Unfiltered Hops

[Cookie]

I made the mistake of forgetting to filter my hops from my beer. The beer is now in the late stages of primary fementation. When I've tested the SG I've noticed a lot of suspended hop particles in the beer. I'm considering filtering the beer into another ferementer and letting it settle for another couple of days before bottling.

Is this the best course of action? Is there an easier way? Will the beer flavour be affected by the continued contact with the hops?

(The hops were 25g POR pellets)

[Rob C]

Cookie a few times i havent filtered out my hops before fermenting, I usualy rack into another fermenter for another 6 - 7 days. Once bottled/kegged after that i have not noticed hop particals in the beer. So give that a shot.

Cheers
Rob

[Bizier]

I just racked a brew to another fermenter about an hour ago after not filtering the boil hops out, a few particles went though the tube. I am assuming that these will settle and stick fast with the the small amount of yeast sediment in secondary. So the small amount left shouldn't be dislodged when bottling.

[KEG]

a lot of people don't bother filtering; they just rack from one fermenter to another. if you leave it in the fermenter long enough, they'll pretty much settle out.

[Iron-Haggis]

I tend not to worry about it much. If you don't filter it out you may get the odd little bit of hops in some bottles but it won't have anything adverse effect on the beer.

[pixelboy]

I find the hops in my brews settle out completely after the 14-21 days i give it in the primary... and my brews usually have 50gm+ worth of pellets

Just give it another week.

Patience is the best tool a homebrewer can have.

[gregb]

The odd bit of hop matter can make it all the way to the glass as noted here. Didn't detract from the taste in any way.

Cheers,
Greg

[rwh]

I pretty much never remove my hop debris from my beer. I almost always do a two week primary with no secondary, but I do rack to bulk prime. Never have a problem. Just make sure that before you start bottling or before you rack, that you pour a bit out of the tap into a glass. This will have a heap of sediment and hop debris in it.

[earle]

I never filter or rack, leave it settle for at least a few days after fermentation has ceased. Only get the occasional bit of hop in a bottle but most of the time I drink out a glass so not much hops can make it that far.

Just make sure that before you start bottling or before you rack, that you pour a bit out of the tap into a glass. This will have a heap of sediment and hop debris in it.

Definitely

[Cookie]

Thanks for the replies, If I'm racking, isn't just as easy to filter through an old stocking during the process?

Cheers

[earle]

You want to be careful not to aerate the wort at all during racking, will lead to oxidation of your brew.

[rwh]

Thanks for the replies, If I'm racking, isn't just as easy to filter through an old stocking during the process?

I wouldn't bother.

[Cookie]

Alright I've done a search and read up on racking as much as I could find. I still can't figure out why racking will reduce the sediment more than just leaving to settle in the original fermenter?

[warra48]

Alright I've done a search and read up on racking as much as I could find. I still can't figure out why racking will reduce the sediment more than just leaving to settle in the original fermenter?

IMHO, I don't think it does. If it's going to drop, it will do it in primary just as well as in secondary, given adequate time.
It's one of the reasons I don't bother racking ales.

[pixelboy]

Alright I've done a search and read up on racking as much as I could find. I still can't figure out why racking will reduce the sediment more than just leaving to settle in the original fermenter?

It just reduces the size of the trub when you finally bottle or rack to bulk prime. So less chance the trub will get sucked out.

I did secondary a half dozen times and the brews were clearer but took longer to carb up (less yeast in suspension I guess).

I dont bother now as I had a couple of brews get infected in secondary, I just give them 2-3 weeks in primary.

[rwh]

I think people really have gotten their knickers in a twist unnecessarily over this whole racking issue. I think the one overwhelming factor that determines whether you should rack is the rate of autolysis of your yeast. I've never used a dry yeast (or liquid yeast) that will autolise fast enough to taint a brew left in primary for three weeks (at steady, low-end temperatures). So I rarely now rack for secondary. There might be other yeasts that do autolise in that time period (say, certain English ale yeasts), in which case a secondary fermentation would be worthwhile.

I do rack for bulk priming and lagering, but those are entirely different situations.