SMaSH for my first AG batch

[alcaponejunior]

Congrats!

7.boiled the hops in the boil pot directly. need to find out if you can boil inside those nylon paint bags used for dry hopping, or if they’ll melt/leave bad flavors.

They will not melt nor will they leave bad flavors. I have done this a bunch of times. Tie the top of the bag using a slip knot so it's easy to open after the boil. Its a pain in the butt to clean the bags later, but it's one way to keep the hop debris out of your fermenter. Be sure to use big enough bags so that the hops will float around and not be compacted.

Thanks for that info!

Yeah I just used a paint bag (along with a colander) to strain on the way into the fermenter. Next time I'm going to use the paint bags.

The thing is, I usually use multiple hops additions, do you use a fresh bag for every addition? the bags I found are for five gallon buckets of paint, and are quite large. Do you perhaps trim them down?

And yeah, cleaning them out was a pain in the butt, but no worries there.

[snowcapt]

Yep.
Trim em down and break ou t the needle and thread.

[scotchpine]

If your bags are long enough, like the one I sometimes use, I just leave the top open and hold to the top rim of the BK with a spring clamp. the bottom half of bag is in the wort and easy to just dump in each addition. I used to use a smaller one with a long loop string closure on a coat hanger hook over the BK rim, but it was a pain to open each time (HOT!) I've been freeballing mostly as of late.

[beerdrinker]

The thing is, I usually use multiple hops additions, do you use a fresh bag for every addition? the bags I found are for five gallon buckets of paint, and are quite large. Do you perhaps trim them down?

I have seen setups before where the bag is attached to a ring (about a 4-6 inch diameter) that keeps the top of the bag open and out of the boil. The ring would be attached to the side of the kettle in 3-4 spots. With this you can easily add your hop additions to the bag without any issues. For the 'ring' I could see even using a tuna can with the top and bottom removed.

Good luck!

Cheers.

[beerdrinker]

BTW, SMaSH brewing is awesome. I've SMaSHed my way to some awesome brews, some of my favourites. Plus its a great start to developing your own recipe, SMaSH a base beer, and add to it over time to gain the extra flavours you are looking for. Or even combine SMaSH beers to develop a more complex recipe.

Cheers.