New way to control Pellet Hop gunk!
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Kyled93 said:
Thanks for the offer but I moved to Charlotte a few years ago. I would have took you up on that if I was still down there.
BullGator said:
Anybody?
tjpfeister
Well-Known Member
Not having to weight the bag down (I've used butter knives and stainless nuts in the past) and not worrying about hops sticking to the sides of a constantly twisting bag would be two major pluses that a ridged "cage" would have over the traditional spider. Another plus I am looking at (as an electric brewer) is that a cage would be built at a specific length whereas each time I use my spider, I have to re-measure the length of the bag to avoid letting it contact my heating element. Like so many things in brewing, the only real drawback to a cage would be initial cost versus a spider.
dogbar
Well-Known Member
Mine arrived yesterday, ahead of schedule. Pleasantly surprised by how sturdy it is.
IPA time this weekend. Thanks, Chad.
IPA time this weekend. Thanks, Chad.
I know I'm a bit late on the reply, but I did want to clarify my comment back on page 1 that you referenced. I wasn't saying anything negative about your product, or even that it wasn't possibly worth the price tag.
I simply commented that I didn't care for how you (or your web guy) had laid out on the site that shows a $28 price with a drop down showing higher prices when you selected basket type.
I personally probably would have laid it out paragraph style with radio buttons, but that's just my own personal opinion.
There are pro's and con's to both your offering and Chad's and at least the most similar models seem to be within a few bucks (20 +/-) of each other so consumers can make the decision that works best for them.
I can't agree with this. Constant price wars, coupled with other external elements are what's led to so much manufacturing being moved overseas, mainly to China. This has a trickle down effect of loss of skill manufacturing labor, jobless, lesser state and federal tax revenue which leads to less available funding for state and federal infrastructure etc etc etc.
Sure, it's driven pricing down to the consumer at the expense of product longevity and sometimes toxic health risks. Tools for example I will always spend extra to buy USA made, even if it's 50% higher or more. The original cost savings of buying price warred foreign manufactured tools is quickly obliterated when they break/fail/wear out quickly and have to be replaced.
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ScubaSteve
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Cool. I love it when new stuff comes out and is made by "regular" guys.
I've done lots of experimenting with mesh...for the purposes of filtering grains as well as hops. I was originally working on a system that would filter the mash with a huge mesh basket, then once cleaned out it could be used for whole or pellet hops. I couldn't find the sweet spot. 30x30 mesh is just about right for pellet hops...but too fine for grain. 20x20 mesh is almost right for grain, but too coarse for hops. I was either passing grain through or having the mesh clog and overflow.
I kinda reverted back to the traditional mashtun w/FB but kept looking at options for the boil. Something like this with rigid sides is better than a bag which envelopes the hops and forms that "softball" too quickly...when the hops ball up you're barely getting to what is in the center...try it and see....sometimes the pellets stay whole.
IF you were to do a big hop bill around a pound, you might want to consider using 2 of these filters. That's just too much sludge and you won't get any diffusion.
OR, you could try to stir the hops inside.
OR, you could run wort slowly into the filter thereby forcing wort through the hops...be careful not to overflow. In fact, if you get overflow, that is a big indicator of too fine of a mesh. Scraping the sides can help.
Another option is to split the hop bill between leaf and pellets, then free float the leaf while you filter the pellets. If you have a bazooka screen or diverter on your pickup tube, it should be fine.
Lots of ways to brew beer, none are wrong.
I've done lots of experimenting with mesh...for the purposes of filtering grains as well as hops. I was originally working on a system that would filter the mash with a huge mesh basket, then once cleaned out it could be used for whole or pellet hops. I couldn't find the sweet spot. 30x30 mesh is just about right for pellet hops...but too fine for grain. 20x20 mesh is almost right for grain, but too coarse for hops. I was either passing grain through or having the mesh clog and overflow.
I kinda reverted back to the traditional mashtun w/FB but kept looking at options for the boil. Something like this with rigid sides is better than a bag which envelopes the hops and forms that "softball" too quickly...when the hops ball up you're barely getting to what is in the center...try it and see....sometimes the pellets stay whole.
