New way to control Pellet Hop gunk!

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marcb

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I've seen lots of hop spider builds but also lots of complaints. I ran across a vendor on ebay that focuses on stainless filters for things like biodiesel etc and I asked a lot of questions and he was very responsive and interested in these being utilized for beer brewing so he built me a prototype of a 200 micron filter!

I will be testing it out this weekend but the objective was to eliminate hop bags and still be able to keep the gunk out of my plate chillers. I do 20 gallon batches so I had this custom built, it is 6" in diameter and 14" long. The idea is that I will just be throwing hops into this strainer at the proper time of the boil and then just clean this out at the end of the brew day! I will report back on it's effectiveness both in straining out the hop gunk as well as it's effect on hop utilization.

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I have been looking for something like this. In fact I posted something half a year back with a commercial coffee/tea filter: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/hop-spider-end-all-hop-spiders-308754/, but the size of the item didn't quite work out in a balanced fashion with the cost. Would love to find a simple "off the shelf" solution, else I have been looking at purchasing the mesh myself and creating something like this.

Good luck!
 
That's very cool too, the strainer from SB. The dimensions are certainly right, I just wish there was some better imagery of the basket itself.
 
That is cool.


Here is the original ebay seller and a relatively low cost version http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEER-WORT-S...526?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c63db5b6

Seller here: http://myworld.ebay.com/chads454?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

What I liked most about dealing with this guy is that I bought the one at the first link (found him originally through bucket strainer search) and then after a couple of emails we worked out exactly what I wanted (with whatever micron filter you want) for an extremely reasonable cost with shipping.

Note: I am not affiliated with the seller, just wanted to share what I'm working on to simplify my brew day....
 
A big plus, "Stainless Brewing" is on our vendor list check em out.
 
Lol, I am not slinging product on this thread.... Just wanted to keep you guys up to date with my weekly experiments : )
 
Tested it out today. It worked well, I think the 200 micron filter might be a little too fine as the other break material stuck to the outside. Hop utilization was excellent though. It was also not too bad to clean.

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I ordered mine from the eBay seller for $42 with shipping. I loved the Stainless Steel Brewing one but with a wife and two kids, I just couldn't justify the price of it. When I saw the one on eBay, I had to pull the trigger on it.
 
After looking closer at the cost, I understand going with ebay, they both do the same thing, I just liked the look of the one from SSB, but no so much after looking at the correct price.
 
The Ebay link says: It is made with 400 micron stainless steel wire mesh

I assume that is a good mesh thickness?
 
I'd email the seller, if he hasn't made it yet then he should be willing to put whatever micron you want in there.... I went with 200 but I think 300 or 400 would work better. I would probably opt for 300 if you have a choice.
 
audger said:
its impossible to know this without lab testing.

Perhaps, however, level of bitterness, sharpness and hop aroma/flavor are all perceived on the pallet. For a test batch I ran through a recipe I am very familiar with and noted significantly more bitterness than I had experienced before by using bags when tasting the wort during the boil. So for non-lab quantification I was very satisfied with my hop utilization. This is with the only variant in the recipe being the usage of this screen filter as opposed to hop bags.
 
your 200 micron is about #70 mesh, correct? it seems like there was too much separation between your hops and wort. whats the largest size you could go for pellet hops?

i was thinking about buying #60 mesh, but that's 250 microns so i'm re-thinking before i buy anything.

BTW - 400 microns would be #40 mesh.
 
I have no idea what mesh = 300 micron but that is where I'm headed next.... There was definitely too much separation but the hop bitterness and flavor were there in the final wort so I'm conflicted.
 
I was going to order a 300 micron from the eBay guy. Should I try that or change my order? I am getting a 4x10 so I can use it in two different brew pots for 5 or 10 gallon batches.
 
gjabball said:
I was going to order a 300 micron from the eBay guy. Should I try that or change my order? I am getting a 4x10 so I can use it in two different brew pots for 5 or 10 gallon batches.

