What do you think of this for a kettle hop filter?

Still figuring out how to filter out the hops and loose grains from the boil kettle. I'll never brew a "hop bomb", heh, and I prefer using whole hops or plugs, but often have to get pellets. So I putzed around at Home Depot today and came up with this. What do you think? That's 30x30 mesh from McMaster. Is it sure to get clogged? Is it all safe to boil? I won't be able to brew till Tuesday (forgot to get ingredients before LHBS closed for the weekend, d'oh), is there anything I can use to test the straining capabilities before then?

I'm not much of a DIY'er, but even if the screen does the trick, it seems like a small surface area. In other words it will filter, but only until the face becomes covered with sediment.

For keeping Hops (leaf or pellet) out of my spigot I put the hop additions into grain bags that I've cut into smaller sections. Some people also use an elaborate bag that rests in the boil kettle with a wide mouth opening supported by threaded bar stock. (I'll see if I can't find a picture--I hear they're worth a thousand words).

Ultimately, there is only one way to see if your setup works, though.

my bet is that this gets clogged...usually the ons ive seen have some airspace and much more surface area.

I'm with Flyin' Lion on this one, but wouldn't be afraid to try it either. If it gets clogged you can just dump everything into the fermenter and not worry. One of my last pale ales had 100% trub, whole hops and all going into the fermenter and it turned out as one of my best. It was crystal clear as well coming out of the keg.

not enough surface area.

Check out.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/lil-sparky-tha-man-40738/

or

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/simplest-hop-sock-stopper-ever-105135/

Nice, ok, I'll put together a hop sock, and use this for filtering out cold break and whatever other goobers make it in there. Thanks!

I currently use a stainless sink drain filter, a hop bag (paint strainer) and a few paint strainer bags in the funnel and STILL end up with some sludge in the fermenter...

Let us know how this works though...

Don't tighten the hose clamp too tight - I predict you will be reaching into the wort to pull that off as the break material will clog it quick. As the saying goes, ask me how I know! (Bazooka screen & hop stopper both failed me to some extent)

I just tried today to use a washing machine lint filter (think aluminum mesh) ziptied to the pick-up tube on my kettle. No joy.

With 100% leaf hops and a really good cold break, it was clog city. I ended up sanitizing my arms and rooting around in the wort to unclog it.

I think I'll be "investing" in a paint strainer bag real soon now.

Brewed with this and a 5 gallon paint strainer hop bag today, worked great! Used about 6 ounces of whole and pellet hops, about an ounce of sludge and the occasional leaf still managed to escape the bag, which the screen did an excellent job of blocking. Only problem was that I hadn't screwed it in all the way (it butts right up against the bottom, and I didn't want to scratch it), so it didn't work very well as a dip tube (lost the siphon), but I'll fix that next time. For blocking about an ounce of whatever crap happens to make it past the hop bag, I'm very happy with it. Piece of cake to clean, too, just unscrewed it and blasted it with the hose, didn't have to disassemble it.

My plan is to use a SS mesh basket that will drop right into the kettle. Sort of like a mini kettle inside the big one. This will leave enough room for the hops and stuff to swirl around, and when the boil is done, I can simply pour the wort out through the spigot and let the hops stay behind. If I didn't have a spigot, just lift it out let the hops be pulled out, or better yet, make it possible to slip a siphon wand down the side.

Only problem is finding the right kind of SS mesh cheap enough. Thinking about trying aluminum window mesh.

+1 on the 4" PVC with paint strainer bag - used mine last week to brew a DFH 60 minute IPA clone - continuous hop additions and all in the bag in the end. Way too easy! I used 3 1/4" x 12" threaded rods - hold up very nicely. If I had used 4 I would have screwed one up and got the thing all caddywampus.