Hop Spider

Built a hop spider and was incredibly excited to use it. Also decided to do my first full boil. I have 7gal pot and the pvc was sitting in the water. i decided not to use it since I did not want plastic boiling into my beer. Is the pvc ok to do this?

 

I'm going to use my "Better Stainless Hop Spider" for the first time tomorrow!

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/better-stainless-hop-spider-318491/

 

The plastic is not supposed to go into the boiling wort. It is supposed to be hanging above the wort. Only the nylon mesh bag goes into the wort.

 

My attempted at using PVC hop spider failed....I was doing a 90 minute boil....the heat at about 45 minutes warped the PVC which loosened my clamp and dropped the nylon bag right in

I switched to stainless and works like a champ

 

The version that uses the insinkerator piece is what I ended up doing. Took a while to drill, but works great. I went with all stainless, I think I'm out about $30 total, well worth it. The trub on my last batch was almost nonexistent, just a nice clean yeast cake.

 

What kind of mesh bag did you use? I used a 5 gal nylon paint strainer bag, and lots of hop matter escaped. It probably reduced by trub by about 50%. I was hoping for more like 90%.

 

Im confused by how your PVC was submerged.
One thing to remember when using the plastic is re-tighten all of your fittings before every use. They will loosen slightly each time it's used.

 

I used the Insinkerator flange + binder clips from WalMart (88¢ for a dozen) + a muslin bag

one of the clips is holding the flange to the side of the kettle

no drilling or cutting required

 

The sink Stainless Steel drain ring is the way to go in my opinion.. Bought new for $8.. I cut the bottom section off using my lathe, but it can be done with many other hand tools or a dremel.

Drill three holes, use stainless steel all thread or carriage bolts, one SS worm gear clamp and a 5gal paint strainer... Done

 

This is my setup...and ALL stainless, except for the bag. No drilling/cutting/filing/screwing/etc either. Hangs from side of the pot (in my case, my Grainfather kettle). Don't think it gets any easier than this for the price.

Total Cost: $14

Hanging Stainless Kennel Pet Bowl
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CAOCYRG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Stainless Steel Wire clips
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LBPFNVY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Remove the bowl, hang on pot, attach mesh bag with clips.

DONE