TOWEYWACKER
Well-Known Member
I know a lot of you throw your hops right in the boil and rack the wort to your primary with residual hop leftovers with no problems at all. I respect that entirely. I also know that stirring your wort vigrously will cause much of your hops to gather at the middle, and thus you are able to rack without much getting in the autosiphon. If your slightly OCD like me, and you want a way to keep the hop sludge out of your fermenter, this little contraption below is a godsend. Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking. "But Towey, putting hops in a bag during the boil doesn't allow for effective alpha acid utilization". This contraption is quite different however. What you see in the picture is a lot like an iceberg...only 10% of its size is above water. This baby has a 5 gallon nylon bag attached to it, so hops can have the complete ability to travel around in the boil and become utilized properly. It causes NO off-flavors and works like a charm. I actually got the idea from right here on HBT, but I thought I would resurrect a thread showing pictures of it, because I know I searched high and low for an idea to CHEAPLY and EFFECTIVELY strain out hops. Hoprockets apparently are a pain, and some metal hop strainers cost around 60 bucks! Total cost for this.....around 20 dollars. Here is a list of the items I used to make mine.
1 4in PVC Street Cleanout Adaptor
1 large Jubilee Clip
3 large screws (I just screwed them right into the plastic
3 rubber hoses to cover the metal of the screws (no off flavors from the metal)
1 large 5 gallon nylon painting strainer bag
1 4in PVC Street Cleanout Adaptor
1 large Jubilee Clip
3 large screws (I just screwed them right into the plastic
3 rubber hoses to cover the metal of the screws (no off flavors from the metal)
1 large 5 gallon nylon painting strainer bag