400 Micron Strainer - fits 6.5 & 5 gallon buckets

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?sku=10877&catid=685

$4.31

I used this for a 5 gallon all grain batch. I use a hops bag with hops pellets, so all I want filtered out is a stray grain particle or maybe some hops sludge that leaked out.

The problem is the 400 micron strainer is too fine, and it silted up and got blocked. I had to stop filling it, and repeatedly scrape away some gunk with the and of the Silicone hose. I removed the filter, squirted some Star San on it to clean it (unblock it) and again it silted up. (maybe a pain brush would work to unclog it?)

If I had more sludge it would have been a real pain.

I don't plan on using this again. I will only use it if I am careless with the hops bag and spill some sludge in.

Thus it may make sense to get the 600 micron strainer instead

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=37442

Hop debris versus a micron-sized filter is going to be a no go. I can clog up my kitchen strainer pretty quick with hop residue; the holes in that are 10x larger than the filters you are talking about.