Having read through this forum for over a year now, it seems everybody has their favorite way to keep hops from making it to the fermentor (or some just pour it all in). Screens, bazookas, hop spiders, etc. I BIAB and it just occurred to me to use one of my nylon paint strainer bags for hops. It's large so the hops can move about freely and then I can just lift out when I'm done. My main concern was that I would melt it, but a quick google search says nylon doesn't melt until somewhere north of 400. Which I guess is possible at the bottom of the kettle. I can't be the first person to have thought of this. Has anybody tried this or have a reason I shouldn't try it this weekend?
I used a similar technique when I began. Just make sure you clip the bag to the handles or top of the kettle so that the bottom of the bag doesn't touch the bottom of the kettle, even when gently stretched. I'd rather not find out the hard way if the bottom of the kettle reaches 400*. FWIW I have since found it easier to drain my entire wort and trub into a paint strainer bag inside of my carboy (I use a big mouth bubbler, but a bucket would work too for this) and then lift it all out together. It's one less thing in my way during the boil.
I had good luck with my first batch by whirlpooling and then filtering through a fine mesh strainer... It didn't clog and worked well. My second batch had maybe 1/4 the hops of my first, but constantly clogged the strainer and didn't work so well. Not sure why, perhaps a bad whirlpooling or I didn't give it enough time to settle out afterward. Should have been less hop debris than the first batch, but oh well! Btw, pellet hops for both batches.
I pour mine through a mesh kitchen strainer. It works well for straining most of the trub out and serves as aeration for it. The only time it gets clogged is if I brew an IPA and it has north of 6 oz hops in there.
https://utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php These seem cool. I'm thinking about putting a false bottom in my keggle kettle and one of these would be great for pellets I feel. Wonder if they decrease utilization some?
Done it before but I always go back to smaller reusable muslin bags and my double mesh strainer. Using the BIAB bags is too much of a hassle IMO (worrying about keeping it clamped and all of the hops contained) compared to closed off hop bags that are much easier to deal with in the boil.
The kettle will only get to about 235F or so for normal boiling conditions. You won't melt the nylon under normal conditions.
You can always put a metal colander on the bottom of your kettle if you want to be sure the brew bag doesn't touch the bottom. I do this when adding direct heat during mashing (though that's probably overkill, since the flame is relatively low). Personally, I just pour the kettle through a fine-mesh strainer into a bucket. This filters and aerates pretty well at the same time. If I'm doing a really hoppy beer, I might have to empty the strainer once halfway through pouring, but last night I got almost 6 gallons in one go.
I have three of them and like them a lot. Some people have them and don't like them which I don't really understand. They work great for me. My plate chiller doesn't clog even if I use 12oz of hops. No false bottom, but I do use a bazooka which blocks enough of the cold break. The 4 inch holds 3oz. The 6 inch holds 6oz. You can put more in them, but I think it gets too crowded beyond those amounts. That's why I have more than one. They probably decrease utilization compared to just throwing hops in the kettle, but not worse than hop bags in that regard. You can stir inside the filters to increase utilization which is something you can't do with a hop bag. The standard lengths might not be right for a keggle. You want to make sure the filter is about as long as your keggle is deep. They do custom sizes too.
I have used paint strainer bags on my homemade hop spider (4" PVC coupler with tripod hanger) for quite some time now...works great with an immersion chiller if you need to remove it momentarily. Great idea.
I stir inside 5gl paint strainer bags in the boil. Keep one side of the bag fastened to the kettle with an office clip, stretch out said bag with one hand, stir hops in bag with other hand. Once you're done reclip whole bag back to kettle lip. Repeat as necessary. Why is that so hard?
When I said "hop bag" I meant the smaller bags sold at a homebrew store, not a 5 gallon paint strainer bag.
All I do is use my spoon to push the hop bag down into the boil. I feel this is good enough to circulate the hops.
Newb question: are there any adverse effects from squeezing the hop bags while chilling the wort? I have been doing this with all my hoppy beers, using sanitized gloves.
