Hops expansion

[Seghes]

Been recently thwarted by large amounts of hops expanding during brew and becoming close to blocking transfer and clouding the wort.
Next batch I used my large hop spider which did the job of containing things but I worry about lack of hop circulation during the mashing?
So the question: Hop spider vs. Hop bag in mash? Or neither and deal with the large trub collection?

 

[The Baron]

I use spiders and hop bags and yes some say it subdues the hop transfer but I have never had a problem. You can squeeze the hops when removing to extract any liquid into the wort so as to get the most out of them.
Ps if using bags and large amounts of hops use large veg bags and sometimes 2 to give the hops plenty of freedom to move around as they swell

 

[MashBag]

Yup. Personal favourite (After testing various contraptions) the mangrove jack stainless jobber

 

[Seghes]

jobber

Not sure what the jobber is?

 

[MashBag]

Here you go..

https://brew2bottle.co.uk/products/...oogle Shopping&stkn=f51ba00cee25&gad_source=1

 

[borischarlton]

It depends on what types of hops you are trying to deal with. The above mentioned hop spider is fine for whole hops but not for T-90's. The hop spiders that can contain T-90's suffer from the same as any other filter and block the flow.
It also depends on what system you are using. Anything that is Grainfather G30 dimensions ( Brewzilla, BrewMonk etc. ) all suffer from being too narrow to be able to successfully whirlpool with a large amount of hops.
Plus, if you put a pump inline with any type of filter the hop matter gets pulled into the filter, making it worse.
Most of the problems we see are caused by brewers not leaving enough time for the kettle to settle after whirlpool, and draining too fast to start with.

By far and away the best utilisation of hops is to have them free in the wort. In a conventional brew kettle, using T-90's, remove any hop filter, whirlpool at the end of boil. Then leave the kettle to settle fully before draining / transferring to fermenter.

 

[MashBag]

That's not been my experience. This contains 95% of my hops. Utilisation is fine.

Whirlpooling is not mandatory.
Tried bags. Not as good as this MJ. Loose pellets are just a mess.

Agree it might depend on your kit - what are you running?

 

[Seghes]

Here you go..

https://brew2bottle.co.uk/products/mangrove-jacks-hop-spider?currency=GBP&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&stkn=f51ba00cee25&gad_source=1

Ah, mine is near identical. So that gets the vote then

 

[MashBag]

Is yours 800 mesh? You can see through these. The fine ones do bung up real quick.

 

[MashBag]

https://mangrovejacks.com/products/hop-spider

 

[jof]

I have to say I try to use real hops & not the pellets.
I have used them in veg bags, but recently I've been putting them in loose, but leaving the false bottom in the boiler during the boil.

What I've found is using too much protofloc is what clogs the tap (sorry, I'm not an AIO devotee) rather than the hops.

 

[Seghes]

Is yours 800 mesh? You can see through these. The fine ones do bung up real quick.

I rather think it is. Been looking at the Mango Jacks and Malt Miller versions.

 

[Seghes]

That's not been my experience. This contains 95% of my hops. Utilisation is fine.

Whirlpooling is not mandatory.
Tried bags. Not as good as this MJ. Loose pellets are just a mess.

Agree it might depend on your kit - what are you running?

Grainfather G40 - hardly ever gets stuck. My original question was about maximising hop and their oils dispersal whilst not clouding up the wort. (Im not getting much greater clarity with whirlpooling)

 

[Seghes]

I have to say I try to use real hops & not the pellets.
I have used them in veg bags, but recently I've been putting them in loose, but leaving the false bottom in the boiler during the boil.

What I've found is using too much protofloc is what clogs the tap (sorry, I'm not an AIO devotee) rather than the hops.

Gosh haven’t heard that protofloc issue

 

[Seghes]

Most of the problems we see are caused by brewers not leaving enough time for the kettle to settle after whirlpool, and draining too fast to start with.

I’ve found that to be true

 

[foxy]

Grainfather G40 - hardly ever gets stuck. My original question was about maximising hop and their oils dispersal whilst not clouding up the wort. (Im not getting much greater clarity with whirlpooling)

After the boil is finished what do you do? You should not be getting cloudy wort into the fermenter, it should be crystal.

 

[Seghes]

Think I’ve been too quick to cool and transfer to FV. It’s what borisc says, allow longer to settle.
Plus I think I’ve been to keen to get the last dregs.

 

[foxy]

Think I’ve been too quick to cool and transfer to FV. It’s what borisc says, allow longer to settle.
Plus I think I’ve been to keen to get the last dregs.

That is the way to do it let it cool and stand for an hour or two. To get the last of the dregs pour into a jug and place in the fridge. Reclaim the clear wort on the top by taking it up to 80C and bottling use for starters or put it into another brew.

 

[MashBag]

I have to say I try to use real hops & not the pellets.
I have used them in veg bags, but recently I've been putting them in loose, but leaving the false bottom in the boiler during the boil.

What I've found is using too much protofloc is what clogs the tap (sorry, I'm not an AIO devotee) rather than the hops.

Jelly babies?

 

[MashBag]

Transferring cloudy wort into the fermenter, really doesn't matter.