Advice on using a hop bag in Grainfather

[Bart Lengs]

Hi,

I'm new to this site and this is my first post. I've been a kit/extract brewer for many years and decided to move to BIAB in an effort to improve my beer and after some research came across the Grainfather and to me it seemed the way to go. I have ordered one and it should be delivered before Xmas. My first brew will be a Citra pale ale which uses 6.5kg of grain and a total of 237gm of Citra hops of which 74gm are dry hopped. My question is should I use a hop sock for this brew due to the amount of hops used blocking the pump filter. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Chris]

if using hop cones I wouldn't bother, if you are using pellet form then I do because it ends up through all the beer etc.

I use a hop spider to add hops during boil and use a hop sock or tea container) for dry hopping.

Hope that helps.

[Pilgrim]

As with Chris, Hop Spider during the boil and hop sack for dry hopping. Photo of my Hop spider:

[Big Rob]

I was wondering about this also. It looks like you could tie off a bag to one of the lid clips with some thread like you might in a kettle?

[Chris]

You can use the clips but you are not guaranteed the isometration from the hops due to it being on the side. But you could move it around in a pinch, that's how Ifind my first batch

[Bart Lengs]

Thanks for your suggestions guys and I decided on using a hop sock made with a  90mm - 75mm PVC storm water  reducer and a spring clip to hold the hop bag. Just a matter of drilling two holes to fit my stirring paddle. It worked a treat on my first Grainmaster brew. I did have a problem however which I think was caused by the grain being crushed too fine because the wort level was up to the the holes that take the lifting handle. After mashing it took the wort an hour or more to drain through the grain bed. The same applied during sparging.  Certainly not as simple as the You Tube clip showing the guy from Imake making a brew. I would be interested to hear first brew results from other Grainmaster users.

[Mark Weusten]

Here is my hop bag after the boil. Pliny the Elder clone with 420 grams of hops. I prefer to use the hop spider with any beer in the GF (you didn't see the rusty paper clips.......)

[Mark Weusten]

Also anyone know why when you upload a pic the rotation of it is wrong? My one show on side but is not saved correctly.........