Using a grain bag as hop filter

[BrannBrew]

I have had trouble with all my brews when transferring to the fermenter with the hops blocking the ball values. The false bottoms I've tried haven't helped, hop bazookas have been more pain than good, so I have ended up using sometimes a jug and pouring through a strainer over the fermenter itself, which although probably gets some air into the wort its a real time waster and ball ache.

What I've just been thinking this week (now coming to think of my next brew day) is to use a grain bag to line the brew kettle when doing the boil to hopefully make my issue go away.

Has anyone tried this before? and do you think as the grain bag will line the kettle it will keep the hops from passing through but allowing full utilisation like not using anything at all. Or losing some hop goodness if I used a Stainless Steel spider.

I will obviously need to be aware and not get the grain bag too close to the bottom of the pan to avoid burning it.

 

[grmski]

I do this with one of those mashing and sparging bags, I used to use it as my biab bag but it's been repurposed as a giant hopsock. I hook the drawstring around a handle on the outside of the boiler so it can't get dragged under completely and it works well.

 

[BrannBrew]

I do this with one of those mashing and sparging bags, I used to use it as my biab bag but it's been repurposed as a giant hopsock. I hook the drawstring around a handle on the outside of the boiler so it can't get dragged under completely and it works well.

Good to know, thanks.
I'm going to look up in the loft tonight at my old/space brew stuff. Hopefully I still have my older mash/grain bag that has a drawstring so I can re purpose it in a way you have done.

 

[IainM]

Yeah this is what I do with a paint strainer. I put a cake stand at the bottom of the kettle to keep it off the element, so apart from the bottom few inches the hops are free to circulate. At the end I pull the drawstring and can squeeze every last bit of wort out of it

 

[chesters-mild]

Good idea, I use a Mangrove Jack hop spider and that seems to work well with leaf hops. Easy to remove after boil and drain into a 2lit. plastic jug and you can use a potato masher to squeeze any remaining hoppy goodness out. I've found it better to use a muslin bag for any hop stands after the boil though. Anyone out there used pellet hops in a Mangrove Jack spider? I'd like to know.
Cheers

 

[BrannBrew]

Did a brew on Friday and used my spare Grain bag as a hop filter, it worked a treat, don't know obvously yet if it effected the hop utilisation but for the principle of using it to help stopping blockages at the end worked floorless.

I gave the bag a good squeeze at the end and hit my targets. First time both for brew length and OG.

 

[Cqr]

I only use pellets, I just throw them in with no filter of any kind on the tap
I drain through a biab bag in the FV
Works perfectly for me