Wheat Beer Folly

[stugur]

Help, I have left out the sediment reducer from my tap assembly, should I forget about it or go in with a sanitized arm? The brew is now 24hrs old
Also, my hop bag seems to have burst in the fermenter, I was planning to whip it out at the same time as I put in the reducer.
Should I leave it in?
The Kit convertor didnt say to leave the bag in after the boil, but then it didnt say take it out either......

 

[Mr.Moonshine]

First off, do --not-- try to put your arm in the brew. There's really no such thing as a "sanitised arm" (I know doctors do it and may get close, but they've got serious soap/cleaners and also use gloves), and you'll almost certainly infect your brew as a result. As long as the tap is able to pour the beer and isn't leaking, you should be fine.
Generally, you remove the hops used in the boil before putting them in the fermenter, as they've pretty much already done their work and could only add negative flavours from that point on. If you're dry hopping, it would go in the fermenting/conditioning brew, but otherwise there's no need for it.
So overall, don't worry about the tap, and the hop bag will probably be fine (you could remove it if you are sanitary enough and don't touch the actual brew).

Good luck mate, cheers

Mr.Moonshine

 

[SunDrifter]

Help, I have left out the sediment reducer from my tap assembly, should I forget about it or go in with a sanitized arm? The brew is now 24hrs old
Also, my hop bag seems to have burst in the fermenter, I was planning to whip it out at the same time as I put in the reducer.
Should I leave it in?
The Kit convertor didnt say to leave the bag in after the boil, but then it didnt say take it out either......

You are supposed to be able to leave the bag in, I've only ever used one and it was pretty fragile by the time I bottled.

As for the sediment reducer, I've got two different brand fermenters and both need to have the tap completely removed do put the reducer in, so you're out of luck there probably. I wouldn't think sticking your arm into your brew is a good idea anyway.

 

[fergi]

You are supposed to be able to leave the bag in, I've only ever used one and it was pretty fragile by the time I bottled.

As for the sediment reducer, I've got two different brand fermenters and both need to have the tap completely removed do put the reducer in, so you're out of luck there probably. I wouldn't think sticking your arm into your brew is a good idea anyway.

dont even worry about the sediment reducer, most guys dont even use them, i havent used one for the last 50 batches, you wont even know its not there
fergi

 

[stugur]

Thanks guys, I think i'll keep my filthy paws out in that case.
The brew is brewcraft bavarian wheat, brewcraft 66 wheat convertor kit and safwheat yeast. Anyone used the 66 kit before?
Im really not sure about the hops bag.....

 

[Cube]

I'd burst the bag on purpose to let all the hops disperse around next time It will not do any harm at all even when bottling. I typically use 3 or more x's the hops you have at the least via pellets and it all goes into the fermenter. Toss the sediment reducer. They are worthless.

Even more worthless will be your beer if you put your arm in it :lol:

 

[SunDrifter]

Here's a quick question for... anybody.

I've started steeping grains and doing a hop boil with hop pellets. Should i just dump the entire contents of the pot into the fermenter, or strain out the hops?

Presently I'm using a strainer, it catches maybe half of the hops. Would I be better off just dumping the lot in?

 

[moodgett]

Mate just keep straining using a mesh strainer, i mean it wont hurt just dumping the lot in, but less trub to clean up later

 

[Cube]

Mate just keep straining using a mesh strainer, i mean it wont hurt just dumping the lot in, but less trub to clean up later

I take another view on this and ( strain the grain of course ) and dump the hops in the fermenter. Whilst fermenting the hops can only add more flavour to the beer and the hop particles must be about 0.01 % of the trub. Lots of people dry hop for extra flavour as well. I save and reuse my trubs and I hardly notice any hops in there at the end of a brew.