Is a hop spider worth it?

[jceg316]

I'm trying to find a good filtering method for my kettle, and it either involves losing about 5 litres of wort or having the tap block. Let me explain...

I have a 56 litre kettle and the tap is pretty far from the bottom, meaning there is a lot of dead space. So If I put a standard bazooka tube on there I'll lose 5 litres. Tried tipping it but then I start to get loads of hop debris in the fermenter.

I put an elbow joint on the kettle so my deadspace is so low it's not worth measuring. I tried to put a stainless steel scrubbie on the elbow joint and it works so well as a filter, it even filters out the wort.

I have used a stainless steel sieve with a hole drilled in and this has worked well so far, but isn't great at filtering out the smaller bits as the bottom isn't totally flat on the bottom of the kettle.

So, was thinking about using a hop spider in conjunction with the sieve. Is it worth the money at filtering?

I'm not great with DIY stuff, so if a drill, welding kit, hammer, any type of measuring, trips to DIY stores, cutting, splicing etc is suggested I probably won't go down that avenue.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dutto]

Personally, I can't justify the cost of a hop spider.

I make sure that I lauter the mash until it more or less runs clear and then during the boil I use one or more of these for the hops ...

http://www.homebrewcentregy.com/hop-bag-pack-of-3

They are inexpensive, effective, easy to squeeze dry when the boil has finished, easy to clean when cold and they last for many brews if handled carefully. :thumb:

 

[Soton]

I have one of these and it works very well
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301953880886?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

It came a bit flat due to bad packaging but it straightened back out ok, for the money it cost it's quite good quality

 

[jceg316]

I have one of these and it works very well
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301953880886?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

It came a bit flat due to bad packaging but it straightened back out ok, for the money it cost it's quite good quality

Thanks for link, and it's very cheap. My only issue is that buying stuff from Hong Kong on Ebay has never ended well for me. Was the delivery time a long wait and is the spider in good condition still?

 

[Dutto]

I have one of these and it works very well
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301953880886?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

It came a bit flat due to bad packaging but it straightened back out ok, for the money it cost it's quite good quality

Yeah! "Flat Pack" just doesn't work on some items does it! :lol::lol:

 

[Soton]

Thanks for link, and it's very cheap. My only issue is that buying stuff from Hong Kong on Ebay has never ended well for me. Was the delivery time a long wait and is the spider in good condition still?

It's fine and I contacted them about there packaging I sent some photos and they gave me a full refund, well they offered me half my money back but I said I wanted a new one so they just let me keep it, other then it not looking as good as the picture it's fine
The delivery was about 3 weeks if that helps

 

[Bigjas]

I have one of these and it works very well
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301953880886?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

It came a bit flat due to bad packaging but it straightened back out ok, for the money it cost it's quite good quality

Thanks for the link Soton, I've been looking for a stainless hop spider for a while now but can't justify £50 for one. I've just bought the one in your link, at that price it's worth a punt.

Jas

 

[DoctorMick]

If you're using mostly leaf hops I'd have thought a hop spider would be a good idea but if you're using pellets a load of them will probably dissolve and end up on the bottom. I haven't proven that yet as I've only used mine once and it was mainly leaf hops but I'll let you know how it goes when I've used more pellets.

 

[rubby]

These are some of the finest hops to try. It's hard to find any better than this.

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

You have 2 options,remove the tap,plug the hole with a blank,and drill a new hole towards the bottom of the kettle.
Or go to the crazy wire company and order 3mtrs of 22mm stainless knitted wire mesh it works perfect.Unless your using dried hops,a spider is basically useless for pellets.
Do you run off the mash tun gently for a couple of litres until it runs clear before transfer into boil kettle,that will get rid of a lot of mess for a start,or is it just hops?

http://www.wireandstuff.co.uk/products/Knitted-Wire-Mesh.html

 

