Hop Spider or Hop Bags

[photek1000]

I am looking at introducing either the use of a Hop Spider or Hop Bags to help limit the trub in the boil kettle.

Any pro's or con's to one over the other or a bit of a much of a much'ness?

I'm looking at ideas for my rapidly approaching birthday so if Hop Spider any reccomendations for one at £30 or under?

 

[Chrissparky]

I've got a hop spider I've been using, it's great got it from bridgewater brewing. There's a discount code on here( can't remember how much it was).
Although I brew Biab and I've just bought an extra bag to use instead on my next brew. I'm starting to do a lot more flameout hop additions and I'm thinking it'll be easier to use a bag. Mainly so I can chill the wort, with my immersion chiller and leave the hops in while cooling

 

[JFB]

I use a paint strainer off amazon and use clothes pegs to hold it onto the pot. Nice and cheap if your tight like me.

 

[Clint]

I made one..about £3! Works great...fits inside the wort chiller for flame out too. I just bought the stud bar and fixing nuts. Already had the tub and the filter bag was begged from work.

 

[Fil]

avoid the knitted hop socks as they are constraining so dont allow much free movement beyond swelling up..

spacouse net bags could work well.. i also have a Bridgewater sourced hop spider, not the cheapest but Very High Quality without the heat damage from spot welds evident on some options, And arrives well packed so not crumpled like some cheap chinese imports and significantly larger than the cheapo chinese so imho the equivelant of 2x of them.

prior to investing in the ho spider i used a grain bag suspended from a diy copper tube collar If considering using a suspended bag/spider i would suggest considering either weighing down the bag or recirculating the boil back through the bag which was the tack i followed.

 

[nigelnorris]

If you go for a SS spider get the biggest you can afford. I bought what I thought was a big one but 50g of rehydrated pellets is enough to clag it up.

 

[dad_of_jon]

i followed myqul's tip of a paint strainer bag. :thumb:

 

[dan125]

I spent quite a bit on a SS spider with a fine mesh - I don't use it any more as the wort inside never seemed to boil (always a couple of degrees C cooler than the rest) and was slower to cool.
So now I just stick to leaf hops in the kettle, which don't clog the bazooka filter, and pellets for dry hopping.
Maybe a wider mesh wouldn't have the same effect though???

 

[Fil]

I spent quite a bit on a SS spider with a fine mesh - I don't use it any more as the wort inside never seemed to boil (always a couple of degrees C cooler than the rest) and was slower to cool.
So now I just stick to leaf hops in the kettle, which don't clog the bazooka filter, and pellets for dry hopping.
Maybe a wider mesh wouldn't have the same effect though???

recirculating the boil back though the hop spider can help solve this. :thumb:

this pic illustrates the whirlpool return re directed and purposed for recirculating the boil through the hop spider.

and in practice..

can you spot my error???



just after taking the snap the untied/secured drawstring released the bag.. thankfully i was stood watching and caught n fixed it before it all submerged..

 

[Clint]

With mine I secure the bag with a couple of binder clips and Bob it around during the boil a few times..

 

[dan125]

recirculating the boil back though the hop spider can help solve this. :thumb:

this pic illustrates the whirlpool return re directed and purposed for recirculating the boil through the hop spider.

and in practice..

can you spot my error???



just after taking the snap the untied/secured drawstring released the bag.. thankfully i was stood watching and caught n fixed it before it all submerged..

Good idea :thumb:but what is actually recirculting the wort? Do you use a pump?

 

[photek1000]

Cheers guys, I might just go Lo-Tech and get some fine mesh hop bags and let them bob about freely when using pellet hops, it's not really an issue with leaf, but I'm getting more and more pellet hops these days.

 

[Old_P]

I use homemade mesh bags and let them move around freely which works well. If I have a large amount of hops to add at one time, this allows me to split them between several bags so I get the maximum water circulation.

 

[Fil]

Good idea :thumb:but what is actually recirculting the wort? Do you use a pump?

yes your standard lil brown solar pump with an 8v supply..