Grain bag for pellet hops vs spider

[smithchar526]

Ok so I get there is all types of options for dealing with hop filtering.

The top things I see are

1. No filtering just whirlpool some left over junk could be good, but if using a valve/tubing it could get clogged. Possibly more kettle cleaning needed.

2. Stainless steel hop spider basket that clips on the side.

3. Tri-pod style hop spider using a hop bag

I was going to go with a homemade tri-pod style and a bag but why couldn’t I just use the same style bag I would use for grain and not mess with a spider. Is it just to keep bag off the bottom of the kettle?

I know this topic is pretty beat up. Option 1 sounds great if I’m not going to get clogged valve/tubing. I’ll likely try them all at some point but just curious as why not kettle size bag so you get full hop utilization and less mess down the road.

 

[NewJersey]

the only downside i see to using a grain bag for hops is that you'd prolly wanna own 2 bags and you'd need a false bottom.

 

[smithchar526]

the only downside i see to using a grain bag for hops is that you'd prolly wanna own 2 bags and you'd need a false bottom.

So to keep bag off the bottom of kettle a false bottom would resolve that but at point a tripod hop spider would be less to clean and cheaper but I could see the bag cleaning being a annoying and buying replacement bags when needed.

I really like the idea of the clip on hop spiders but that topic on hop utilization I guess is the only concern there. If the general consensus is that it’s not that big of a concern as long as you don’t stuff it full I like that option the best since it stainless and reusable

 

[soccerdad]

I just use a hop sock and tie it to the handle of the kettle

 

[z-bob]

I generally use a hop sock. But last time I just threw the pellets in with the boil, then strained them and most of the hot and cold break out with a 5 gallon paint strainer bag.