Paint strainer Brew Pot Liner

I've been reading up on paint strainer bags as hop filters, as I'm having some trouble with hops clogging up my pumps (actually, clogging up the TINY bore of the camlock disconnects). The hop spiders look great, but my brewery doesn't allow. I have a 'busy' brew pot, containing:

Side diptube on bottom, heating element, stainless herms/ IC coil hanging down from lid, whirlpooling inlet hanging down from lid. With that stuff on the lid the way it is, I couldn't use a hop spider without having to remove it at the end of the boil before cooling.

So... I'm looking at using a 5 gallon paint strainer bag lining my 5 gallon brewpot. The pot is 12.5" in diameter, so I think the bag will fit over the rim and line the whole thing. With the wort contacting the heating element, the heating element shouldn't get hot enough to burn the bag, and this way once I put the lid on the coil will fit inside the bag. I'd run the boil as normal, just tossing hops in whenever the recipe calls for it, or when I get bored.

The idea is, the whole kettle will be the filter, and there shouldn't be a hit in utilization. More importantly, it will not require me to modify my setup.

Does anybody see any flaws with the idea? I see plenty of people using the paint strainer bags, but I didn't find any lining the whole brew pot (mostly because their brew pots are bigger than my little fella).

many thanks, sorry for rambling

I could probably see the bag melting from being in contact with the hot kettle wall....

really? The kettle walls aren't any hotter than the boiling liquid. I'd only worry about the surface of the heating element, which shouldn't be much over 212 F

Specifically, I was worried about the bottom of the bag getting clogged towards the end of the kettle drain. Anybody try this?

yeah, I'm bumping my own thread. I am likely trying this weekend, but I worry something will go wrong. Anybody using paint strainer bags as hop filters, do you have to weight them down in the boil?

Yes, I weight the bags with stainless fittings in a small hop bag so they don't get clogged with hop particles.

I don't think you want the bag touching the element causing hot spots and shortening element life. No real experience but seem to have read bad things about grain and elements in the past.

I would like to hear from those that have done this.

I wonder about, in addition to the bag weights, of adding some sort of 'structure' to keep the bag from collapsing on itself. This to enhance hot wort transfer. Otherwise, it 'seems' this might just be a large hop bag (or, I'm missing something.)

Let me try that again...lost the last post...

OK, I re-read the original post and I cannot do exactly what has been proposed as my BK is larger. But, I can fashion a way to suspend the bag over the wort (and adjust w/ various sized batches).

I have an 8 gallon pot with a 220v 4.5kW ultra low element installed at about the 1.5 gallon height. I use a 5gal paint strainer bag stretched around the rim for hops. The bag does tough the element and I haven't seen any scorching of the bag or damage to the element in the eight batches since I switched to this kettle. Yrmv.

I did have bag clog on an IPA. I noticed low volume in the fermenter and squeezed the grain bag. Now I squeeze the bag with sanitized tongs after I chill but before I start draining the kettle.

Update: It didn't work for sh*t

I did an IPA. For my little batch (3g) it was under 4 oz hops. amarillo if somebody cares. (they are the best).

I stretched a 5 g paint strainer bag over the brewpot after sparging. The foop/foam started to inflate this, nearly causing a boil over. So, I removed the bag until the foam was gone, and I had a rolling boil.

Even weighted down with a few leftover stainless NPT elbows, the pores of the bag cloged instantly with hops and/or hot break. Once this happened, the boil lifted the bag up top, where the clogged bag sort of acted like a lid. Again, barely avoided a few boil overs. I had to remove the bag from the rim, and just drape it over the side like a normal hop bag. This makes the last few hop additions tricky, especially as I have my lid (and IC) on for the last 10 min.

back to the hop filtering drawing board.

I've spend so much time designing and building breweries to get them to run as efficiently as possible. The whole hop filtering thing still has be flummoxed though. I like the idea of the metal screen column in the middle of the pot. It would take a good deal of tinkering to get it attached and floating above the heating element, in a way that doesn't require being attached to the sides of the pot to accommodate the lid mounted IC.

Anybody have other hop filtering thoughts?

Is it just the male barb of the Camlock fitting that is getting clogged up? If so, replace them with BobbyM's new "Big C" Camlock barb with much larger ID

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/camlocks-next-level-377705/

I've used paint strainer bags with leaf hops, tied in a knot and just tossed in my kettle during the boil. This setup is propane fired, but there is not melting of the bag due to hot kettle bottom.

Dustbow --

Funny coincidence, I ran across those last night during random homebrew browsings. I made my 'I need to buy this face' to my wife accidentally. Judging by the face she then made, I might have to wait a couple weeks before purchasing...

That is the issue though, those tiny holes clog. Other than that, the whole system is 1/2" silicone and SS tubing. Any issues with pellet / break material plugging pumps? I get the occasional squeel as it is (my own fault, have elbows on the inlets I haven't gotten around to taken off yet, as I would have to buy more silicone tubing for longer lines).

If it's just the camlock barbs, then I think you'll be fine when you upgrade to the "Big C".
I've never clogged any of my 1/2" silicone lines, pump or Chillzilla with any hop debris.

I think it is just the barbs. First time I used them, it was the first brew session with a new rig. I made a stout. So... 3 gallons of stout equates to less than an ounce of pellet hops. I didn't bag or filter or anything. I STILL clogged those barbs. What a bad design...

I'll upgrade to them before the next IPA. I was thinking about getting the center inlet chugger pump heads and throwing those on my march pumps at the same time. Really make an upgrade to the flow path. I need to wait until the wife isn't looking though...

I have the center inlet Chugger and love it, never a single priming issues (knock on wood). I don't know why anyone would buy the side inlets at this point, I think it's just what people are used to seeing - and maybe not all shops carry center inlet March pumps. Those who carry Chuggers seem to carry all options tho

Badwolf, do a search for BobbyM's YouTube for cam locks. He talks about using the mpt connectors, grinding the treads off, and stretching 1/2 in silicone tubing over the surface. It is not as elegant as the new super C can locks, but it works well. Plus you can order SS street elbows and get a nice 90 bend by grinding the mpt end smooth.

<https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/stainless-camlocks-review-158649/>