Hop Spider as a strainer

[foscojo]

Using the "hang on the side" type of hop spider in the kettle, some say it lowers hop utilization while Brulosophy says it makes no difference. Of course, Brulosophy says that about pretty much everything.

• Anyway, has anyone tried free hopping in the kettle and just using the hop spider in the fermenter as a hop strainer during the post-boil transfer?
  
  
• Did it just clog immediately? (I've tried a half dozen different types of strainers and all insta-clogged.)

 

[Jag75]

I'm in agreement with Brulosophy on this one. Ive used it numerous times and it wasn't hop utilization that made me stay away from it, it was the time it took drain /clean .

The process that I've come to like is just tossing hops in the kettle and using bags in the fv. I myself wouldn't use it for dry hopping.

 

[foscojo]

I myself wouldn't use it for dry hopping.

Of course not. You wouldn't be able to seal the lid.

 

[Jag75]

Of course not. You wouldn't be able to seal the lid.

Lol, I misread your question....I'm not even half way through my coffee yet. It will depend on the amount of sludge you attemp to pour through it. I brewed a NEIPA and used it . It took a while to drain.

Not sure what system you have but I have a filter and a false bottom in my Grainfather which works really well.

 

[foscojo]

I'm very basic. Extract brews with a 5 gallon pot (no spigot) and plastic bucket fermenter.

My goal in life to never use an auto-siphon again. Straining seems it would be the easiest. Just brew, chill, and pour. I just need to find a strainer that won't clog up. I am trying to eliminate frustration, not simply move it.

 

[smarch0]

FWIW I do a short and shoddy type beer that I dry hop in a bucket fermenter. Instead of cold crashing and getting oxygen suck back, I use the same hop spider you describe by sticking it in the bucket and putting the syphon IN the spider. I have found trying to drain THROUGH the spider does not work so good (syphoning into it), it clogs and creates a very slow transfer. Somehow having the liquid drain into the spider and sucking it out works better. So while I have not tried post boil, I don't see why it would not work doing what I describe above if you can make that work.

 

[eric19312]

I tried recirculating my kettle through a hang over hop spider at end of boil as a way to remove hops before transferring to fermentor. Clogged very quickly. It couldn't handle the hot break sludge.

 

[Kharnynb]

anything seems to clog so fast it feels pointless to filter often, I even stopped bothering with the bazooka filter on my system, as it just took forever to transfer to the fermenter....

I do like to use hop socks for my hops, just from an ease of use standpoint.

 

[pvpeacock]

I stopped using my hop spider for hops and just throw them in the kettle. In addition, I stopped trying to prevent trub from going in the fermenter after I tried a bazooka screen and other methods of straining the wort into the fermenter and they all clogged. Just dump all of it in the fermenter and you will be fine. I did start using my hop spider to strain wort from my mash tun into my boil kettle to prevent any grain from going in the pot. Works great!

 

[Jag75]

Do you use whirfloc?

If not try it. Then do a whirlpool as you chill then transfer. If your not going to siphon then just dump all . I added a valve on my old pot and it was worth it .

 

[hawaiibrewer]

On the rare occasion that I need to use hop pellets for the boil additions, I'll use a paint straining bag suspended via a spider. But 99 percent of the time I use hop flowers in the boil as well as dry hopping and just toss them into the kettle or secondary fermenter. After 22 yrs of trying all sorts of methods to filter the wort into the fermenters, I'm now back to using stainless steel "scubbies", inside the kettle, bunched around my copper tube and ball value during the transfer of chilled wort to the fermenters. They seem to catch the hop flowers which in turn catch the trub. They are easy to clean and still allow a decent flow rate from kettle to fermenter. Flowers for dry hopping are easy to leave behind when racking before bottling. Dry hopping with pellets is truly a pain in the a$$ when fermenting in narrow neck carboys so I sewed what I'll call paint strainer bag "condoms" that will hold the pellets and slide thru a narrow neck and can be easily removed before/after bottling. At one time Ken Grossman said he only used flowers at SN, so I've tried to mirror that philosophy.