Disclaimer: I am not the inventor of the hop bag/spider nor am I claiming to be, these statements are specifically referencing the design and parts used. I do not know if I have seen anyone else do this. I am not sure if I am the 1st person to think this up. Search did NOT bring up ANYTHING like this...So, I am claiming all credit for this design concept. If you feel that the credit is not mine then please let me know. Also, I am not a professional photographer or instructor so please bear with me. Thanks and enjoy the DIY!
Presenting, Zamial's all stainless steel deluxe hop bag/spider!!!!
Prologue:
*I brew in keggles.
For my hop additions I have tried the giant tea ball infusers and straining out loose hops, both of these techniques had issues. Straining was a PITA and the infusers were a PITA to fill and only allowed for 1 ingredient addition per ball, easily.
I am going to be trying some DIY things in the near future with the "spent hops" so I needed to devise a way that would be easy to keep hops separate from other ingredient additions (like orange peels for example) and I wanted to keep it separate from break material, so a false bottom was also out (not to mention pricey unless I make one like I did out of a sanke top for my MLT as seen in this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cut-keg-top-false-bottom-192413/index2.html but use tri-clover fittings to safely boil.) So, I had decided I would try a hop bag/spider.
I built a PVC coupler based model and was impressed with how well it worked for hops additions but it had gotten a little melty after 1st use. No reason to panic but it pissed me off. I decided I wanted a, as much as possible, stainless steel hop bag/spider. I started looking online and in hardware stores for some sort of substitute for the PVC piece. I found nothing that was affordable.(truth be told I found nothing at all...lol) I was going to cut apart my smallest unused stainless kettle (a 1.5 gallon one) and it hit me when I was looking at galvanized funnels...this would be perfect if it had a wider opening and less of an angle...hey, why not use the cut top of my sanke keg that has been screaming "Do something with me." for months? It would be perfect! Today was the day!
Parts list: (Quantity/item/price)
1- cut sanke top with no sharp edges!!!! - free
1- 2 3/4" stainless steel hose clamp - 1.79
1- 5 gallon paint strainer bag - .50
3- 1/4" x 2" SS eyebolt - 1.99 ea (The hole needs to be large enough to allow a 3/8" ss bolt to pass through)
3- 1/4" SS nuts - .20 ea
3- 1/4" SS lock washer - .17 ea
6- 1/4" SS washers - .17 ea
6- 1 1/2" SS fender washer (The hole needs to be large enough to allow a 3/8" ss bolt to pass through)
The following parts I had, so I am omitting these from the cost as I do not remember what I paid for them but it was not all that much I promise...I am also sure you could use a thinner size than the 3/8" stuff and it would work fine just make sure the pieces will work in the fashion shown...
3- 3/8" ss bolts about 6 inches, you will need to measure as all cut tops are a little different...these can be eye bolts or carriage bolts.
6- 3/8" ss washers
6- 3/8" ss lock nuts
I am going to guess that all the parts were sub $20.00 grand total.
How I made it:
STEP 1: Drill a 1/4" hole about an inch from the edge so that there are 3 holes all about 120 degrees apart(as in 1/3 the way around). I used the washer that was going there and moved it back a little to measure the distance from the edge. My drill bit walked a little but I did not care that much. Do not forget to deburr the holes!
STEP 2: Attach the 3 1/4"x2" eye bolt. I screwed the nut that came with the eye bolt a few threads from bottoming out all the way towards the "eye" end, added a 1/4" washer, put bolt through hole, added 1/4" washer, then 1/4" lock washer and finally the 1/4" nut. Tighten it all up.(repeat STEP 2 for the last 2 holes...)
STEP 3: Attach a 3/8" bolt onto the eye bolt. Start off by screwing a nut onto the bolt, then a 3/8" washer, then a 1 1/2" fender washer, put bolt through the "eye" of the eye bolt, add a1 1/2" fender washer, a 3/8" washer and the last 3/8" nut. Tighten it up. (repeat STEP 3 for the last 2 eye bolts...)
