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Hop Sock

Post #1 made 10 years ago
by goulaigan
So, after just over a year of BIAB and somewhere around 20 batches under my belt, I finally decided to use a hopsock. Brewed a black IPA that I designed and had 7 oz of hops to add during the boil (and 3 more for dry hop), so I decided to do as recommended here so many times and use my BIAB bag for the hops. I think the reason I haven't done this before is I've always dumped the grain and cleaned the bag after the brewday is done, probably due to laziness the first few times and then it just sort of became part of my routine...

Well, I wish I would have done this on every batch. I could not believe how much the pellet hops expand! I always cringe when I see how much trub I dump after my slow chill, well yesterday I had almost none! I think from now on I will do this even with batches that have very little hops. It is barely any extra work other than cleaning the bag twice, but the rewards definitely surpass the effort...

:thumbs:
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Post #3 made 10 years ago
by goulaigan
Thanks Joshua, I have read about that method quite a bit here too, but since the biab bag worked so well, I don't think I really see a reason to buy additional equipment. Guess it would save me from having to dump the grain and wash the BIAB bag before any hop additions, however I almost never use 90 min additions so I have 30 mins of boiling time to get that done... Perhaps if I ever build a hop spider I will go that route...
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Post #4 made 10 years ago
by Rick
I also like those paint strainer bags for hops.

I feel the voile hop sock sized bags get plugged up quickly, and the utilization suffers from lack of flow through it during the boil. Larger voile bags have worked fine for me, but I like to clean out my grain bag during the boil ... hence bringing in the paint strainer bags when needed.

I only use a paint strainer bag if my backup bags(full kettle size voile) are being used elsewhere (i.e. double/triple batches).
Last edited by Rick on 24 Feb 2015, 01:55, edited 1 time in total.
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Post #5 made 10 years ago
by goulaigan
I did notice that I had to squeeze the liquid out of the bag when I drained the kettle, since I left it in while it cooled outside in the -25ish ambient temp. If they do drain more freely maybe I will take Joshua's advice and grab a paint strainer bag...
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Post #6 made 10 years ago
by Mad_Scientist
I vote that you buy a paint strainer bag :thumbs:

The Mad Scientist is at it again.
Video link;
https://flic.kr/p/ehsdCb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hop bag squeezed dry with 2 pot lids.
Image
5/5/2013 by Mad Scientist Brewhaus, on Flickr


Hop bag (5 gallon paint strainer bag) squeezed out after a brew day. 170 grams / 6 ounces of pellet hops.
Image
5/5/2013 by Mad Scientist Brewhaus, on Flickr
Last edited by Mad_Scientist on 24 Feb 2015, 06:10, edited 1 time in total.
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Post #7 made 10 years ago
by joshua
MS, you can bend that 1-leg spider Eyelet over the Center of the Bag Holder and Change the Level-Ness of the Bag.
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
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Post #8 made 10 years ago
by goulaigan
Alright, you've all convinced me, will stop at home depot tomorrow. Thanks fellas. I was quite surprised at how much the hops expanded. 7 oz turned into about the same volume as 1 or 1.5 pounds of dry grain it seemed. What do you guys do for dry hopping? Same thing? Again I have always just tossed em in, but after seeing that I'm thinking I should bag those too. Ive read about weighing it down with a marble and all that, but what is the best bag to use? Will be tossin another three OZs in this batch when the time comes...
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Post #9 made 10 years ago
by goulaigan
Anyone have any insight on my question regarding dry hopping? Best hop sock material / size / weigh it down somehow? I'll probly just go for the paint strainer approach for this as well but just wondering what you fellas usually do? Also, how do you sanitize the hop sock, just throw it in the oven for a bit?
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Post #10 made 10 years ago
by joshua
GG, a good sized Marble or stainless steel Ball bearing can pull your Hop sock down.

You can use any no-rinse Sanitizer to do the bag.

The paint strainer makes a good Hop-sock due to it's size, and there are One-Time Use Muslin bags....Example

http://www.southernhomebrew.com/strainingbags.html

That are VERY cheap, and work well, too.

If you have a seamstress, and Some Voile, you can make one to fit your Fermenter!!

Good Luck, in Canada.
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
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Post #11 made 10 years ago
by goulaigan
Thanks Joshua, the only seamstress I have is my wife, but she used her sewing machine for the first time when she made my BIAB bag a year ago and hasn't used it since hah. (to her credit it is still holding up fine tho) I do have some muslin bags laying around somewhere but they are pretty small, and I think it is even finer than voile? I'll probly just go with the paint strainer. Thanks again for the reply!
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Post #12 made 10 years ago
by nicko
For what it's worth I've used a paint strainer bag for dry hopping but it was into a no-chill cube, so it was a tight fit getting the bag out later. Next time I'll chill in the cube but I'll ferment in a normal FV as adding/removing dry hops is so much easier. Just my two cents! Also I just throw the hop bag in there, no weight, it gets wet so I figure it must be doing its job?!?

I'll use a marble or similar though when using a hop sock during the boil to make sure it stays covered.
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Post #13 made 10 years ago
by Primavera
Does the use of a hop sock reduce the utilization of hops in terms of bitterness, flavor or aroma?

I have used one for the last two batches, but neither is ready to drink.
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Post #14 made 10 years ago
by joshua
Primavera, from My experience a LARGE Hop sack has no problem since the Hops can expand and move around.

Small sacks don't seem to work well, BUT, there seems very little difference in the final IBU's.

JMHO YMMV
Honest Officer, I swear to Drunk, I am Not God.
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Post #15 made 10 years ago
by Primavera
I purchased a kit of three bags, one for the kettle, another for the hops (approx. 6" / 15 cm diameter x 15" / 38 cm long) and a dry-hop bag about half that size.

Next batch I'll use the BIAB bag for hops and see if I notice any difference.

Chris
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Post #16 made 9 years ago
by Muggy Dawson
In my first and only BIAB brew so far I kept it basic and only added one lot of EKG hop pellets (100g) from the start of the boil in a voile hop sock. As my recipes get more complex and call for additions at different stages, is there any merit in placing new bags of the new hops as they are required?
Just that I saw that in the full bundle I did put it in appeared compacted after a while, and I thought it might not be imparting it's full potential especially if I added more on top of it.
Stout, Stout, Stout, and some other stuff...
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Post #18 made 9 years ago
by LI Mike D
for small batch BIAB, aquarium media bags are convenient, they come in different sizes to match your use and big box pet stores as well as aquarium shops carry them.
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