Hop strainer?

[edmanster]

had sum time to kill here at work so I took a 40x40 mesh and put it against a paint srainer bag under a microscope for fun..lol.. what you think

 

[Joseddl]

I built a different version of the hop strainer - a design that allows me to move it to one side and add in the chiller (I have a wide kettle). It worked like a charm! Wanted to share with you guys. The brackets are from an aluminum c-channel, stainless steel bolts. Enjoy!

 

[SNIPEONE]

Ok, I don't get it, why would you not just use small hop bags and toss them in ?

 

[ocluke]

had sum time to kill here at work so I took a 40x40 mesh and put it against a paint srainer bag under a microscope for fun..lol.. what you think

Interesting image. I used a paint strainer bag for the last time last week. I get terrible wort flow through it with a large amount of hops. I'm leaving way too much hop oil behind. Has anyone had success with some of the commercially available mesh stainless steel hop spiders?

 

[carp]

I had used the hop strainer for a while, several years ago, and then got away from it for a long time. My systems clogs when using hop pellets so I put them in small muslin bags. I question the resulting utilzation, because of the small size and hence fullness of the bags, and they are a bit of a pain (i empty them and reuse them) .

So lately for my late additions (IPAs) with a lot of hops I've been using the strainer bags. I use a separate 9x12 size bag for each of maybe 10,5 and flameout addition, and toss the bags in (tied) not using a hanging fixture. One thing I really like is the ability to squeeze the bag near the end of cooling - recovering a lot of liquid this way that would otherwise be tied up in hops.

It's hard for me to imagine the issue of terrible wort flow, unless of course the hops are packed in there. It seems like fluid flows really easily through these. I don't bring this up to debate, I'm genuinely curious as to others' observations and thoughts on the issue.

Greg

 

[DarkUncle]

Ok, I don't get it, why would you not just use small hop bags and toss them in ?

For me a hop spider is really the only way. When I simply tried using the little hop bags they would get sucked down to the bottom of the kettle and clog up my outlet when it was time to pump the wort to the fermentor or when recirculating during cooling. I suppose I could have tried fishing them out beforehand but I like to leave the hops in the wort as long as possible while recirculating before draining.

 

[ScubaSteve]

had sum time to kill here at work so I took a 40x40 mesh and put it against a paint srainer bag under a microscope for fun..lol.. what you think

This is awesome...probably a first! Why didn't I think of that???

I would be really interested in seeing:

1. A nylon bag that has been used for some time (to see if they melt and thus clog more easily with use).

2. Both materials actually full of hops right after the boil. You could see how the debris lodges in there. The folks using SS don't seem to have the clogging problems...I suspect the rigidity of the wires causes it to retain the particles differently. And they won't melt (if that is what the nylon is doing).

 

[ocluke]

I would be really interested in seeing:

1. A nylon bag that has been used for some time (to see if they melt and thus clog more easily with use).

2. Both materials actually full of hops right after the boil. You could see how the debris lodges in there.

It's hard for me to imagine the issue of terrible wort flow, unless of course the hops are packed in there. It seems like fluid flows really easily through these. I don't bring this up to debate, I'm genuinely curious as to others' observations and thoughts on the issue.

Greg

For me a hop spider is really the only way. When I simply tried using the little hop bags they would get sucked down to the bottom of the kettle and clog up my outlet when it was time to pump the wort to the fermentor or when recirculating during cooling. I suppose I could have tried fishing them out beforehand but I like to leave the hops in the wort as long as possible while recirculating before draining.

I make 10-11 gallon batches, and with beers that use a lot of hops, I've found that the flow of wort through a large hop strainer bag is terrible. I learned this by slowly recirculating wort at the end of the boil directly into the top of the hop spider (if you are setup for this, try it). The bag completely filled with wort like a huge balloon. I immediately stopped the flow and watched it. It stayed full and only partially drained, even after the boil kettle was completely drained.

 

[DarkUncle]

Well I have yet to make an IPA, maybe this weekend. But besides a hop spider or the small muslin bags, which I also have concerns about hop utilization, there's really no other options.

I do intend to pick up a stainless steel hop spider in the near future but judging from the photo above, the mesh appears to be almost identical in the weave with the strainer bags. I suppose the only option is to increase the amount of hops to compensate.

 

[ocluke]

Well I have yet to make an IPA, maybe this weekend. But besides a hop spider or the small muslin bags, which I also have concerns about hop utilization, there's really no other options.

I do intend to pick up a stainless steel hop spider in the near future but judging from the photo above, the mesh appears to be almost identical in the weave with the strainer bags. I suppose the only option is to increase the amount of hops to compensate.

From some videos that I've seen online of people using stainless steel hop strainers, they appear to have a good flow of wort through them. I'm sure some are better than others. I will probably buy one if the filter that I recently obtained from brewershardware.com doesn't do a good enough job of filtering out the hops. The reviews and their own test on the website look promising.