Cleaning carboy of whole leaf hops....???

fakr · October 31, 2011, 04:30:23 PM

Any suggestions or techniques anyone would like to share? Or did I pull a noobie move and shove 2 ounces of leaf hops in a carboy?

Richard · October 31, 2011, 04:33:27 PM

Nothing really... Only issue is that leaf hops tend to float where pellet hops eventually sink to the bottom and lie with the trub. Just makes transfer a little more tricky with leaf 'cause you have to siphon between the trub and dry-hops rather than just siphoning above the trub.

fakr · October 31, 2011, 05:31:40 PM

but what about getting the darn things out? they just won't come out nicely....

Richard · October 31, 2011, 05:57:04 PM

When I use leaf hops for dry-hop (and I try to avoid doing so for the reasons re: siphoning above), I stuck a few quarts of hot (tap) water in the carboy and shook it up to break up the mess, then pour out trying to keep it agitated during the pour... keep doing that til it's all out.

Dean · October 31, 2011, 06:50:19 PM

I held it upside down and used the garden hose to flush them out while I spun the carboy around.

never again

pliny · November 01, 2011, 11:44:29 AM

Quote from: "fakr"but what about getting the darn things out? they just won't come out nicely....

Do you own a carboy brush? Those are good to have.
Might need a flashlight to look inside and ensure you caught them all.
The necessary Oxy Clean bath would loosen up things too.

Dean · November 01, 2011, 12:55:49 PM

flashlight?!? can't he just look through the glass? :mrgreen:

Richard · November 01, 2011, 01:01:03 PM

Quote from: "Dean"flashlight?!? can't he just look through the glass? :mrgreen:

Yeah I was wondering about that :shock:

pliny · November 01, 2011, 02:25:47 PM

Quote from: "Richard"
Quote from: "Dean"flashlight?!? can't he just look through the glass? :mrgreen:

Yeah I was wondering about that :shock:

What was he thinking...:?
Flashlights are for looking for deer at night. Kidding.

fakr · November 01, 2011, 05:22:18 PM

Thanks guys. I eventually got them all out. hot hot water, 5 or 6 fills of the carboy, and a slow drain into the garberator did it. Most of them were still floating so they kind of floated out on their own...too many at once though and it was a hop dam...

Not really sure I want to do that again...

Richard · November 01, 2011, 05:26:35 PM

Yeah I don't use leaf hops at all any more despite preferring them at first for reasons I forget now - I think I mistakenly believed that leaf hops would somehow be better since they're not pulped.