Hop spider woes solved! In stainless!

Back when I started brewing, I used hop "socks" for my hop additions and had a little trouble fishing them out at the end of the brewing session. Nothing major, but I thought to myself, "There has to be a better way..."

And then I found build threads for hop spiders. I made one with a PVC coupling like many here and it worked perfectly... Until it started raining mid- brewing session. I put the lid on the pot and waited for my bittering hops minutes to run out. When I removed the lid I found this:



My spider had melted!?! I tried turning it upside down for the aroma hops period, but it didn’t straighten itself back out. What to do? Back to the socks?

A few weeks pass and I’m wandering around Lowe’s looking for things that could be incorporated into my “brewery” and I found a solution: the stainless drain for a garbage disposal. Cost - $15 or so. And it even has a lip to help hold the hose clamp on!

So now I have an all stainless hop spider:





And all is right with the world again…

Edit: found a link to the garbage disposal flange for those who are interested.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100088639/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Nice!

OMFG, I'm building this for my next brew.

What problem did you have with the socks? I've tried a spider...I prefer the socks...If I need to fish them out, I simply use long stainless tongs that have been sitting in my sterilizing solution. I just don't think, and it's purely an opinion, that multiple hops additons with short time lapses (as in Dogfish 60 minute) do very well in the spider method. I drop socks and push 'em under to get them wet quickly. The spider just seems to make a clogged area.

I didn't have a huge problem a huge problem with the socks.

If you've seen my thread about my CFC vacuum pump into the carboy, my wort sits in the BK after flameout and slowly gets transferred over to the carboy. It takes a fair amount of time to transfer because I throttle the wort to make sure it gets cooled down to pitching temp. I was worried that my aroma hops that were supposed to only be in for one minute would stay in the wort too long if I "lost" one... Sometimes those socks can be surprisingly hard to find!

So I built a hop spider. And I use it for steeping grains, mini mashes, and all the hop additions. I also like how it sits over the center of the boil and the hops get swirled around by the bubbles.

when i use those cheap 50 cent socks they let a lot of hop particles escape were a paint bag will do a better job

my hop spider did the same thing! I'll definitely check for the thing you used next time I'm in lowes. Did you need anything special to drill through the stainless steel?

Nice!
I will be converting mine. Never liked the pvc that close to my boiling wort.

bmeyer46 said:

my hop spider did the same thing! I'll definitely check for the thing you used next time I'm in lowes. Did you need anything special to drill through the stainless steel?

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I used the step bit that I have for drilling holes for fittings. I think I picked it up at Harbor Freight but I'm not sure. It's the same one that everyone on here uses to make holes in their pots for fittings...

Would that have been the Lowes on Magnolia and Harrison ??

Why yes, it was the Lowes on Harrison and Magnolia. I couldn't tell you where inside - I was in a daze by the time I found it. I know it's not with the sink repair stuff and not near the new faucets. Try near the garbage disposals?

jeffdietzler said:

Why yes, it was the Lowes on Harrison and Magnolia. I couldn't tell you where inside - I was in a daze by the time I found it. I know it's not with the sink repair stuff and not near the new faucets. Try near the garbage disposals?

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Yeah, in the back aisle near the restrooms. Actually, i think I have an extra one of those in the garage, left over from when I changed out the garbage disposer last year

thanks for the engineering idea. you should patent it

Same thing happened to mine. I use cpvc for the arms on mine but the center reducer melted. Try searching for a 4/3 cpvc reducer, Money! Thanks for the tip. I'll be making one with this stainless adapter.

i have a similar setup i used from lowes from a regular drain.. you can see it in my signature.. good design though on yours.. its a bit larger in diameter than mine which probably helps for additions, though i only use pellets so they drop in nicely

Looks good, but for half the price, get one of these guys. I know it's not as perfect(like the lip for the clamp) but it's good regardless.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004UE88/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Sweet!! Very clever and problem solved!

Thanks for sharing

John

I have been looking for an idea like that. I wasn't too keen on using PVC. Now I can't find ss Carriage bolts

You are a freaking Guinness!

Here's a link to some fairly cheap carriage bolts from Amazon.

Amazon.com: Stainless Steel 18-8 Carriage Bolt, Oval Head, 1/4"-20, 6" Length (Pack of 5): Industrial & Scientific


Cheers!

Thanks! Ordered them now to Loews to get that other part.

Sweet, I hope it's not too late for Santa to get in a Lowe's run...

