Hop spider v hop bags / socks

[marshbrewer]

I presently use hop pellets and put each addition in their own hop sock and chuck them in the kettle.

Will I see a real world increase in hop utilisation if I splash out on a nice big stainless hop spider and chuck each addition in that?

 

[Clint]

...good question! I use a 400 micron (I think!) Filter bag suspended into the wort on a home made hop spider but it's a bit cack handed to use,but cheap,and I wonder about the options.

 

[ACBEV]

Why don't you just chuck the hops in loose!

 

[Hoddy]

I’ve just invested £20 in a hop spider for using with my BM as I getting fed up with the pump suction blocking now I have the new pump out fitting for it so I dont have to have my BM higher than my fermentasaurus.

Was going to use it tomorrow....... then my fermentation fridge packed up..


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[marshbrewer]

Why don't you just chuck the hops in loose!

My boiler is just an unmodified burco cygnet, no bazooka filter or anything, and I use pellets, so I'm a bit paranoid about hop debris. Hop socks seem to prevent this, but I'm not sure I'm getting very good utilisation.

 

[ExpatBrewer]

I think this depends on the nature of your hop sock. I found with the one I had that once the hops had swollen up they actually became quite compacted inside the hop bag I was using. I do believe this was having a negative impact on utilisation - even more so when used for dry hopping where there is no agitation from a boil or whirlpool etc, which would at least go some way toward allowing the clump of hop pulp to be better exposed to the wort.

The spiders tend to be larger and open at the top so there's usually more room for the pulp to get stirred up by the boil/whirlpool allowing more space for the wort to move around the hop matter.

 

[Fil]

as a long time spider champion, imho NO! not much if any and if any change in hop utilisation is registered its more likely to be a nominal decrease if anything.

socks are smaller in volume and more mobile which would indicate easier heat and fluid flow penetration than with a larger volume more static spider which will inevitably present a slightly lower temperature liquor within due to its physical isolation by the mesh screen.

If chassing utilisation percentages a hop spider may not be the solution for you. where they shine imho is in providing a simple method to keep the beer i want to draw from my kettle hop debris free negating the need for kettle filtering especially when used in conjunction with a whirlpool to keep break material out of the FV.

the flip side of the hop spiders nominally cooler contents is that it can aid in the vigour of a poor boil, by cutting down the surface area which is able to bubble with the boil and vent off steam you can force the remaining surface area to boil more vigorously without any extra heat input.

You can maximise hop utilisation with a hop spider by attaching a pump to the kettle drain and recirculating the boil back through into the hop spider, tho if you do this keep an eye on it as the hops can get pushed against the inside mesh/screen with the force of the flow in and back out which can if left unchecked overflow the spider..

 

[ExpatBrewer]

This may be of interest:

http://brulosophy.com/2016/03/21/kettle-hops-loose-vs-bagged-exbeeriment-results/

 

[ACBEV]

My boiler is just an unmodified burco cygnet, no bazooka filter or anything, and I use pellets, so I'm a bit paranoid about hop debris. Hop socks seem to prevent this, but I'm not sure I'm getting very good utilisation.

I have a very similar boiler as you have, without any filter too... My pellets hops go loose into my boiler and go into the FV as well. I've never had any issues chucking them in.

 

[Oneflewover]

For my set up I have settled on bittering hops (leaf) directly into the kettle and aroma hops (pellet) in a large bag.

I like leaf in the boil to act as a filter and they seem to stop the bazooka clogging up so much. Too much leaf = too much kettle loss though.

I've stopped using the spider for the aroma hops. It's just such a PITA to clean and the pellets clog it up something rotten

 

[Fil]

For my set up I have settled on bittering hops (leaf) directly into the kettle and aroma hops (pellet) in a large bag.

I like leaf in the boil to act as a filter and they seem to stop the bazooka clogging up so much. Too much leaf = too much kettle loss though.

I've stopped using the spider for the aroma hops. It's just such a PITA to clean and the pellets clog it up something rotten

the trick to cleaning a fine ss mesh is to let it dry, and then give it the once over with a stiff bristled scrubby brush, soak and dry again and repeat until dust n flour stops flying when you scrub the mesh with the stiff brush. generally takes 2-3 repetitions

 

[Clint]

Crikey..I'll stick with my nylon filter bag...a quick rinse under the tap and it gets pegged on the washing line.

 

[simon12]

I had 1 disaster when I put a load of pellets in a bag to small and afer the boil noticed the centre of the lump of pellets had barely got wet after the boil.

 

[dad_of_jon]

for hops during the boil I filter them through a paint strainer bag. dry hopping I but them in a paint strainer bag.

 

[marshbrewer]

I have got a larger bag that I used to use when mini mash modifying kits, I wonder if I should use that rather than hop socks for my pellets? It's a Young's one I think, about a foot square.

 

[Oneflewover]

the trick to cleaning a fine ss mesh is to let it dry, and then give it the once over with a stiff bristled scrubby brush, soak and dry again and repeat until dust n flour stops flying when you scrub the mesh with the stiff brush. generally takes 2-3 repetitions

Like I said, a PITA!!

 

[Oneflewover]

I have got a larger bag that I used to use when mini mash modifying kits, I wonder if I should use that rather than hop socks for my pellets? It's a Young's one I think, about a foot square.

I would. My grain bag is bigger than that and I think it works much better than a hop sock or spider

 

[Palmer8]

I have been using a hop spider in my Grainfather for the bittering hop, pull it out and clean it before adding the aroma hops as it does get very clagged with pellet hops.

Has anyone tried hop flowers in a spider? does it still clag up?

Does the clagging of the mesh affect utilisation?

I've tried not using anything at all for low hop additions (like stout) but found it clogs the bazooka even with a strong whirlpool.

I find hop socks/bags are great for dry hopping in the fermentor. I think I will experiment with a large paint strainer bag in the boil for my next brew and see how that goes.

 

[foxy]

Use this in my BM cheap easy to clean and does the job.