IF you were to do a big hop bill around a pound, you might want to consider using 2 of these filters. That's just too much sludge and you won't get any diffusion.
OR, you could try to stir the hops inside.
OR, you could run wort slowly into the filter thereby forcing wort through the hops...be careful not to overflow. In fact, if you get overflow, that is a big indicator of too fine of a mesh. Scraping the sides can help.
Another option is to split the hop bill between leaf and pellets, then free float the leaf while you filter the pellets. If you have a bazooka screen or diverter on your pickup tube, it should be fine.
Lots of ways to brew beer, none are wrong.
Marcb, did you ever do your Pliny clone with the 300 micron version? If so how did it hold up?
marcb
Well-Known Member
Jukas said:
Unfortunately not---I get to brew 60 gallons of it next weekend on a commercial rig though! For 20 gallon batches I need over 16 oz of hop additions for Pliny so two of these will probably be necessary. I think one is fine for 10 gallon batches though!
FATC1TY
Well-Known Member
I wonder how much whole leaf I could shove in the model on eBay. I have a 11gal pot, and normally buy my hops in leaf early in the season for the bulk of my purchases..
I do some IPA's that have roughly 1/2# in them easily, and swelled up 8-9oz of whole leaf is a fair bit.
I do some IPA's that have roughly 1/2# in them easily, and swelled up 8-9oz of whole leaf is a fair bit.
dogbar
Well-Known Member
So I can confirm that the 300 actually does work for straining out break material.
I brewed yesterday and unfortunately was on auto-pilot at the time of the first hop addition. I dumped them right in and forgot all about the strainer sitting in the bucket of sanitizer next to me. So, crap, but I figured if I wasn't blocking them during the boil, I'd try to strain them out at the end.
So, after I cooled my wort and let it sit for awhile, I gently lowered the strainer into the pot, put my siphon inside it, and took out a few gallons of crystal clear wort.
As I got to the bottom of the pot, this stopped working, because the screen was pretty much clogged and wouldn't allow clear wort in as quickly as the siphon was taking it out. So I removed the strainer, hosed it off, re-sanitized it, and then hung it on the side of my fermentation bucket. Then I just poured in what was left in the BK. There were probably two quarts worth of wort, hops and break material left at this point. It didn't drain quickly, but I got another quart of good wort out of it, leaving at the end this:
I brewed yesterday and unfortunately was on auto-pilot at the time of the first hop addition. I dumped them right in and forgot all about the strainer sitting in the bucket of sanitizer next to me. So, crap, but I figured if I wasn't blocking them during the boil, I'd try to strain them out at the end.
So, after I cooled my wort and let it sit for awhile, I gently lowered the strainer into the pot, put my siphon inside it, and took out a few gallons of crystal clear wort.
As I got to the bottom of the pot, this stopped working, because the screen was pretty much clogged and wouldn't allow clear wort in as quickly as the siphon was taking it out. So I removed the strainer, hosed it off, re-sanitized it, and then hung it on the side of my fermentation bucket. Then I just poured in what was left in the BK. There were probably two quarts worth of wort, hops and break material left at this point. It didn't drain quickly, but I got another quart of good wort out of it, leaving at the end this:
FATC1TY
Well-Known Member
Not bad... I might try one and modify it a bit.. I use whole leaf, which should drain WAY better than pellets, but sometimes I have to use pellets for certain hops I don't have on hand.
Do you mind if I ask how much the 8x20 ran you?
FATC1TY
Well-Known Member
Is the bottom screen recessed up off the bottom lip any? Or is it completely flat in the bottom? I'm interested in one, need to measure my kettle so I can get one big enough to deal with leaf hops as well.
I wonder how 2 of the 4in by 10in ones would be in the pot....
I wonder how 2 of the 4in by 10in ones would be in the pot....
chads454
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its on top of the bottom band so it's 1/2 off the bottom.
FATC1TY
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hungry4hops
Hop to it!
Looks awesome! I would love one of those, how's the clean up looks like it would be pretty ruff!
marcb
Well-Known Member
hungry4hops said:
Clean up is a snap. Invert the unit and the hop gunk plops right out, hose it off and you are good to go.
