Who Uses a Hop Sock/Bag

[Fylp]

Hey All,

Just wondering who uses one during the boil and why. I started using one- just because- and stopped a while back.

Phil

 

[Dae Tripper]

I went away from it as well as I was using lots of hops but did a 60L batch of an American Wheat beer on the weekend and had both my hop socks out for the occasion just to keep the cubes a little clearer.

 

[fraser_john]

I used one, then stopped and have started using one again.

 

[glenwal]

I used one when I started out ag brewing in a 19l big w pot to maximise the wort I could get out of it, but haven't bothered since moving up to a larger system.

 

[mattlea266]

Just throw them in now. Used to use sock but felt I wasnt getting all the goodness out of my hops. I do 44l batches so quite a bit of hops. I like the idea of the hops swimming around getting full contact with wort. Just whirlpool at end of boil.

 

[Coalminer]

Good to let your boys swim free :lol:

 

[Crusty]

I prefer boxer shorts over undies.

 

[Matplat]

For the couple of (extract with grain) brews that I did without a hop sock, I found my beers came out exceptionally bitter.

Since using a hop sock and actually being able to remove the hops after 60 mins, beers have been on point. I have not strayed since!

 

[RobW]

I use a hopsock because I have a counterflow chiller and I like to be able to pull the sock out at the end of the boil.
This means the hops aren't in the wort during the whirlpool and then for the 15 minutes or so it takes to run through the chiller.

 

[razz]

I've dusted my Craftbrewer hop sock off since using a Braumeister. A couple of reasons why.
I put a pickup on the back of the tap to leave a small amount of trub in the kettle and run the wort through a plate chiller.
Cleaning up the kettle is a lot easier with just some trub to wash out.

 

[wildwhitty]

I use Skimmer socks. About $8 for 5. Woolies or Coles. Put each addition in its own sock and tie with string.

 

[GABBA110360]

single hop addition 60 min i use a stocking thing from coles cheap as chips

 

[BJB]

I've dusted my Craftbrewer hop sock off since using a Braumeister. A couple of reasons why.
I put a pickup on the back of the tap to leave a small amount of trub in the kettle and run the wort through a plate chiller.
Cleaning up the kettle is a lot easier with just some trub to wash out.

Pool shops sell something remarkably similar, but much cheaper.

 

[fdsaasdf]

Used to use socks, picked up a Keg king hop spider, have never looked back!

 

[thylacine]

pic

 

[zeggie]

Used to use a hop bag, now use a KK hop spider.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Never used socks for boils. Throw them in to swim. Calculate in trub loss instead. (For chilled worts).
My keggle is 4lt trub with clear wort above that. So your boil needs to end at 4lt bigger than your final yield volume.

I only use hop socks for dry hopping in the keg. Its still restricted. You have to use a hop bag much bigger than the hop pellet so they are loose.
Hop pellets expand to (my guess) 5 times their size. If you fill a bag to more than 1/5 it will just swell into a hard block, or pillow and you will waste the potential of the hops. They wont disperse their full glory.

 

[sp0rk]

I only use them when I'm using whole flowers, otherwise my pickup tube gets blocked

 

[spog]

I use the large " tea balls " from the cheap shop they are the 50 mm ones , I must get more as I have found that the become compacted if you bung too many pellets in them so I've decided to split the hops into more of them to get the best from the hop pellets.
Using the tea balls helps with not having to worry about the left overs clogging the pump etc.
I use an immersion coil so a hop sock is out of the question due to space restrictions and the tea balls are easy to clean.

 

[rude]

I use the large " tea balls " from the cheap shop they are the 50 mm ones , I must get more as I have found that the become compacted if you bung too many pellets in them so I've decided to split the hops into more of them to get the best from the hop pellets.
Using the tea balls helps with not having to worry about the left overs clogging the pump etc.
I use an immersion coil so a hop sock is out of the question due to space restrictions and the tea balls are easy to clean.

I'm the same as Spog but have 75mm ones

Might try some smaller ones for the cube hop