Hop spiders , bags , or just let it roll
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For me nothing, just throw the hops in, they get left behind with the trub anyway.
Oneflewover
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Dunno, wish I did! Whole cones work beautifully in filtering the wort when emptying the boiler to FV, but it's getting harder to get some hops in whole cone and they do result in additional kettle losses over pellets. Also not great for dry hopping in my view.
I hate the hop spider I have, although I do resort to it for time to time. It gets so clogged up and it must massively impact on hop utilisation. I may go back to a simple bag when using lots of pellets in the kettle
I hate the hop spider I have, although I do resort to it for time to time. It gets so clogged up and it must massively impact on hop utilisation. I may go back to a simple bag when using lots of pellets in the kettle
Been using those veg bags (3 times now) for dry hopping and if there's a reduction in extraction I've not noticed it. Next full brew I intend using them instead of my spider. There's 1 more kit on my schedule to do before that though. I'm hopeful that they will perform just as well in the kettle/boiler
Cheers. Tom
Cheers. Tom
I also use a net bag. For me it’s the best compromise between a stuffed up hop spider and a clogged up bazooka if they roam free in the kettle. I also circulate my wort through a plate chiller and I don’t even want to think about pumping hops through that!
I used to use a hop spider but as it was something else to clean I decided to try a brew just chucking them in...never used it again. My hop spider is in the garden somewhere.
![BREWING THERMOMETER STICKERS ACCURATELY MONITOR FERMENTING BEER & WINE LIQUID TEMPERATURES 5PCS HOME BREW SPIRITS WINE LCD ADHESIVE [US]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/311DDjo2X3L._SL500_.jpg)
The bag is dead on the edge of the patio after falling off the washing line..frame is somewhere else...
Don’t like spiders so never used a hop spider 
I use small pumps to circulate my wort during mash and boil so I’ve always used bags.
I use small pumps to circulate my wort during mash and boil so I’ve always used bags.
An Ankoù
Landlord.
I agree with @Oneflewover . Cones are great and make a great filter bed, but getting 500g or a kilo seems not to be an option. I use the fruit and veg bags from Sainsbury for the main boil and I've cut the legs off a pair of tights for late additions. (They need a good boiling up in water first to get the colour out of them) I still get quite a bot of hop residue at the bottle of the kettle, but I found whirlpooling to be so wasteful. I reckon I lose less than a litre in a 25 litre batch, now, with pellets. I don't easte very musch with cones. either because I used to tip them into an SS steamer and let the juice run out of them for an hour or so. I've got a hop spider and used it once. No particular objection to it, just something else to clean.
Brewnaldo
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I throw the hops in and only really use my hop spider as a filter when going from boiler to FV. Even with protofloc and a wort chiller, I tend to end up with loads of break materiel/trub in suspension. I usually siphon into the hop spider which does ok at removing it, but wish I could avoid it altogether. Suspect its just a product of BIAB brewing....
What I do use my hop spider for is holding sugar candi while it dissolves so it doesn’t sit on the bottom of my boiler and burn.
An Ankoù
Landlord.
... not sure about that. I don't BiB and I still get a good bit of hop detritus and break protein in the beer, even though I try to leave most of it behind. I've stopped worrying about it. I pitch the yeast and let it ferment, wait for the yeast head to drop and that covers most of it, and then run the beer into secondary to finish. My beer nearly always drops bright when fermentation is finished and it doesn't seem to suffer from having been a few days on a bit of trub.
Of course, I could brew longer and leave 3 or 4 litres behind and I suppose that if I brewed bigger batches- say 50+ litres it would be too much of a loss, but I don't believe the beer suffers from it anyway.
I can't imagine not using leaf hops and just chucking them in the wort. I have so much trouble with low hop beers with the hot break gunk blocking up the bazooka filter. If there's plenty of hops in there it never happens and I can drain every last drop from the boiler wasting nothing.
The only way I can make low hop beers is by skimming the hot break off the top of the wort as it approaches boiling point. Which is a bit of a pain.
The only way I can make low hop beers is by skimming the hot break off the top of the wort as it approaches boiling point. Which is a bit of a pain.
Brewnaldo
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That's a fantastic idea. Consider it stolen
Yeah I don't really sweat it too much tbh. Its been a while since I managed to transfer any of that nonsense into the bottles.
I tried bags then a hop spider, now i just chuck em in the kettle i ditched the boozoka as well i just use the filter plate in the bottom of my trusty klarstein it doe's a great job, i do biab
I use a bazooka in the kettle...after the boil and chill I leave everything to settle for half hour while I start clean up. I then only just crack the tap to start transfer to the fv,it's very slow to start,crack a bit more to just a medium flow. This has the effect of punching a few holes in the trub and hops that cover the filter,the rest of the build up stops any more getting through,the lower flow stops any stuff shifting and being drawn to the tap. The result is nearly everything left behind and no problems later on. Try it!
Hi Clint thats more or less what i do, i think the flow rate is most important at the start
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