Do you just toss in the amount you need, tie it up, and toss it into the kettle? Or do you suspend it somehow? Of course I have no idea of the melting point of nylon, but I've wondered about the stocking sitting at the bottom of the kettle. Also, do you have to use more hops to get an equal amount of utilization to not using the stocking/hop bag?
I suspend mine. I have a plastic stick I use to measure the water amount in my pot and during boiling I lay it across the pot and tie the stocking to the rod. I put marbles in the bottom of the stocking, tie them off, put the hops in the stocking, tie it off and use dental floss to tie the stocking to the rod. Never had a melting problem (except once when I put in the wort chiller, which sat on one bag on the bottom, started tying off after that.)
Some recipes I have changed the hop amounts, some I haven't, depends on what taste good for me. Takes a little playing around.
-I live in my own little world. But that's okay because they know me there.
-Even if alcohol does kill off brain cells, we all know alcohol goes for the slower, weaker ones first -- making your brain more sleek and efficient.