[Fil]

does break material in the FV cause you any concern? leaf hops especially when used free floating in the kettle can aid in filtering out break material as they settle durring a 30-40min rest prior to draining into a FV..

my #1 boil kettle a hdpe ex mango chutney barrel had a similar high tap point, and i used copper end feed bits to create a bend/dip tube, terminated at the bottom with T piece into which i would fit 15mm copper tune lengths circa 5-6cm long onto shich was a jubilee cliped length of SS mesh sleeve sourced from ebay automotive section as SS 'Overbraid' this worked well and on the odd occasion it did clog, a wipe over with enough force to deform with the end of a wooden spoon or mash paddle generally sorted it.. the only times it failed wher when i tried to drain without allowing the leaf to settle (never used with pellets) or forgot to fit proir to filling the kettle (DOH!)

(cleaning 'flour' from SS mesh overbraid involves drying flexing roughly rinsing and repeating a few times till no more clouds of powdery break material fly out during a rough flexing session) 2-3x

ive read that when using SS mesh #30 is best for flower/leaf hops while a #40 size is best for pellets?? having used #30 mesh for the 'garth style' filter i made for my big kettle which features a lower side drain for minimal deadspace but have yet to use as im happy with my spider and break material in the fv made from 2 x £shop SS mesh (looks like #30) frying pan splatter guards held together with split beerline..

Garth style filter (large surface area top and bottom)

My #1 hop spider was made from a coupe of meters of spare soft copper 10mm microbore and 3 x 10mm end feed equal T pieces for the support ring and an old double walled grain bag. the only deficiency with which was its tendancy to foat on the boil, so i recirculated the boil through the spider/grain bag to sort that

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the down side to using a hop spider is that you loose the filtering effect a layer of settled flower hops can provide and will drain more break material into the Fv to settle out as trub.

when i queried this here and elsewhere quite a few replied informed me that break material can supply a growing yeast population with some of the required building blocks, but tbh im not sure where to start trying to verify that. but i have noticed no down side to the finished beer when brewed with more break material in the FV yet..

 

[jceg316]

Thanks for all your responses so far, it's been useful.

I use a mix of pellets and leaf, depending what's cheaper when I'm buying. That garth style filter looks interesting and easy enough for a complete useless handyman like myself to make. I've done something similar with a sieve. Tomorrow I can pop to my local hardware store and get the right parts. Do you find it's a good filter?

 

[Fil]

tbh mine has gone unused.. i made it with the brewery as a backup should i not get on with the spider.. and as it is i went and invested in a £40 uk sourced SS mesh spider, after success with the stand and bag set up, if buying now i would go for a 'flat packed' chinese import and bend it back into shape.

when researching the build and options i came across folk using pellet hops with filters designed for flower hops by bagging the filter in a finer nylon mesh drawstring bag.

 

[kkent]

I think it is very cheap, thanks for offer!

 

[Kman]

Brewbuilder do one for £20

 

[johnnyboy1965]

I just pour mine through a "chinois" (Nisbitts) £35.00, but will last a couple of lifetimes.

 

[JonD_87]

I built a ghetto hop spider with coat hangers, mesh bag and some bull dog clips. Cost about �£3 :mrgreen::thumb:

 

[Fil]

i spent at least that on the copper frame for my #1.. but the bag i used was in the brewbox already

 

[dave_walton]

I have one of these and it works very well
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301953880886?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

It came a bit flat due to bad packaging but it straightened back out ok, for the money it cost it's quite good quality

How good are these when using pellet Hops? Looking at moving onto pellets as they seem more readily available.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

 

[jceg316]

As a temporary solution I've got a SS sieve from Tesco and drilled a hole on it. Yesterday I made a black lager with all hop leaves - used about 50g in total for 25 litres. I didn't see any trub or bits of hop make its way into the fermenter. Granted it's very difficult when the wort is black, but today I'm making a highly hopped English IPA using a mix of pellets and leaf and I'll be able to see how well this works. I may have accidentally made a good filter!