Who Uses a Hop Sock/Bag
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Alchomist
Well-Known Member
Picked up a few of these http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/5CM-7CM-9CM-Sphere-Locking-Spice-Tea-Ball-Strainer-Mesh-Infuser-Filter-/151521842373?nav=SEARCH
The 90cm ones work well in the boil & also fit nicely into the converted cornies I use for secondary/dry hopping.
The 90cm ones work well in the boil & also fit nicely into the converted cornies I use for secondary/dry hopping.
Alchomist
Well-Known Member
9cm that should read
rehabs_for_quitters
Well-Known Member
I was using a K K hop spider, **** of a thing struggled to get a good load of hops in it, anything more than 100g was too much for it, since I have stopped and gone nude my bittering charge is around 25% of what it used to be and get a better depth of bittering and flavour from the hops, put a strainer on your kettle outlet and let them swim free, a good whirlpool at the end of boil and they'll hang out in the middle of the kettle so you don't have to worry about too much crap getting to the strainer
technobabble66
Meat Popsicle
Mine swim free. I've also got a plate chiller, but I've got a large hops bazooka screen (30cm?) on my outlet. A little gets through but not too much for the pump or chiller. It's only really important when I recirc thru the chiller to drop the kettle temp below 70*C after flameout (~5 mins). After that I'll whirlpool (scrape the screen clear) and all the hops then stay in the cone.
One thing I have found my hops sock to be great for is when cleaning the plate chiller and pump. I recirc hot sodium perc to clean the pump and chiller. I tie a hops sock onto the outlet hose to capture and filter out hops debris so I don't just recirc that back into the gear, and I don't need truckloads of water/sod perc doing only a single pass. It's great! 2L of hot sod perc recirc'd for 20mims each way. Clean as a whistle!
One thing I have found my hops sock to be great for is when cleaning the plate chiller and pump. I recirc hot sodium perc to clean the pump and chiller. I tie a hops sock onto the outlet hose to capture and filter out hops debris so I don't just recirc that back into the gear, and I don't need truckloads of water/sod perc doing only a single pass. It's great! 2L of hot sod perc recirc'd for 20mims each way. Clean as a whistle!
Coodgee
Well-Known Member
I use bags since I started brewing again. I hang them over the outlet pipe of the grainfather and then they swirl around the top of the boil. I figure they pretty much float on the top anyway so it makes them easier to pick out. However doing this you need to be careful when you are chilling with the grainfather - if you put the counterflow chiller outlet pipe as far as it will go into the wort it will create a hot layer at the top of the wort. I only figured this out after the digital display read 65 degrees but I nearly burnt my hand on the side of the grainfather because the top was so hot. Now I make sure the outlet pipe of the CFC is right at the surface and creates a weak whirlpool.
I also remove the bags at flame out and put them back in once the wort gets to 80 degrees now. The brew I am doing right now has 90 grams of simcoe at 2 minutes so I need to control the bittering from that amount of high alpha hops.
I also remove the bags at flame out and put them back in once the wort gets to 80 degrees now. The brew I am doing right now has 90 grams of simcoe at 2 minutes so I need to control the bittering from that amount of high alpha hops.
rehabs_for_quitters
Well-Known Member
Yeah it not a negative as such as much you will use a lot more hops per batch with it, its different strokes for different folks, bit like the dry yeast argument 
h34r:
I just found my hop utilisation was crap when using it and when your trying to fit 200 to 400 grams in a 40Litre batch it was a waste of time, 100gram bittering charge of warrior @ 14% AA netted about 30 IBU in real terms
h34r:I just found my hop utilisation was crap when using it and when your trying to fit 200 to 400 grams in a 40Litre batch it was a waste of time, 100gram bittering charge of warrior @ 14% AA netted about 30 IBU in real terms
menoetes
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I use one of these courtesy of Martin at National Homebrew.
It's a super fine wire mesh and keeps the hops from spreading throughout the boil while allowing the movement of hot liquid to pass in and out of it. Basically just another hop spider of sorts.
It works a treat. For those of you who use a hop sock when cubing, do you just do the full 60min boil then remove the hop sock before cubing or do you do the 45 min boil, remove the sock and cube expecting more bitterness to develop cooling period?
It's a super fine wire mesh and keeps the hops from spreading throughout the boil while allowing the movement of hot liquid to pass in and out of it. Basically just another hop spider of sorts.
It works a treat. For those of you who use a hop sock when cubing, do you just do the full 60min boil then remove the hop sock before cubing or do you do the 45 min boil, remove the sock and cube expecting more bitterness to develop cooling period?
Isnt that the one that rehabs_for_quitters is talking about above? Thats the one I'm planning to get once my local Country Brewer gets them back into stock. Just got a plate chiller so need something to remove the hops as currently get a lot in the bottom of the urn and due to expose element it doesnt whirlpool very wellmenoetes said:
rehabs_for_quitters
Well-Known Member
Yes the same one, for really small hop additions go for it as they are beaut for that, just ***** for large additions according to my brewing
No issues with up to 150gms in 42-50L batches using mine, curious to know if you have a particularly violent boil?rehabs_for_quitters said:
I actually find it is almost equally useful for catching sediment when transferring from MT to BK, particularly making my first bock with a mate when we had some issues a blocked false-bottom.
When it comes to hop additions, I don't let it hang over the side, I lock it in place with a vice grip and it sits maybe 2inches higher than if it was just over the side (of an 80L pot). Come flameout I give the wort a gentle stir with the hop spider. Haven't measured the difference but I figure it can't hurt as a gentle hop-infusing whirlpool...
I use one of these http://www.bunnings.com.au/morgan-laundry-wash-bag_p4510438 for my bittering hops.
They're plenty big enough to give a decent amount of hops lots of swimming room.
I just lift it at the end of the boil and give it a squeeze with some sanitized tongs.
For the later additions I have a whole stack of the 90mm tea balls.
They're plenty big enough to give a decent amount of hops lots of swimming room.
I just lift it at the end of the boil and give it a squeeze with some sanitized tongs.
For the later additions I have a whole stack of the 90mm tea balls.
I found that 10 g of hops into the small tea balls ended with it being compacted so much that I've had to tap the tea ball to get the left overs out.eMPTy said:
10 g in a 50 mm tea ball works well as at the end of the boil when the tea balls are taken out there is a lot of free space inside,so to my understanding I'm getting better utilisation of the hops which over time made me think about how much I lost using the smaller ones.
I am going to buy some 90 mm " balls for use for additions over 10 g.
It's easier to have the hops pre loaded in the " balls" all lined up and at the required time drop it in rather than split each addition into 2 or 3 smaller ones and end up having to clean too many balls
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Rocker1986
Well-Known Member
I have one of those Craftbrewer hop sock/bag things that I turned into a spider of sorts by wrapping stainless wire around it and bending 3 legs to hold it to the urn. I don't know what the difference is in my beers between using it and not using it as I've rarely not used it, and the last time was so long ago that I can't even remember if there was a difference now. Either way, my beers turn out as I want them and expect them to when I create my recipes, so I am happy to continue using it.
