Hop pellets in a muslin bag?

[surferatdelmar]

If I'm using hop pellets when brewing my wort, do I need to be using a muslin bag or should I just add them directly to the batch when cooking?

I'm trying to get my end product to be more clear but just using Irish moss doesn't seem to be working out too well for me.

 

[CreekBrewery]

Using a muslin bag is definitely an option. If I'm making a higher IBU beer I'll use one to keep the amount of trub down. For low IBU beers I don't bother with the bag since there isn't much hop material.

Using a bag isn't going to help your clarity though, just reduce trub. I'd suggest cold crashing as a good next step in improving clarity.

 

[Bobby_M]

It doesn't hurt to contain hops in a mesh bag, but pellet hops do better in a nylon bag since the pore structure is more fine and consistent. Muslin should only be used for whole leaf hops. You can get nylon bags at Lowes sold as paint strainer bags. You want to keep them from sitting on the bottom of the pot by hanging with some string or stainless wire.

I agree though that hop particulates has very little to do with the clarity of the finished beer. It's all about careful racking and being patient to let the beer clear before packaging.

 

[brewbama]

I use a paint strainer bag clamped to a hop spider made from a piece of PVC and three bolts. Works great.


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[unionrdr]

I stopped using hop sacks in the boil after getting my 10 1/4" fine mesh strainer. The hop flavors from the boil seem to have a bit more "edge" to them when added loose. The strainer also has the added benefit of aerating the chilled wort.

 

[surferatdelmar]

Thanks for the help. Another issues that I had with the batch I brewed this weekend is the yeast starts fermenting like crazy the first night and bursts the top off of my airlock.

What I'm using is a standard plastic airlock in a rubber stopper that has a tub coming out of it leading to a small bucket of water with bleach in it.

It starts fermenting like crazy the first night and then the airlock got clogged with hops and foam, causing the thing to burst and beer to get everywhere.

I'm fermenting in a 6 gallon carboy and only fill it up to the 5 gallon mark. I moved it to my bottling bucket to ferment for now.

Any suggestions?

 

[unionrdr]

Some make a blow off with a large diameter tube that fits the neck of the carboy or Better Bottle. Going into a jug with sanitizer, etc. That should cure your clogged blow off problems.

 

[flars]

Try finding a tube that will fit snugly into the hole in your bucket lid, without the air lock grommet installed. This will eliminate the restriction caused by the smaller air lock stem diameter.

You could also drill a new hole for a larger diameter tube that is locally available. This hole can be closed with duct tape when not needed.

 

[user 141939]

I stopped using hop sacks in the boil after getting my 10 1/4" fine mesh strainer. The hop flavors from the boil seem to have a bit more "edge" to them when added loose. The strainer also has the added benefit of aerating the chilled wort.

That doesn't get clogged a bunch of times while straining? That's what happens when I try to use a strainer. Are you siphoning and leaving a bit or just pouring?


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[unionrdr]

I whirlpool the chilled wort in the kettle while chilling. Then pour through the large fine mesh strainer till I get down to the thick gunk at the bottom. What gunk gets into the strainer I gently fold over with my sanitized Cooper's spoon till all the juice strains out. Then dump the thick stuff in the strainer. The gunk left in the kettle gets das boot as well. By bottling day, I usually wind up with no more than about 3/8" of compacted trub & yeast at the bottom of primary. Besides, a 10 1/4" strainer is pretty big as compared to the opening of a bucket or Cooper's Micro Brew FV.

 

[alane1]

That doesn't get clogged a bunch of times while straining? That's what happens when I try to use a strainer. Are you siphoning and leaving a bit or just pouring?

I was running into the same problem so I started using my wife's 2 stage honey strainer, seems to work better than single stage.