I always wonder about muslin sacks, though, either in the boil or for dry-hopping. Does anyone know if they work worse (or better) than just putting the hops directly in the boil/fermentor? Do the sacks absorb some of the hop oils?
If you use a muslin sack in the keg...pellets arent too bad. I usually ball the pellets into one corner...and fold the bag over itself a couple times, making additional layers of muslin protection. Hop debris will be all over the place if you are not using a muslin sack. Serving cold will also help ensure that hops dont make it into your glass should any smaller mater escape.
But does the cloth/fabric leech out any of the hop oils or is there virtually no difference between throwing them right in the liquid or using a muslin sack?
As far as I know there has been no empirical trials done to determine the differences.
However conventional wisdom in the homebrew sphere is that the sack itself should does not do anything. The reduction of surface area by clumping the hops in a bag probably does reduce their efficiency.
I do the hop bag in the keg too, that works. I also use a surescreen over the end of my drawing post as I have clogged the valve posts with hop matter and that sucks. I have dryhopped in secondary and pulled to much of that into the keg without noticing, that extra hop matter has clogged my keg before, that's why I use the surescreen with all hp beers now.
I just toss the pellets in the fermenter after reaching FG and giving a little time for a diacetyl rest. Crash chilling the beer for a few days will settle the hops to the bottom. A light swirling of the beer when it's cold will move any stragglers at the top into solution and it all falls to the bottom. If the fermenter is a better bottle or glass you can see what you're working with and know when the beer is clear and ready to package. Think I used a bag and weights a couple times and had enough of the fun dealing with the extra hassle. Bags are easy if you keg the beer and treat the keg as a secondary; just weight the hop bag with marbles or strainless steal hardware and tie floss (non flavored!) to the bag. You can tie the bag to a post or keg handle after letting the beer fall into the middle of the keg to totally saturate all the hops, then seal the keg. The advantage to doing this is getting the carbonation started while dry hopping, and purging O2 from the beer in the keg. Just open the keg in a few days and remove the hops. Most of the carbonation will remain in the cold beer, and you can reseal the keg, purge O2 again, and continue carbing. Cuts a few days off the batch if you're in a hurry and don't like to carb faster by shaking the beer in the keg on gas.
Become a Member
Check out the awesome brew house, cool people, informative classes, exciting events, and discounts around town. Join today!
This is a cool trick!
I always wonder about muslin sacks, though, either in the boil or for dry-hopping. Does anyone know if they work worse (or better) than just putting the hops directly in the boil/fermentor? Do the sacks absorb some of the hop oils?
Well, im not much of a fan of whole hops. The only place I can see a use for them maybe in a hop back or if you grow your own.
My to issues are:
They absorb too much liquid, you loose over a gallon in really hoppy beers.
They stale faster than pellets.
That said, consistancey is king, pick something and stick to it.
Oh and pellets I just throw into the boill, fermentor, ect (not keg, tried that once, really bad idea)
If you use a muslin sack in the keg...pellets arent too bad. I usually ball the pellets into one corner...and fold the bag over itself a couple times, making additional layers of muslin protection. Hop debris will be all over the place if you are not using a muslin sack. Serving cold will also help ensure that hops dont make it into your glass should any smaller mater escape.
But does the cloth/fabric leech out any of the hop oils or is there virtually no difference between throwing them right in the liquid or using a muslin sack?
As far as I know there has been no empirical trials done to determine the differences.
However conventional wisdom in the homebrew sphere is that the sack itself should does not do anything. The reduction of surface area by clumping the hops in a bag probably does reduce their efficiency.
I do the hop bag in the keg too, that works. I also use a surescreen over the end of my drawing post as I have clogged the valve posts with hop matter and that sucks. I have dryhopped in secondary and pulled to much of that into the keg without noticing, that extra hop matter has clogged my keg before, that's why I use the surescreen with all hp beers now.
I just toss the pellets in the fermenter after reaching FG and giving a little time for a diacetyl rest. Crash chilling the beer for a few days will settle the hops to the bottom. A light swirling of the beer when it's cold will move any stragglers at the top into solution and it all falls to the bottom. If the fermenter is a better bottle or glass you can see what you're working with and know when the beer is clear and ready to package. Think I used a bag and weights a couple times and had enough of the fun dealing with the extra hassle. Bags are easy if you keg the beer and treat the keg as a secondary; just weight the hop bag with marbles or strainless steal hardware and tie floss (non flavored!) to the bag. You can tie the bag to a post or keg handle after letting the beer fall into the middle of the keg to totally saturate all the hops, then seal the keg. The advantage to doing this is getting the carbonation started while dry hopping, and purging O2 from the beer in the keg. Just open the keg in a few days and remove the hops. Most of the carbonation will remain in the cold beer, and you can reseal the keg, purge O2 again, and continue carbing. Cuts a few days off the batch if you're in a hurry and don't like to carb faster by shaking the beer in the keg on gas.