I think 300 microns will give you the best balance of hop gunk removal and hop utilization so you are good. I am going to have him make another one for me that is 300 microns. 200 worked great but as I mentioned the hot break clogged it from the outside (at least partially!)
 
I think 300 microns will give you the best balance of hop gunk removal and hop utilization so you are good. I am going to have him make another one for me that is 300 microns. 200 worked great but as I mentioned the hot break clogged it from the outside (at least partially!)

Thanks for the responce!
 
is it 100% stainless? in the ebay ad it only says the wire mesh is. I think I might have to get one of these if 100% stainless
 
I've been communicating with the seller. He's pretty open to any customized project..I'm current brainstorming what size I want him to build for me.

He contact info for anyone interested is below (posted with permission)


Chad Beauchamp 734-626-5864
[email protected]
Arbor Fabricating LLC
 
marcb said:
I think 300 microns will give you the best balance of hop gunk removal and hop utilization so you are good. I am going to have him make another one for me that is 300 microns. 200 worked great but as I mentioned the hot break clogged it from the outside (at least partially!)

I may be wrong but couldn't you wait for the hot break to settle before placing the strainer in the pot?
 
Here's the conversion from market grade mesh sizes(openings per inch) to microns:

http://www.wovenwire.com/reference/particle-size-print.htm

From what I can tell, most tea balls from brewing sites and fine kitchen strainers are #40 mesh (389 microns).

The higher the mesh size, the more fine the mesh.
The higher the microns, the more coarse the mesh.
It can be confusing.

This link shows many meshes with size comparison. They list the #40 mesh as "coarse" and #50 as a "medium."

http://www.themeshcompany.com/acatalog/Stainless_Steel_Woven_Wire_A3_Sheets.html

#50 = 282 microns
#40 = 389 microns

I think i may buy the tea ball size #40 for pellet hops. It may not stop 100% of the hops, but it will be close and allow better flow. Any thoughts?
 
This is killer, and a cool way to support the "small guy." Subscribed... and buying soon!
 
nasty_rabbit said:
I may be wrong but couldn't you wait for the hot break to settle before placing the strainer in the pot?

You could, I'm not that patient though and do a lot of 90 minute boils, most of which want some of the bittering hops for all 90 minutes. Even after the break appears you can still get foam and that seems to be where I was seeing some issues. Its all good and I need more data but I plan on testing out a 300 micron version and seeing if that improves my flow through and doesn't result in too much pellet residue after I'm done. Again, this one worked fine! I'm just trying to find the perfect balance and never have to worry about bagging my pellets again ; )
 
I think i may buy the tea ball size #40 for pellet hops. It may not stop 100% of the hops, but it will be close and allow better flow. Any thoughts?

The tea balls can only be filled about 1/3 or less with pellet hops. Anymore than that and they swell up so much you end up with a firmly pressed impenetrable hop ball.
 
gjabball said:
What are the advantages of 400 micron vs 300 micron? Most hop bags are 150 micron.

Where did you find that most hop bags are 150 micron??? The closest approximation I could make on the data available was 200 micron. Note that with the 200 micron filter I had much less hop residue in my boil kettle than I have ever seen with even ultra fine bags. 400 micron is coarser and will leave a little more gunk in the kettle but may result in better hop utilization. I am going to test 300 next to see how it compares to my 200 micron filter.
 
Where did you find that most hop bags are 150 micron??? The closest approximation I could make on the data available was 200 micron. Note that with the 200 micron filter I had much less hop residue in my boil kettle than I have ever seen with even ultra fine bags. 400 micron is coarser and will leave a little more gunk in the kettle but may result in better hop utilization. I am going to test 300 next to see how it compares to my 200 micron filter.

I couldn't find the post that said they are 15o micron. I did see this saying that they are 200 micron. I guess it depends on where you buy them.

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=8338.30
 
Im interested in any tests done with 200, 300, and 400 micron. post some results and pictures please!
 
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