'Finishing Hop' teabag - sterile??

[Dirtynidge]

I have several of the Morgan's brand Mosaic 'teabags' (that is all my LHBS had Mosaic in).

 

Are these OK to chuck straight in FV for a dry hop? I would normally use a Chux and zip tie (both soaked in Starsan) but it seems a bit of a waste of time and effort to cut the teabags then re bag.

 

Would these teabags be sterile enough straight out of the sealed packet?

[The Brew Master]

........ Yep sure would, that is what they are designed for.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

 

"Don't waste time, keep drinking".

[ChristinaS1]

........ Yep sure would' date=' that is what they are designed for.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter[/quote']

 

Hi Peter. Not meaning to have a go at you, but are they meant for dry hopping? I thought they were meant for hop teas? Hop teas are usually made with hot water....Morgan's website says, "Each variety is pre packed into the handy infusion bag and ready for steeping in hot water." It does not mention dry hopping.

 

I have never seen hop teabags but imagine they are "clean" but not sterile. If the bag is sterile, it should say somewhere on the packaging. That being said, clean may be good enough. By the time you dry hop there is alcohol in the brew, which is somewhat protective. Dirtynidge, if you are very concerned about sterility you can snip the bag open and pour the hops in without using the bag, or anything else, to contain them. It is perfectly safe to dry hop with loose pellets.

 

Cheers! -Christina.

 

 

[Beeblebrox]

When I first started adding hops to my brews, I initially only did steeps & dry hops, with hop tea bags.

 

The LHBS advised I could use the bags either way, & I've had no trouble with them, either using to steep or dry hop.

 

The advantage of using hop tea bags for dry hopping is obvious; the hops are contained, so there is no sediment to remove, you don't need to repackage the hops in a bag of any sort to dry hop or steep, & it's really use to use.

 

I'm not sure that the hop tea bags, or even hop pellets are completely sterile, but certainly they're very clean, well packaged, & usually airtight & well sealed, so the risk of infection is fairly low.

 

As Christina said, by the time you dry hop, usually as the krausen is collapsing, & the alcohol content would be high enough to mitigate the chance of infection anyway.

 

To my mind, there's more risk of infection in your brew, or tainting it if you're not careful with temp control, sanitation, & using good quality ingredients, as well as excessively removing the lid, or taking excessive samples than there is for using hop tea bags, so go for it.

 

The only real disadvantage of using hop tea bags is that they're more expensive than other forms of hops, but if that's not an issue, I don't see any problem with hop bags at all.

[Mark D Pirate]

Hops themselves are antibacterial , wonderful plant that it is :-)

Some of its cousins are pretty useful too

[Waylon]

Yes mate the hop bags are fine,

 

Use them any way you like mate! Boil-steep dry hop

 

However I personally just throw mine in commando style...

 

I chill my beers in fridge for a week prior to bottling this helps drop all the hop sediment in the trub,

I never care or have any issues with hop sediment, saying that! I only dry hop and do late hop boils with certain beers,

 

[Beeblebrox]

Hops themselves are antibacterial ' date=' wonderful plant that it is :-)

Some of its cousins are pretty useful too [/quote']

 

+1

Correct on both counts.

[Otto Von Blotto]

The other disadvantage other than the price, and you could probably include the teeny amount they put in them too, is that they're usually poorly stored, so freshness could be compromised. It would be a bit hard to put those packs into vacuum sealed bags or pouches, but they could at least be put in a freezer or something.

[Dirtynidge]

Thanks all, I'll bung them in and hope for the best.