[gmac]

I made an ESB and I used some leaf hops that I had.  But, then I got distracted when my friend stopped by and some beer was drunk and them some more beer and things went down hill.  I usually transfer my beer by siphon but with the darn leaf hops in there, the siphon got plugged and I got frustrated and just dumped everything into the fermenter. 
I tried (sober) to carefully rack the beer into the keg but I still got too many leaves.

The beer tastes good but when I pour a beer, I get too many "floaties".  If I took out the diptube and put a piece of nylon screen on the bottom of it, is that gonna cause me big problems?  Or if I just wait for a while, will they eventually settle out?  I'm not good at waiting...
Thanks

[tygo]

A screen on the dip tube is a good idea.  I'm not sure about the nylon. Something like this would probably work well:  http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/surescreen.html

That would work on the racking cane too.

[erockrph]

I have a batch I'm dry-hopping with whole leaves at the moment. I was thinking of tieing a hop bag over the end of my auto-siphon to keep from racking any leaves into my bottling bucket. Anyone ever try this?

[Hokerer]

I have a batch I'm dry-hopping with whole leaves at the moment. I was thinking of tieing a hop bag over the end of my auto-siphon to keep from racking any leaves into my bottling bucket. Anyone ever try this?

an alternative you might want to try would be to go to your local home improvement big-box store and get some paint strainer bags (ours comes in a pack of two bags for less than $5).  These bags are big enough that you can line your entire bottling bucket, rack in, and then very very gently lift the bags out of the bucket, taking the hop leaves with you.  This way you avoid any risk of the much smaller hop bag on the cane clogging up.

[richardt]

Word to the wise--Once hops are added to the wort, always try to strain on the output side, if possible.

SS China Cap strainers (Extra Fine Mesh, i.e., Bouillion) or nylon strainer bags (or nylon hose, yes, panty hose) can work well for straining on the output side (since the surface area (and volume) is much greater, but they don't work well on the input side (since the opening is rather small).  IME, the "clogging" still occurs unless you increase the surface area (hops will clog the mesh--so if you have a lot of hops, you need a lot of mesh) and keep the screen well away from the input port so "suction" doesn't draw the screen and hops into the port.

The paint strainer bag in the fermentor bucket is simple and elegant.

[erockrph]

an alternative you might want to try would be to go to your local home improvement big-box store and get some paint strainer bags (ours comes in a pack of two bags for less than $5).  These bags are big enough that you can line your entire bottling bucket, rack in, and then very very gently lift the bags out of the bucket, taking the hop leaves with you.  This way you avoid any risk of the much smaller hop bag on the cane clogging up.

Great tip. I will definitely give this a try. Out of curiosity, are these bags big enough to line a 5gal kettle for BIAB?

[Hokerer]

Great tip. I will definitely give this a try. Out of curiosity, are these bags big enough to line a 5gal kettle for BIAB?

I suspect the answer will have a lot to do with the diameter of your kettle.  The top of the strainer bags have an elastic band that's pretty stretchy but I don't know what it's limit is.  They fit, with plenty of slack, around the diameter of my bottling bucket.

[rjharper]

I have some stainless steel mesh (think bug screen size holes), that I've wrapped around a siphon tube, and also one of my dip tubes.  That works pretty well to keep everything back.

[hopfenundmalz]

For dry hops in the fermenter, I use one of the 5 gallon paint strainers over the racking cane to keep the hops out.  Works for me, whole hops mostly used.

[gmac]

For dry hops in the fermenter, I use one of the 5 gallon paint strainers over the racking cane to keep the hops out.  Works for me, whole hops mostly used.

Just soak the bag in some Star-San first?  Wasn't sure how to properly santize that fine mesh.

I ended up racking this beer over to a second keg and leaving most of the leaves behind.  Had to clean the post and poppet because they were full of leaves by the time I was done but the beer turned out ok.  In fact, it's all gone now.  Took the keg to a party and it disappeared rather quickly.

[Jimmy K]

Shame on you all - hops are not leaves.

[gmac]

Shame on you all - hops are not leaves.

Maybe I'm using the wrong part of the plant?

Yes, you are right.  I should have known better than to call them leaves.  And they were dry so I should have said "whole, dehydrated hop cones".  How silly of me.
Couldn't get the topic to read leaf bract.