You should now have something that looks like this:
and
close ups of the mounts:
Then the last thing left to do is attach the bag using the 2 3/4" hose clamp. Here it is all assembled with me holding it above the keggle. It is also a nice view of the mounts:
The bag goes almost all the way to the bottom of the sanke with no problems and I do not fear it slipping off because the sanke collar has a lip on it that will keeps it from sliding down/slipping off.
Presenting, Zamial's all stainless steel deluxe hop bag/spider!!!!
Prologue:
*I brew in keggles.
For my hop additions I have tried the giant tea ball infusers and straining out loose hops, both of these techniques had issues. Straining was a PITA and the infusers were a PITA to fill and only allowed for 1 ingredient addition per ball, easily.
I am going to be trying some DIY things in the near future with the "spent hops" so I needed to devise a way that would be easy to keep hops separate from other ingredient additions (like orange peels for example) and I wanted to keep it separate from break material, so a false bottom was also out (not to mention pricey unless I make one like I did out of a sanke top for my MLT as seen in this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cut-keg-top-false-bottom-192413/index2.html but use tri-clover fittings to safely boil.) So, I had decided I would try a hop bag/spider.
I built a PVC coupler based model and was impressed with how well it worked for hops additions but it had gotten a little melty after 1st use. No reason to panic but it pissed me off. I decided I wanted a, as much as possible, stainless steel hop bag/spider. I started looking online and in hardware stores for some sort of substitute for the PVC piece. I found nothing that was affordable.(truth be told I found nothing at all...lol) I was going to cut apart my smallest unused stainless kettle (a 1.5 gallon one) and it hit me when I was looking at galvanized funnels...this would be perfect if it had a wider opening and less of an angle...hey, why not use the cut top of my sanke keg that has been screaming "Do something with me." for months? It would be perfect! Today was the day!
Parts list: (Quantity/item/price)
1- cut sanke top with no sharp edges!!!! - free
1- 2 3/4" stainless steel hose clamp - 1.79
1- 5 gallon paint strainer bag - .50
3- 1/4" x 2" SS eyebolt - 1.99 ea (The hole needs to be large enough to allow a 3/8" ss bolt to pass through)
3- 1/4" SS nuts - .20 ea
3- 1/4" SS lock washer - .17 ea
6- 1/4" SS washers - .17 ea
6- 1 1/2" SS fender washer (The hole needs to be large enough to allow a 3/8" ss bolt to pass through)
The following parts I had, so I am omitting these from the cost as I do not remember what I paid for them but it was not all that much I promise...I am also sure you could use a thinner size than the 3/8" stuff and it would work fine just make sure the pieces will work in the fashion shown...
3- 3/8" ss bolts about 6 inches, you will need to measure as all cut tops are a little different...these can be eye bolts or carriage bolts.
6- 3/8" ss washers
6- 3/8" ss lock nuts
I am going to guess that all the parts were sub $20.00 grand total.
How I made it:
STEP 1: Drill a 1/4" hole about an inch from the edge so that there are 3 holes all about 120 degrees apart(as in 1/3 the way around). I used the washer that was going there and moved it back a little to measure the distance from the edge. My drill bit walked a little but I did not care that much. Do not forget to deburr the holes!
STEP 2: Attach the 3 1/4"x2" eye bolt. I screwed the nut that came with the eye bolt a few threads from bottoming out all the way towards the "eye" end, added a 1/4" washer, put bolt through hole, added 1/4" washer, then 1/4" lock washer and finally the 1/4" nut. Tighten it all up.(repeat STEP 2 for the last 2 holes...)
STEP 3: Attach a 3/8" bolt onto the eye bolt. Start off by screwing a nut onto the bolt, then a 3/8" washer, then a 1 1/2" fender washer, put bolt through the "eye" of the eye bolt, add a1 1/2" fender washer, a 3/8" washer and the last 3/8" nut. Tighten it up. (repeat STEP 3 for the last 2 eye bolts...)
You should now have something that looks like this:
and
close ups of the mounts:
Then the last thing left to do is attach the bag using the 2 3/4" hose clamp. Here it is all assembled with me holding it above the keggle. It is also a nice view of the mounts:
The bag goes almost all the way to the bottom of the sanke with no problems and I do not fear it slipping off because the sanke collar has a lip on it that will keeps it from sliding down/slipping off.