know that it is up to you, remember you will not make an undrinkable beer while experimenting.

 

[Midnight Brew]

I am addressing this question to Batz and QLD Kev:
If you free style your hop additions does it become essential to chill the wort immediately after the end of the boil, as I would think that any additions made automattically become 90 minute additions if one does not chill.
I do not want to make this topic a "no chill " discussion but I have tried the no chill method and find that the bitterness is far too great, even when selecting the "no chill" option in the software....I use Brewmate.
Could you please talk us through your hopping schedule and method, including keg hopping please.

Depends how you calculate them and the brewer. Some use 60, flameout (calculate as 15) dry hop. Some use all the normal and calculate as normal, some just add 20 minutes to everything. A method I use which I've seen more frequently in the WAYB III thread is little kettle hops then cube hops as flavour (10-20 minute addition) then dry hop. Many variations too eg, no dry hop large cube hop.

Yes, my whirlpool is good and I have an 80L kettle, so allow for losses of 6.5L and therefore put minimal hop/break into my 30plate anyway.

I use an 80L kettle and keep falling short by about 2L, just had a look at my software and Im calculating kettle losses at 4L. I think you've just solved my dilemma. Thanks Mckenry

 

[mckenry]

I use an 80L kettle and keep falling short by about 2L, just had a look at my software and Im calculating kettle losses at 4L. I think you've just solved my dilemma. Thanks Mckenry

Haha sweet.

 

[Goose]

Pick up the hop sock every now & then and slap it against the side of the pot, this loosens up the particles that are stuck to the bag & lets it drain easier

my 2c

I find an occasional soak in PBW overnight helps remove the clogging that can build up over time. Strangely, this does nothing to remove the brown staining that builds up on it...

 

[Truman42]

Each to his own, but it's nice we can all have a say here.

Batz

We can now thanks to the mods getting rid of all the ********* who were just here to **** stir and cause trouble.. h34r:

 

[Camo6]

We can now thanks to the mods getting rid of all the ********* who were just here to **** stir and cause trouble.. h34r:

Totally agree with this Tony... h34r:


I'm trialling a new hopsock atm that I scored from Kegking recently. I'd noticed a couple of these perforated stainless cylinders floating around the store that they were trialling for another hobby we're not to discuss. I managed to pick one up for a very reasonable price. I'd initially planned to use it in a hop torpedo I was working on only to find it was 5-10mm too big in diameter. But...

it also makes a really good hopsock. On my last batch I used it and found that it contained most of the hop matter yet drained freely at the end of boil. I also found it had no effect on the boil within the sock and there was plenty of turbulence to keep the hops agitated. I also found that pumping it up and down a few times every now and then really helped disperse the hoppy goodness. While it didn't contain all of the hop matter, it certainly retained a fair whack from a 200gm bill.
In fact I've decided not to call it a hopsock but the Hop Greave!

 

[a1149913]

What a monster!

 

[spog]

Where did you get these unclebarrel? Been looking for something similar for dry hopping.
Cheers

I got mine from the cheap shop ( cheap as chips ) .for $ 2.00 each.
The small ones are golf ball size,the larger tennis ball size,I found that if you put too many pellets in they become compacted as the pellets swell and this would obviously cause loss of extraction from the hops.
I found them usefull for keeping the hops separate from the trub so I could then sprinkle the hops around the veggie patch to keep snails away .
I have mounted one on the end of my pump pickup tube to stop any crap being sucked into the pump ( little brown pump).
Dunno how it will go as I haven't brewed for about 4 months.
I stole the idea from someone here who posted pics of how it is mounted,it could have been Big Nath ?
Cheers...spog..

 

[wide eyed and legless]

What a monster!

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard that.

 

[spog]

the 2 sizes ( not quite tennis ball size )
. in the keggle.
the hole I just big enough to slip over the threaded nipple on the pickup.
The o ring goes between the inside of the mesh ball and the locking nut which is only finger tight then the ball is closed up and good to go

gives you an idea of the hole size cut with scissors.
I have not found any rust on these tea balls as Ross mentioned in his earlier post.
Cheers....spog...

 

[Gelding]

I tried the same thing on a RIMs system underneath a false bottom but was surprised how much gunk slipped inder the bottom of the rim, but how does it work for you ?

 

[spog]

I tried the same thing on a RIMs system underneath a false bottom but was surprised how much gunk slipped inder the bottom of the rim, but how does it work for you ?

The tea ball is on the pump inlet,I don't use a false bottom the outlet for the keggle is in centre bottom of the keggle,( see pic above).
As for straining the wort when transferring to the fermentor I use 3 kitchen strainers, 1 small sits inside another which is larger then these 2 sit inside a larger third strainer.
This way if the smallest strainer fills with gunk I can remove and clear it without having to stop filling the fermentor as the other 2 will still be filtering.
Triple filtered homebrew....[
attachment=69116:image.jpg]

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Are the three strainers the same mesh size, and do you stop much getting through?

 

[spog]

Yes same sized mesh on all 3, they catch most of the hop material and any grain pieces,I brew in perforated pot instead of a bag.
The pot is a Kmart stock pot about 20 litres in volume.
I did place a piece of voile into the larger strainer but this slowed the straining down by a hell of a lot so I did away with it.
The amount of hop material going into the fermentor is minimal so I am not worried about it affecting the brew nor am I worried about cold side aeration ( csa ).
The brews I have made using this setup have been great,with the exception of a couple which became infected due to my sanitisation procedures or lack of attention to.
Cheers....spog...