Hop Spider

[SoMD]

I'm thinking of using one of these but am concerned the plastic paint strainer will not hold up to boiling temps. Any comments from those with experience would be appreciated.

 

[Reelale]

It'll hold up to boiling water just fine. Just be sure it doesn't rest on the bottom of your boil kettle.

 

[SoMD]

Thanks!

 

[JuanMoore]

Every paint strainer bag I've seen is made of nylon, which depending on the exact type has a melting point around 400°-500°F. Boiling temps are a non-issue.

 

[allthingsgiant]

Build it out of stainless, wimp. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/hopster-hopscreen-157529/

 

[tknice]

Yep, it will be fine. Done it many times.

 

[DPBISME]

I bought a very large spice ball... it would hold a Softball... I just toss the whole thing in when the addtion is due

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004X4LGIO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Firebat138]

how does that spice ball work... do you like it.... Do you take it out and add each addition of hops, or do you have several...

 

[nickmv]

Those spice balls really constrict the hops inside unless you're using a very small amount.

Now that being said, the strainer/hop bags aren't exactly 100% effective at their job either. I just brewed a black IPA w/7oz in the spider. When it came time to xfer the wort to the carboy, I had to filter out probably 1oz worth of hops. That's all the finer material that slowly makes its way through the micro-holes in the bag. But it's great for just removing hops at the end of a boil and not dealing with nearly as much a mess during IPA brew sessions.

 

[Firebat138]

you say filter... do you actually use a filter you made, bought... we are thinking of the same process soon...

 

[FirstStateBrewer]

Here's my hops spider build:

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

The only drawback with using it is that the paint strainer bags will clog up and hold a lot of the wort like a balloon when you go to remove it. I have to set it in a colander to strain the liquid out of the bag. It's not too much of a hassle, but it's my only complaint. Otherwise, it's great!

 

[nickmv]

you say filter... do you actually use a filter you made, bought... we are thinking of the same process soon...

When I say filter, I mean basic filtering via hop bag or strainer bag. I don't mean a real dedicated filter mechanism.

And yeah, they absorb wort, but any way you dry hop, you're gonna have a mess. It's much easier to rotate the bag to give it max surface area to drain than it is to try to get the hop dust out of the beer.

 

[frothus]

Whatever you do, don't try to put your wort through a paint strainer after cooling. Iwound up with abig bag full of beer. That was the most frustrating thing I've experienced in brewing. I had to stab the filter repeatedly for like 20 minutes to get all the wort out.

 

[FirstStateBrewer]

Whatever you do, don't try to put your wort through a paint strainer after cooling. Iwound up with abig bag full of beer. That was the most frustrating thing I've experienced in brewing. I had to stab the filter repeatedly for like 20 minutes to get all the wort out.

I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that! ;-)

 

[frothus]

I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that! ;-)

Haha... It was well aerated though!

 

[nickmv]

Whatever you do, don't try to put your wort through a paint strainer after cooling. Iwound up with abig bag full of beer. That was the most frustrating thing I've experienced in brewing. I had to stab the filter repeatedly for like 20 minutes to get all the wort out.

That was funny. What I do is wrap the filter on a handheld metal colander, which sits on my funnel. After about the first half of the batch is poured, you start to hit the hop and break/rest material pretty hard.

I end up picking up the bag and rotating it around, redirecting the mass to areas of the bag that aren't clogged. After 3-4 pours, I put the bag inside out and dump the material, and a quick dip into my sanitizer cooler. Rinse and repeat.

May be a bit OCD, but I've been bitten in the ass by hop problems before, so I take precautions.