New kettle do I need a hop screen?

I'm goingto pick up a new kettle http://www.homebrewing.org/ONE-WELD-9-Gallon-Stainless-Steel-pot_p_1683.html and want the spigot version.

I brew with pellet hops andwant to drain directly into my bucket post immersion chill. Will this clog? Ive just been dumping the kettle now with partial boils. Theres the hop taco.

It's a 1/2" ball lock. If your using pellets it will not clog. The only time you really need to worry about filtering out hops is if your using a counterflow chiller or a plate chiller. The hops won't hurt your brew or your pot by just flowing right on out. Plus the spigot is 1.5 inches off the bottom. Most of the hop material will have settled out to the bottom while your chilling anyway. Just remember to account for this "dead space" when designing your brews.

Thanks hammy - great info. Would using tubing impact it at all?

I tie a hop bag over my transfer hose to remove any hop material that gets through.

graduate said:

I tie a hop bag over my transfer hose to remove any hop material that gets through.

Click to expand...

I've never transferred - always dumped -it always seemed like a sanitation risk to me

If you get the "bazooka screen", it will totally clog with pellet hops, but works great for leaf hops. If you skip the screen, and just go with a diptube pellet hops won't clog it. (But leaf hops will! )

When I use a bazooka screen, I bag the pellets. When I don't use the bazooka, I bag the leaf hops. I hope that's not confusing! It makes sense to me in an 'I drink but I'm going to explain something mechanical' sort of way.

Ya I had the bazooka at one point on my mash tun - seems it wouldn't be fine enough for pellets.

I live the ease of pellets vs whole