First extract brew

[Colliedog]

I am planning to do my first extract brew this weekend and although I have a decent idea of the process I still have a couple of questions. Sorry if they have been asked before.

1) I am planning to boil my hops in muslin bags. Does this have any effect on the amount of flavour extracted from the hops and should I adjust my recipe accordingly?

2) once I've cooled the wort (in an ice bath) I'm planning to siphon the wort across to the fermenter. Can I let the hose hang just into the fermenter and allow the wort to drop to the bottom to aerate or will this cause me problems?

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated

[barry44]

Hi, I've done a few extract brews so to answer your questions...

1 - I always boiled the hops in a bag, never noticed any lack of flavour in any of my brews. Or to put it another way, I was more than happy with the results I had.

2 - I don't think you will have an issue with that but I wouldn't let the syphon hose into the wort as it fills the fv.

[Colliedog]

Thanks for the reply. Will try siphoning this time round. Might look to purchase a big sieve to go over the fermenter next time if siphoning turns out to be a pain.