Since I’ve started brewing about a year ago, I’ve suspended my hop pellets in a fine mesh hop bag for the boil. Recently I’ve become more observant that these bags can hold a lot of water in them. If they hold water within them, are they also restraining a lot of the hop flavor and aroma from reaching the wort? I’ve done this method because I was told to do this. I’ve watched videos of brewers just pitching the pellets directly into the wort. I have been afraid of doing this, because the pellets leave a messy sludge in the bags, and I don’t really want this in my beer. Will there be a mess of a sludge left behind in the bottom of my brew pot or even in my carboy or do the pellets dissolve more when pitched directly into the wort? What do you do?
i just throw them in, a lot of people are scared of it getting out of the brewpot into the fermentor but ive let it go through with no issues. Itll become part of the “trub” at the bottom of the fermenter just dont leave the beer on the hop pelets for too long if its a really hoppy beer
I just chuck them in loose, both in the boil and when I use them for dry hops. If some makes it into the fermenter, no big deal. They will just settle out with the trub on the bottom.
I use a hop spider (cheap ‘n’ easy to build ):
The bag is loose enough for water to exchange during the boil. It seems to work well for a several ounces hop recipe, but something like Pliny would be pushing it (1 gallon paint strainer bag).
For hop pellets there is no reason not to put the directly in the kettle. No bag or gadgets needed!!!
The issue some of us have experienced with pellets is that when enough of them are used they will clog up just about any filter used in the kettle, including a false bottom. If you are using a filter device in your kettle the paint strainer bags are the way to go for larger quantities, and every system is different. For my false bottom setup I can just throw smaller pellet loads in, but for larger quantities I need to mix in some whole hops so a filter bed is set up. My new kettle will have a side pickup and I’ll be whirlpooling to settle the debris in the center before draining rather than using a filter or false bottom. That said I’ll continue to use the debris filter outside of the kettle so the gunk into the pump and chillers is reduced.
but … why would you need a filter in a BK?
+1 to just tossing them in the boil or fermenter. However, if you are dry hopping and going to reuse the yeast, I would use whole hops.
Dave
I can’t whirlpool worth a damn, and I don’t like sludge in my fermenter, either.
Lately, I’ve been throwing pellets into 1-gallon paint strainer bags directly into the boil, and for flowers, relying on a mash screen filter screwed into the port w/ a 90 degree stainless steel elbow joint to tilt it appropriately for the batch, so that the intake is just above the sludge/break level at the bottom. I’ll use a spider with a 3-gallon strainer bag for brews with lots of additions (by weight or by time), because the other methods become a mess as the additions go up. For winter lagers, I’ll also let the kettle sit a good long time outside, covered, to let all the junk drop out.
I repitch yeast from four of five of my ferments on average, and so want the wort as clean as possible before it goes into the fermenter. Also, this fall I did four batches where I take the first clear gallons of runoff into one fermenter for a very clean pitch. Then the later runoff, I’ve either dumped it all into a second fermenter, or just let more trub and sludge into that fermenter. I have noticed a flavor difference in each of these tests. Not always a huge difference, and it might decrease over time (TBD), but it seems to be there and I really think it’s due to how much pellet and break material got into the fermenter (vs. different fermenter geometries, slightly diff pitching rates, etc). I say this because the flavors aren’t what I’d call yeast characters like esters, phenols, etc. I’m no judging expert that’s for sure, but for whatever reason, there is a difference.
You can also just super-size your batches, using settling time, and plan on leaving more behind. But for small batches, it’s super annoying to make a 3 gallon batch and leave 25% of your wort behind.
I guess others have a superior solution or think this is a lot of work for a problem that doesn’t exist. But I think this is a great subject.
+1 like others have said, the spent pellets will become part of the trub. I’ve always just dumped mine right in the BK and/or fermenter. This IPA had about 25 ounces of hops in it that’ll settle eventually.
+1 like others have said, the spent pellets will become part of the trub. I’ve always just dumped mine right in the BK and/or fermenter. This IPA had about 25 ounces of hops in it that’ll settle eventually.
Even if you don’t believe that there are flavor diffs, and even if you don’t repitch yeast, sooner or later, you still have to separate your wort or beer from the junk. So if that’s the only question, then it becomes a matter of your process and convenience.
do you want to lose wort in the kettle or beer in the fermenter, that is the question 
Did you dry-malt for a bit of balance? :o
Hey, to each his own. But there is really no need to use a bag for pellets, unless you use a plate chiller. Then maybe.
There’s no trick to Whirlpooling, either. Ya stir. It’s pretty simple! I use pellets, WP and leave most of the hops and trub behind in the kettle when I brew. I do have a diverter plate installed in my B3 14 gallon kettle though.AA
Ok, great info. I have a hop spider, but I quit using it, because the bags don’t reach the wort when the chiller is in place. I made a more flexible “hop bird” that will actually fit down inside the center of the chiller. I do have a homemade filter in my kettle, which has been named the fly swatter. I am concerned about it possibly getting clogged. Once I figure out how to post pictures on here, I will show both.
Keith - are you still able to get a good cone with the heat element in there? Since I moved to electric, I tried to get a good WP going last time and couldn’t - I was wondering if the element was causing the problem.
I use pellets quite a bit, and just toss them directly into the boil. I also use a Blichmann hop blocker and a plate chiller. I runoff about a half-pint to a pint of wort, which allows any residual hop particulate that snuck under the hop blocker to come out, then connect to the plate chiller and runoff into the fermenter. Never a problem with this method.
I pitch pellets free in the kettle but I use a screen filter when pouring wort into the fermentor. I am catching 95% or so of the hop particles. I also yeast wash and have zero problem with hop material getting into the washed yeast.
If you are concerned about hop material getting into the fermentor but also wanting them to boil freely my thought is to pitch them in loose in the kettle but attach a paint strainer bag to the top of the fermentor (or build a cheap support for it to sit on the mouth of the fermentor) and pour wort through the bag. Best of both worlds.
Here is the Hop Bird that I currently use. It is flexible to fit down into the middle of my chiller. I have used strainer bags, but I picked up a few of these finer meshed bags.
This is the Fly Swatter filter. It’s basically just stainless mesh sewn together. It has an inner virtical mesh that I originally thought it would be a good secondary filter. But after looking at the design, it doesn’t really do much of filtering, but it does keep the rest of the fly swatter from collapsing on itself. I guess the question is, would this screen get clogged up from hop debris?
