specialkaye

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Here's a cheap Hop Spider for anyone interested. Total cost was about $7 and that includes:

1 x 3" to 2" PVC Reducer
4 x 5.5" Carriage Bolts
8 x 1/4-20 Hex Bolts
8 x 1/4 Flat Washers
1 x 3" worm clamp
1 x 1 Gallon Paint Strainer

I had several things I wanted: Easy to make, fast to make, inexpensive, sized for pot, and most importantly, I didn't want cross bars across where the hops go in.



Here's the reducer to get.



Finding where to drill. There's many ways to do this. Do what works for you. I just happen to have a Center Finder. Remember to drill on the larger side of the reducer, that'll be the top, where the hops go in.



All four holes drilled.



Exploded view of all parts just prior to assembly.

specialkaye

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Loose assembly.



Snugging the bolts. I'm actually tightening the OUTSIDE mounting bolt to the reducer while holding the bolt itself. The inside nuts I ran onto the bolt flush with the end of the bolt and I wanted it to stay there. Tightening the outside mounting bolt while holding the bolt keeps the inside bolt from moving yet lets me tighten the mounts quite well.



Leg assembly complete.



I thought of trying to get the straining bag to fit up through the hop spider and over the top. I just wasn't crazy about this idea.

specialkaye

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I went back to the tried and true clamp on. This was my first choice but I wanted to see what happened the other way. That clamp can be snugged down quite a bit and will stand up to strong, sustained, pulling. I'm no small guy and I gave my sack quite a few good tugs.



Checking fit.



Another fit test photo from the top with the requisite "foot in the shot" photo.



Same picture angle, without the foot.

JewBrew

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simple, cheap, and effective. nice work.

specialkaye

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Checking how far my sack will hang into the pot. It's just above the bottom. If I stretch it out, it might touch bottom.



Storage idea.



First time hop spider is in the wort. Looking good.



Boil underway with hops already added.

specialkaye

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Another angle on the hop spider. Yup, had a little bit of a boil over but when you read the AG thread of what I'm doing, you'll understand why. And, it really wasn't even enough to puddle on the ground.



The new hop spider made it all the way through the boil. The immersion chiller (that's in it's own thread) is in and the boil is about over.

Conclusion: This thing works great. Very easy to undo the clamp, when it cools, and turn the hop sack inside out and turn the hops residue out. (I put mine in a tied up plastic grocery bag and into a lidded garbage can) Rinse the hop sack under running water, hang to dry. Turn it inside out from that position before storing so you don't forget before next use. You want the sewn part of the sack seams on the outside, giving a smoother surface to the hops. This just makes clean up much easier.
Have fun.

specialkaye

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Thanks.

beninan

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It's a hop bag, not a tea bag!

Sorry.... I couldn't resists

Anyway that looks awesome! I think I may try to make it sometime. Do you use whole hops? Or will this hold pellet hops just fine?

shamrockdoc

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Agreed I do like your idea of "batwinging" your sack to get better hop exposure to the wort.

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cdubbaya

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Nice build, looks very simple. I've seen this construction a couple times before, and I always wondered if there was a way to build it so the bag could be quickly disconnected from the reducer? I was thinking it would be nice to be able to connect a grain bag to steep, and then disconnect quickly for a hop bag later in the boil?

Has anyone tried to build something like that?

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