Inexpensive stainless steel hop spider

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mgr_stl

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Any suggestions on where I could find a good, inexpensive stainless steel hop spider?

DIY could be an option as well.
 
if the bag doesnt have to be ss, a ss sink flange will work well. outside of that AIH has some on sale on their site, ive been thinking on getting one but just have not pulled the trigger yet.
 
Even if you build your own, you'll spend some coin. I'm about $50 into a riveted DYI hop spider.
 
Any suggestions on where I could find a good, inexpensive stainless steel hop spider?

DIY could be an option as well.

Buy a SS garbage disposal flange
Drill three holes in it
Buy three long SS bolts and nuts, long enough to center the spider over your pot
Use some big office binder clips to hold the bag to the spider
Done.
 
For years I used a cheap 5 gal paint strainer bag spring clamped to a stick of wood long enough to span my kettle. Works great and cost only a couple of bucks for the bags and I already had the clamps.
 
Buy a SS garbage disposal flange
Drill three holes in it
Buy three long SS bolts and nuts, long enough to center the spider over your pot
Use some big office binder clips to hold the bag to the spider
Done.

I like this idea. Any specific types of material you would/wouldn't want to use as far as the bag goes? For whatever reason, I'm a little suspect of boiling a paint strainer bag for an hour without it releasing any odd flavors or chemicals into the wort. Am I off point on this one?
 
Actually, I would love to get one of those SS mesh baskets, but can't justify the $60 or so right now.
 
I boiled paint bags for many years and never noticed a problem. The bags get stained brown after being reused for a while, so maybe the beer is releasing chemicals into the bag instead of the other way around :D
 
I like this idea. Any specific types of material you would/wouldn't want to use as far as the bag goes? For whatever reason, I'm a little suspect of boiling a paint strainer bag for an hour without it releasing any odd flavors or chemicals into the wort. Am I off point on this one?

I've used them and I've not noticed any odd flavors. Homebrew shops do sell muslin mesh hop bags and those are made out of cotton but they're pretty much one-use bags. They also sell nylon bags that are more re-usable than the cotton ones.
 
Chad has his listed on ebay for 40.00 ish and he does a fantastic job on them. No affiliation here just appreciate his good quality.

His seller name is Chads454
 
I mash BIAB in paint strainer bags (as do many, many people), and I use paint strainer bags in my boil for hops (as do many, many people). I have never had a problem with off flavors. I have used bags over and over and over again without issue, so I suspect they aren't dissolving/leaching into my wort.

Hops spider DIY project referenced above is a good, cheap alternative, IMO. Cheers.
 
Found a 10% off code in BYO magazine for arborfab.com.

So that means the 10" x 4" SS hop filter is $38.25 shipped.

Or the 10" x 4" SS hop filter and glass carboy dry hopper combo costs $57.60 shipped.

Anyone have experience with the "glass carboy dry hopper"? How much hops can you fit in there? Do all the hops get saturated?
 
I used the "carboy dry hopper" one time. I must have overfilled it with pellet hops, they swelled and were compacted like concrete in the mesh tube. I had a helluva difficult time clearing the tube with a long screwdriver.

Sold it in the classifieds here on HBT.
 
Do you know how many ounces you put in the dry hopper? Product description says 1.5-2 ounces will fit.
 
I don't recall, I think I filled it about halfway with the pellets, likely over the recommended amount. Perhaps if one were to agitate the pellets free as it is placed in the beer would help. I'm sure it's a great product used within its limitations. I wasn't aware of the recommended capacity at the time. Overall, very well made unique product that is priced well, just be wise to use within its limitations. My experience was likely due to misuse.
 
Just bottled my first batch using the dry hopper and I'm relatively disappointed. Used one ounce of hops, and I'd say about a fourth of them were very compacted at the bottom of the contraption. Some were still somewhat in pellet form, which makes me skeptical that all of their beautiful aromas were released. I may just go back to using some sort of mesh bag for dry hops. Or maybe just toss them in and hope the cold crash compacts them enough to not get siphoned up into the bottling bucket.
 
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