Hop Spider

I was wondering if using a hop spider will have any negative effects on hop utilization. Are there any reasons one would not want to use one.

I don't think so...there are a lot of people on here that use them (myself included).

The downfall can be if you use whole hops instead of pellets as the bag will become too full. As long as you're using pellets and they are consistently within the wort you should be just fine. They sure make cleaning the kettle easier too!

Thats good to hear. I like using it since it makes brewing so much easier. I just wasn't sure if I was losing out on hop utilization because of it. The last batch I made I did not use it and it made transferring the wort harder since my siphon kept clogging up.

beerguy2009 said:

Thats good to hear. I like using it since it makes brewing so much easier. I just wasn't sure if I was losing out on hop utilization because of it. The last batch I made I did not use it and it made transferring the wort harder since my siphon kept clogging up.

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I wondered about this too, but after thinking about it for a while, I justify it thusly:

With any hops, leaf or pellet, your hop oils are going to be extracted from the plant material pretty darn quick in boiling wort, even if they're fairly close together in a bag. Hop cone leaves are really thin, and pellet shreds are even thinner.

Once that's happened, the hop oils are all throughout the boiling wort and are going to isomerize at the same rate as if you hadn't used a bag.

I'm just making this stuff up, but that's how I see it happening.

I am a believer.

It depends how big your bag is. A small bag might reduce utilization a little, a bigger bag less so.

Let me ask you: So what if using a Spider reduces utilization 4.7332%? Its unlikely you would notice that.

I'm a believer as well but I do stick my spoon in there and give it a stir every once & a while. Don't know that it matters, it's just something I do...

Ya I have done that too. I figured stirring it around wouldn't hurt. I think I may use a bigger bag. I get the paint strainers from Lowes so I can make the bag larger than I have. I was just worried about the bag touching the bottom of the pot and melting.

When using Pellet hops, is the mesh of the Paint Strainer bag fine enough?

Does the Paint Strainer bag let out little particles of Pellet Hops that end up at the bottom of the kettle (or worse, in your beer)?


The reason I ask is I use a hop strainer bag. I think it's probably a tighter weave (finer) than the paint strainer bag, but its also smaller, meaning the hops get somewhat compressed.
If a paint strainer bag works just as well, maybe I will switch.

ArcLight said:

When using Pellet hops, is the mesh of the Paint Strainer bag fine enough?

Does the Paint Strainer bag let out little particles of Pellet Hops that end up at the bottom of the kettle (or worse, in your beer)?

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I'm sure some get through but it's a very small amount compared to just tossing the hops in the kettle... My "spider sack", after brewing is finished and I take it out has a big ole wad of hop material in it.

My software has a tick box for "hop bag", checking it adds about 10% to the hop bill.

>>My software has a tick box for "hop bag", checking it adds about 10% to the hop bill.

Could well be. The question I have is do you squeeze out the trapped wort?
My hops bag may be a bit too small, and when I pull it out, there is trapped wort.
I make a point of draining it, and squeezing it.
So am I really losing 10%? Or is it closer to 5% like I posted?

Also - the spider allows much more space for the hops to move around.
So an unsqueezed hops bag may well be 10%, maybe even more.
But a spider, and especially if you drain it, and squeeze it, will probably be a lot less.

I pull my bag of soaked hops out of the wert and let it drain a couple of minutes but I don't squeeze - not sure if that would matter but it's pretty hot and I figured after draining I wasn't losing that much.

Just my 2¢

The paint strainer bags are fine enough to not let the hop pellets break up and escape into the wort.

As for draining, when the boil is done and the wort is being cooled I just pick up the hop spider and let it drain into the kettle. I get most of the wort out, but not all. I don't lose any sleep over it.

And as for my original post about not losing any utilization, I'm sure there might be a small amount (as logdrum pointed out with the software compensation) but I have used the hop schedules with and without and the beer always tastes good. I don't think it's noticeable.

Ok here's a question...anyone ever use a hop bag for dry hopping in a keg?

That's what I want...something that I can dry hop in my keg with (and 99% of the time I'm using pellet hops).

I've considered a Randal, but would rather not worry about another piece of equipment in my kegger.

I use a hop spider with a Paint Strainer plus bag the hops in bags as well IMO i am not waswting any hops plus gives me a cleaner Wort IMO !!!

JayInJersey said:

Ok here's a question...anyone ever use a hop bag for dry hopping in a keg?

That's what I want...something that I can dry hop in my keg with (and 99% of the time I'm using pellet hops).

I've considered a Randal, but would rather not worry about another piece of equipment in my kegger.

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I've used a bag in the keg w leaf hops many times. With pellets only once. This is with a 1gal paint strainer; I found the hop residue w pellets to be a bit much. I've taken to dry hopping in primary @ about 60% fermentation. This coupled w the "hop stand" trick works wonders.

ArcLight said:

When using Pellet hops, is the mesh of the Paint Strainer bag fine enough?

Does the Paint Strainer bag let out little particles of Pellet Hops that end up at the bottom of the kettle (or worse, in your beer)?

The reason I ask is I use a hop strainer bag. I think it's probably a tighter weave (finer) than the paint strainer bag, but its also smaller, meaning the hops get somewhat compressed.
If a paint strainer bag works just as well, maybe I will switch.

Click to expand...

Yes the paint strainer is fine enough to use with the pellet hops. I have have very few if any get into the wort. I figured if any gets into the wort/ fermenter its negligable.

ArcLight said:

It depends how big your bag is. A small bag might reduce utilization a little, a bigger bag less so.

Let me ask you: So what if using a Spider reduces utilization 4.7332%? Its unlikely you would notice that.

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4.7332%?

No. But 4.7333%, absolutely.

I just started using a hop bag, and am looking to get an all stainless hop spider built.

I use a five gallon paint strainer bag. The bags are dirt cheap and the wort flows through just fine. However, I would say 25-35% of the overall hop particles get through the bag. I have begun using a second bag and putting it into my fermenter. Then drain the wort through that and it catches a good deal of the particles. It's one more bag to clean, but no big deal.

>>However, I would say 25-35% of the overall hop particles get through the bag.

Bummer, thats way too much for me.
Even if you filter again on the way to the fermentor.

I'll stick with my hops bags.