Hop Spider...How Big do I Need?

I'm planning on getting a hop spider for my rig so I can ditch the bazooka tube and run a dip tube closer to the bottom of my pot. Here's the problem I'm having:

The boil kettle I ended up purchasing was wider than it is tall (and I pay for it every brew day in evaporation). I was thinking of purchasing one of Zack's hop spiders from Stainlessbrewing.com but I don't know which diameter to get (comes in 4.5", 6.5", 8.5") because instead of 18" tall (which is how it comes) I only have about 8" of height to play with.

I brew 5-6 gal batches with mostly pellet hops and I do brew some heavily hopped IPAs. What's the smallest diameter you think I can get with 8" height so I don't clog all the pores.

Here's the link to the product - http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Hop-Spider-with-seam-welds_p_158.html

I took a 3 ft piece of metal and cut it in half. drilled hole near one end and put a bolt though it so it forms a large v then used a five gallon paint stainer for a bag and attached it with zip ties. works great and cost about 2 bucks. Nice thing with it you can move it to one side if you need to.

What's wrong with .50 cent hop bags from the brew shop?

Why don't you do something like this with a paint strainer bag and insinkerator mounting flange:

I have an extra insinkerator mounting flange if you want. I also have stainless mesh that's taking up space in my garage....

PVC pipe reducer, carriage bolts and wingnuts, hose clamp and nylon mesh bag. Dump the hops out after use, turn bag inside out and rinse clean. Wingnuts let you disassemble quickly for compact storage.

Pix

avm221 said:

What's wrong with .50 cent hop bags from the brew shop?

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it's not stainless steel.

5 gallon paint strainer bag and a spring clamp to the side of the pot. Open the bag, put in the hops, swirl around and re-clamp. Same as duboman's without the flange.

I'm using his hop spider and love it!!

Just talk to them when you order it and they will totally work with you to get the right fit for your kettle. I'm using a 20 gallon megapot, which is very wide and they helped me in getting the exact fit I wanted.

Now as stated above using a fine mesh bag attached with binder clips works wonderfully also.

Soup4you2 said:

I'm using his hop spider and love it!!

Just talk to them when you order it and they will totally work with you to get the right fit for your kettle.

Click to expand...

Thanks Soup! I contacted Zach and he gave me some advice. Glad to know you like it so much! This is a little bit of a birthday gift to myself. Can't wait to use it!

I use one of Zach's 6.5'' spiders....if height is your issue, you can cut the SS basket to fit your height dimensions....

Mine is awesome!

and I got the SS basket for dry hopping in my keg....

no more pvc to melt, grungy carriage bolts...or 5 gallon paint filter bags for my DIY spider