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Brew Infuser - Stainless Steel

JSherm

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Dec 28, 2009
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Cloverdale, CA
Has anyone used a Brew Infuser for Hopping?  Here is a link (I am not advertising this site - informational purposes only): http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brew-infuser.html

I am interested in this for dry hopping in a carboy with whole hops... just looking for anyone who have used it

Thanks,
JSherm
 
I have not, but this is going to be my next brew purchase. I like that it fits inside a carboy.

Cheers
Preston
 
I just got it and it fits very nicely through the carboy opening.  The chain is a nice length as well, and has a place at the end to hook onto something.  I have a stainless steel eye hook, which I will screw in the rubber stopper (air lock).  It seems like it will work good.
 
I just took out the Brew Infuser from my carboy after dry hopping an IPA (first time using the infuser).  I'd have to say, it worked really well in terms of functionality - and I used hop pellets!  I thought they would drain through the mesh as they got wet and mushy, but surprisingly they didn't.  So far, I would recommend this product.  It sure keeps the carboys clean...

Only drawback, it didn't fit as much hops as I would have liked - only fit about 1.5 oz total.  As a hophead  ;D, I like TONS of aromatic hops, so I may think about two of these infusers for the big IPA dry hopping.

JSherm
 
If you need you need extra hops kick (I do) you could always add hops at kegging (bottling). I get hop crazy at times and use a "French Press" to extract the hop aromas and put them in the keg. I use my favorite, Amarillo. I can use an ounce and it seems like two. I always have on hand hop vodka (with Amarillo) I just use that for a shot at a time in a beer. As hard as it is for me to believe, not everyone likes a blast of hops? I brew a simple ale and they are happy. I just add a shot of hop vodka to mine and everyone is happy.
 
Awesome tip on the Vodka infused with hops....I gotta try this. Do you have an opinion on the quality of vodka that should be used?
 
I use the cheapest I can find. Cheap vodka is just bitter (unfiltered) vodka. In a hoppy brew who cares? I once took cheap vodka and ran it through my Brita water pitcher. I used a new filter and ran the vodka through it three times. The vodka was smoother. I then ran water through the vodka-filter pitcher just to see what it would taste like. The water was Bitter, Bitter, Bitter. The difference between cheap and expensive vodka is filtering. It’s not worth it to filter vodka this way on a large scale!

I use a French press to make hop-vodka. I have a small press. I use 1/3 of an ounce of Amarillo hops (my favorite) and mix in vodka to dissolve the aroma oils. After ten minuets or so I press out the vodka and repeat this with water rather than vodka. Again I press out the water hops mixture and add it to the vodka hops mixture. I then dump out the hops into a plastic bag to freeze and reuse for bittering hops in some "odd beer" on other day.

I repeat this whole scenario three times to use the whole ounce of hops. I put the water-vodka mixture in a booze bottle. I use a Jack Daniels bottle? I set this in a refrigerator for a few days to let things settle. Even though it looks like a clear yellow liquid, it's not! After things settle down I carefully put the bottle (upright) in the freezer. In my case the water-vodka mixture turns to slush-ice in a couple of days. The hop residue is on the bottom of the bottle in a greenish band.

I then invert the square bottle into a coffee cravat that just holds the bottle securely and high enough off the bottom to allow the thawing vodka to drip into the cravat. The water which is frozen acts as a filter to the hop gunk now at the top of the inverted bottle. The first drippings are the purest but I try to gather all the vodka (and some water) into my “supreme hop vodka”. The later dripping’s are still good and I use them too. In fact I let it melt until it looks like the ice filter may collapse and dump in the hop gunk into my “hop water” The hop-water is great. I may dump it all in a keg of simple ale to kick it up a notch. 

The supreme hop vodka stays in my refrigerator until I need a drop or two in a beer. You don’t need much. Half a shot glass would be more than enough. It doesn’t have a hoppy smell out of the cold bottle but in a brew, instant hop hit! You could even make a Bud taste good! Not that anyone here would have that stuff at home.

Sorry for the length of this. If anyone has questions contact me.
 
Totally off topic but I had to interject.

Cheap vodka is just bitter (unfiltered) vodka.

I would beg to differ.  Ethyl is the primary, but still one of may alcohols (ethyl, methanol, fusel oils) created during the fermentation process.  Each of them has it's own boiling point.  During the distillation process the head (methanol) and tail (fusel oils) are discarded by makers of more expensive vodka, keeping only the ethyl in the middle.  Sometimes they will repeat the process a few times (triple distilled), discarding the head and tail each time for a purer distillation.  The reason is that besides tasting bad those alcohols are blamed for many symptoms of a hangover.

Makers of cheap vodka discard nothing.
Filtering does not remove methyl alcohol and fusel oils.
 
Your right. I substituted the word filtering for distillation. Sorry if I led anyone astray. As always, what I said is not necessarily what I meant. Still, use the cheap stuff if making hop vodka.
 
I found round 3" diameter tea infuser balls on Ebay.  Picked up 4 of them for less than $20 including shipping.  They will not fit into a carboy, but work well in a bucket fermenter and can be linked together with the attached chain.  My $ .02.
 
A thirty-five cent hop sock with a few boiled(sterilized) marbles would work just as well.
 
I get hop crazy at times and use a "French Press" to extract the hop aromas and put them in the keg
b

Kick Ass  I was beginning to think I was the only one doing that ;D  I love doing that I also do it when I bottle make my priming solution
 
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