CraigT
Well-Known Member
Maybe not as nice looking as chads, but I made this on my lunch break today at work. I'm excited to try it. It's 6 inch diameter and 18 inches tall, made for my keggle. Thanks to chad and the op for the inspiration!
Wow. Nice!
It looks like marcb was able to work with someone to create a new product. This type of information exchange is what the board is all about.
At this point, however, it looks like there should be enough information for anyone to contact the seller directly. If the seller want to talk about this product on equal footing with other vendors the seller should consider contacting the admin about a vendor account.
It looks like marcb was able to work with someone to create a new product. This type of information exchange is what the board is all about.
At this point, however, it looks like there should be enough information for anyone to contact the seller directly. If the seller want to talk about this product on equal footing with other vendors the seller should consider contacting the admin about a vendor account.
FATC1TY
Well-Known Member
I bought one to try, if it doesn't work for me, I'll pass it on to someone else locally I reckon.
After my brew day the other week using whole leaf hops and the problems I had there, I need a strainer that works better.
After my brew day the other week using whole leaf hops and the problems I had there, I need a strainer that works better.
ScubaSteve
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If you generally use that many whole hops, you're in better shape than you think. You can actually get away with a false bottom, bazooka tube (my favorite), or some other coarse straining method. Pellet hops are just a PITA...too bad they're cheaper, keep longer, and are more readily available.
But ya still gotta deal with the gunk...there's no way around it
But ya still gotta deal with the gunk...there's no way around it
ScubaSteve
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BTW, I've been thinking there may be some value in buying 2 small baskets vs. 1 large. I think there's a point of "critical mass" you reach once you put too many pellets in the basket. The sludge restricts flow....and it blunts the diffusion of later hop additions....especially those 5 and 0 minute additions. Think about it....do you really think that there's any worthwhile diffusion of alpha acids past the screen when you throw new hops into an already very thick hop sludge? Maybe...but certainly not as much as there needs to be.
So maybe it's worthwhile to have a bittering basket and an aroma basket? Or, get rid of the bittering hops, wash it out, around T-10 mins and then add the aroma hops?
So maybe it's worthwhile to have a bittering basket and an aroma basket? Or, get rid of the bittering hops, wash it out, around T-10 mins and then add the aroma hops?
FATC1TY
Well-Known Member
You know.. I had that same thought.. I really did.. Grab two of the 4in baskets, and put on each side. If you don't pack them, then you will have no issues what so ever.
Once you start tossing tons of hops in, then you get issues I think.
I ordered the 14 on since I needed the extra space, and it's 6in opening.
I generally use whole leaf. I've got a ton of it around here of various kinds, but I do use pellets in stuff that I don't have on hand.
I'm thinking for the FWH, I can put the tube from the tun into the strainer with my hops and let it run over them easily as well.
I might end up getting another tube. I will see how much whole leaf I can cram in there.. Might need two of them for the big DIPA's I do. I think I'll be okay for MOST beers doing this. Worse case, I toss the whole whole leaf right in.. I just need to cut down on the crap in the kettle.
I also thought, hey, for the flame out additions, since they are generally the bigger ones, I could just pull the strainer if it's full, or I could use a hop bag I keep around for the last addition. Since it's not boiling any more I have no issues "floating it" in the kettle. I'll have to play around with it. Hopefully this strainer will work for what I want to do. I was pretty irritated with that mess I had in the kettle. I don't want a bazooka tube in the kettle though.
sudsmcgee
Well-Known Member
I've all but given up on hop spiders/bags at this point for my really hoppy IPAs. I find that I lose way too much hop flavor and aroma. I just filter the outgoing chilled wort into the fermenter. It's just so much easier and my beer has improved as a result.
For big IPA's, I put the bittering hops in my regular spider, but each addition is then in it's own bag floating around. I've done head-to-head tasting of my Pliny clone against the original and my bittering and aroma came out much better than theirs.
I've really been thinking about one of these SS baskets, but the regular spider has been working pretty good for me.
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