I just bought two flanges at the Raleigh Lowes off Capitol blvd for $ 4.87 ea clearance.

I'd be surprised if the threaded rods in this picture are actually stainless steel.


They're almost certainly zinc plated...or worse...

Cheers!

Just finished mine, just need a hose clamp. Purchased all this on Amazon very sturdy!

petrostar said:

Just finished mine, just need a hose clamp. Purchased all this on Amazon very sturdy!

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Right on! That's the exact same as mine. Same funnel and everything.

petrostar said:

Just finished mine, just need a hose clamp. Purchased all this on Amazon very sturdy!

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My one concern with that would be having the hose clamp slip off during the boil. There is a taper on the end of that canning funnel that might allow that to happen.

wyzazz said:

My one concern with that would be having the hose clamp slip off during the boil. There is a taper on the end of that canning funnel that might allow that to happen.

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that would be my concern as well. One option would be to add a nut to each threaded rod and leave 1/16-1/8 gap between the two nuts. The top of the hop sock could then have string loops that goes in that gap, holding the bag open and secure. The hop sock could then run through the mouth of the funnel and into the kettle.

Just a heads up lowes has these on clearance just picked one up for 2 and change.

petrostar said:

Just finished mine, just need a hose clamp. Purchased all this on Amazon very sturdy!

Click to expand...

now are you hanging a hop bag on the bottle of that, by way of the handle?

I just found the SS in sinkerator flanges on clearance at my local Lowes... normal price was 18 bucks... they were on sale for 4 bucks!!!
Check your local store and get em before they are out. I got the last two my store had. I am making one form me and one for my BrewBrother. I actually found SS all-thread as well and will put SS nuts and washers on it to help hold it in place on top of the kettle.
BTW, A simple tri-folded piece of junk mail will wrap the flange and mark your 1/3 radius just fine and dandy. just put a pencil mark at each fold location as well as the end of the paper where the ends meet up.

Try a second hand store. I got mine for 75 cents.

Gear101 said:

now are you hanging a hop bag on the bottle of that, by way of the handle?

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That's a great question. After I built this I went and bought the hose clamp and saw that it is the exact same size as the bottom lip of the funnel. Yes the funnel is tapered and It slips right off which is frustrating. Now I am trying to figure out a way to make the bag stay on. any suggestions?

petrostar said:

After I built this I went and bought the hose clamp and saw that it is the exact same size as the bottom lip of the funnel. Yes the funnel is tapered and It slips right off which is frustrating. Now I am trying to figure out a way to make the bag stay on. any suggestions?

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I would probably just put two or three bolts in the bottom then to stop the clamp from falling off.

petrostar said:

That's a great question. After I built this I went and bought the hose clamp and saw that it is the exact same size as the bottom lip of the funnel. Yes the funnel is tapered and It slips right off which is frustrating. Now I am trying to figure out a way to make the bag stay on. any suggestions?

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I thought you would just tie the bag right off to the bolts that are all ready there or clamp it with one of those black and sliver binder type of paper clamps?

petrostar said:

That's a great question. After I built this I went and bought the hose clamp and saw that it is the exact same size as the bottom lip of the funnel. Yes the funnel is tapered and It slips right off which is frustrating. Now I am trying to figure out a way to make the bag stay on. any suggestions?

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Bolts were already mentioned, maybe some SS or Aluminum rivets? Even scoring the bottom around 1/8" up every 1/2" or so, then bending the bottom of that tapered end up with some pliers might help.

I was looking into building a hop spider and this is definitely the one im going to build! great work. The only thing i might change is that i will have the hop bad go over the lip at the top and that way there wil be no chance of it sliding off.

I was able to get my (2) hop spiders done this weekend. I made one for me and one for my buddy. They will work with the Keggle that I will be using and his smaller pot that he has. They are completely Stainless Steel. Even the all-thread, nuts and washers.
I found these flanges at a Lowes on clearance for 4 bucks a pop!!! they were marked down from 17 bucks each or something like that.

Nicely done. I checked my Local Lowes and couldent find any. I think they keep them on the shelf by the Garbage Disposals. If you have a moment to spare, could you check your reciept or packaging for the SKU or part number and post it ?? I would like to call around to a few other locations and locate.

Thanks

I already threw the receipt out. -- Sorry.
I had to source the SS allthread at my local Ace Hardware. BIG BOX did not have it.
All total, each spider cost about 15 bucks.

Can anyone post a link to the InSinkErator they are using for this? I cannot find this in stainless steel.