Need help with all grain procedure

I have been all grain brewing for about a year. I use pellet hops. I have a brew kettle with a faucet.

My question is how do I strain the hop particles out of the wert to put I through a plate chiller? What have others done? Do you have screens?

Hop spider is all I use/need.

You can also whirlpool, then let the wort settle for about 30 minutes. Then pump through the chiller into the fermentor.

Golddiggie said:

Hop spider is all I use/need.

Click to expand...

Ah a hop spider...to Home Depot I go!

I need to build a hop spider.
Since I have the day off I actually went down to the local store to pick up parts for one today.
Unfortunately they had the nerve to be closed on Thanksgiving!

I use whole hops and a false bottom. Works great except when I forget the false bottom.

-a.

Just DON'T use PVC parts in your hop spider. They fail/get super soft at about 180F, so if you don't have it away from the steam, it will soften, deform, and droop into your wort (NOT a good thing). I also believe it releases nasty compounds when it hit those temps too.

I made my spider from all stainless steel parts (plus a nylon mesh bag) so that I wouldn't need to worry about heat with it. :rockin:

Pick up a stainless ring for a garbage disposal and a few stainless bolts and your good to go.

Munimula said:

Pick up a stainless ring for a garbage disposal and a few stainless bolts and your good to go.

Click to expand...

I went with a 6" diameter stainless cake form... Amazon has it pretty damned cheap. I was able to drill and tap three holes in it, easily. Put some threaded rod through it, acorn nuts inside, lock wash and regular nut outside and basically good to go (just add nylon bag size you need).

I put mine in a muslin bag and tie the end and toss it in. At end of boil....just fish it out and let drain...voila

mgortel said:

I put mine in a muslin bag and tie the end and toss it in. At end of boil....just fish it out and let drain...voila

Click to expand...

Works fine for whole hops, but not nearly as well with pellet hops, IME...

Yes / No?? I just throw mine in and whirlpool like others said. So I don't know if these will work or not. if they would, you could have your hops all setup in a ball, then toss in boil at 60, 10, 5 ..ect.. cheap 2!

http://www.kitchencollection.com/Temp_Products.cfm?sku=01021691&RankThis=Y&catname=Gadgets and More&CatType=N&SCatType=Y&SCategory=Coffee/Tea&

grimzella said:

Yes / No?? I just throw mine in and whirlpool like others said. So I don't know if these will work or not. if they would, you could have your hops all setup in a ball, then toss in boil at 60, 10, 5 ..ect.. cheap 2!

http://www.kitchencollection.com/Temp_Products.cfm?sku=01021691&RankThis=Y&catname=Gadgets and More&CatType=N&SCatType=Y&SCategory=Coffee/Tea&

Click to expand...

A 1" diameter makes them pretty much useless for most of us. A single ounce of pellet hops would probably fill it, with them dry. Once they go into the boil, they expand several times over.

There are some larger ones (4" diameter) on Amazon. I would still be reluctant to use that since it can easily get filled with the expanded hop matter. Either get the standard nylon 'hop bag', using one per addition, secured to the side of the kettle (the handle is typically where you tie it off to) or make/get a hop spider.

I'm looking at getting one of the models made by Stainless Brewing so that my hops have more room to roam, and have easier cleanup. More for the cleanup ease than anything, since I can connect a LARGE nylon bag to my spider top.

mgortel said:

I put mine in a muslin bag and tie the end and toss it in. At end of boil....just fish it out and let drain...voila

Click to expand...

So when you have say three hop additions do you use three bags ordo you try and fish it out of boiling wort, untie and add hops each time?

The bags work great if you don't mind using several of them for one batch of beer.
Sort of a waste to me though.

45_70sharps said:

So when you have say three hop additions do you use three bags ordo you try and fish it out of boiling wort, untie and add hops each time?

The bags work great if you don't mind using several of them for one batch of beer.
Sort of a waste to me though.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't want to try and untie a knot in a wort saturated, boiling hot, bag...

IF you don't tie them off someplace, and have an actual kettle, they will sink and can plug up the dip tube/inside opening. IMO, more hassle than it's worth at that point.

I use a bag that cotton bag that i clamp to the side of my kettle with a spring clamp. When I have a hop addition I unclamp it and toss the hops in. Works great.

I use 1 muslin bag for each hop addition.....fish them out at end of boil with SS spoon and let drain juices back in pot....then toss them out

Muslin bags are $0.35 each at my LHBS......so cost doesn't bother me....especially for the ease it provides...

Went to a hop spider myself because of how terrible the muslin bags were. It is extremely hard to get the same hop character on recipes that use a lot of hops.

Ever since I switched, I have been getting pretty much the exact same hop characteristics as when I was not using a bag at all.