Hop Spiders

[Jahfish]

Having had lots of issues with my Grainfather G30, I've gone over to a Hop Spider now. It came to me, why are they called hop spiders, I can't see any relation to a spider?!

 

[Sadfield]

Early iterations used to be bags suspended by legs that straddled the brew kettle.

 

[Jahfish]

Early iterations used to be bags suspended by legs that straddled the brew kettle.

View attachment 100276

aha! Many thanks :)

 

[Clint]

It is also worth checking if you store it in your shed that it is devoid of spiders before usage.

 

[tigertim]

Having had lots of issues with my Grainfather G30, I've gone over to a Hop Spider now

Out of interest, what issues are you suffering specifically? I've been prepared to push the button on a hop spider or false bottom at the first sign of problems with my G30 ever since I got it, but I've still not suffered any scorching or blockages, even with moderate hop loads. I've expected it, but it's not yet happened!

 

[Agentgonzo]

Out of interest, what issues are you suffering specifically? I've been prepared to push the button on a hop spider or false bottom at the first sign of problems with my G30 ever since I got it, but I've still not suffered any scorching or blockages, even with moderate hop loads. I've expected it, but it's not yet happened!

I guess it depends on how much you hop, and whether you whirlpool. I've used ~120g of (leaf) hops in the GF before and had them clog the filter quite a bit... even with whirlpooling.

 

[MashBag]

Mangrove jacks 800 micron is brilliant & sensible $.

Tried loads by far the best.

 

[tigertim]

I guess it depends on how much you hop, and whether you whirlpool. I've used ~120g of (leaf) hops in the GF before and had them clog the filter quite a bit... even with whirlpooling.

Ah, a fair point I tend to whirlpool and I don't often use leaf hops so that would probably explain how I tend to get away with it!

 

[The Baron]

I used to use a hop spider but they do clog with large hopped beers so I now use the veg bags on fishing line and if it is a large hop drop I use more than one bag to allow movement of the hops also you can squeeze the hell out of them after the boil or whirlpool/dry hop.
I have a brand new hop spider i have not used yet since doing this method

 

[hoppyscotty]

Having had lots of issues with my Grainfather G30, I've gone over to a Hop Spider now. It came to me, why are they called hop spiders, I can't see any relation to a spider?!

Well if its anything like mine hang up on a hook on the garage wall when not in use (I use sometimes to filter wort going into the fermenter and not for its original purpose) it seems to gather lots of spiders, so whatever the reason it was actually named it seems to be pretty aptly named.

My hypothesis around this is that with most if not all AIO systems the false bottoms are pretty ineffective and don't fit particularly well around their edges so hops can get by. I find by utilising a constant whirlpool from the moment I turn on the pump about 10 mins before the end of the boil to sterilise everything, right through the cooling the wort down for a hop stand, if I'm doing one, and then during the hop stand and rest of the cooling process then I can avoid using a hop spider. I have the Brewzilla whirlpool arm to achieve this constant whirlpool.

I find with hop spiders the flow through them is pretty poor, especially with higher hop loads so I'm not convinced they are particularly good. If you want to use something to contain the hops, then my preference would be to use a very large hop bag so most of the wort is inside the bag and you get far better utilisation and when you pull the bag out you have a far greater surface area for the wort to drain out and you have the opportunity for a good 'twist and squeeze'.

 

[Keruso]

Out of interest, what issues are you suffering specifically? I've been prepared to push the button on a hop spider or false bottom at the first sign of problems with my G30 ever since I got it, but I've still not suffered any scorching or blockages, even with moderate hop loads. I've expected it, but it's not yet happened!

I got an official Grainfather false bottom and it’s more trouble than I thought, I’ve stopped using it now, I’ve had several brews where I think it’s mainly proteins that block the holes, it then gets so hot that it causes the worst burning I’ve ever had and the element safety switch constantly trips. Back to the big mangrove jacks spider.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Fzlse bottoms don't work without whir pooling. Like I said above I constantly whirlpool from about 10 mins to go to the end of the boil. Also never run your pump on fully open, throttle it back as pulling down on the false bottom causes it to clog and for hops to slide past its edge.