Stainless Steel Carboy Dry Hop Tubes

[Killshakes]

I went hunting around for something that might make dry hopping in a carboy a bit easier, without just chucking the hops straight in, and I found these stainless steel mesh dry hop tubes:

http://www.homebrewing.org/Dry-Hopping-Tube-for-Carboy-400-Micron_p_7117.html

I bought one (300 microns, from a different retailer) and I've got it sitting in the English Best Bitters I'm brewing right now. I'm just curious to see if anyone out there has tried one of these, and what their experiences were. (Naturally I'll be glad to follow-up with my own experiences when this batch is ready for drinking).

Lemme know.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Interesting. I am too new to the game to have seen these but they seem really nice. Eliminating that mesh/muslin bag would be nice. Curious to hear the experiences with these.

 

[Killshakes]

I'm bottling the bitters tonight, so it shouldn't be long.

 

[derekcw83]

I've been using these for the past year or so. I have 4 of them in different custom sizes from the guy that makes em. I have no issues with them except 2 things: limited amount you can hop, and cleaning them takes a bit of time.

 

[Killshakes]

I've been using these for the past year or so. I have 4 of them in different custom sizes from the guy that makes em. I have no issues with them except 2 things: limited amount you can hop, and cleaning them takes a bit of time.

Good to hear that they're working for you! I think I can live with the limited size, since I'm mostly making small(-ish) batches and only just now experimenting with dry hopping. I haven't had to clean mine yet, obviously, so I suppose I'll see how that goes. Have you found any good methods for cleaning?

 

[derekcw83]

When it's packed full of hops I gently squeeze it a little at a time under a jet of water so the clumps I loosen get washed out as I go. Then I use a small 1" diameter bottle brush to scrub the inside once all hops are out.

 

[FoCobrewguy]

I have those and really find them easy to use vs bag or just throw them in. I have a small one like you linked to through in some hops during active fermentation in my fermentor. I normally transfer to a keg for dry hopping and can fit a much larger mesh tube in a corny keg opening. That way I can add 3-8 ounces of hops for dry hopping big DIPAs. Just an idea, looks like you bottle but could still transfer to a second vessel with larger opening if you are concerned with how much hops you can add. Or get two or three of the small ones they should all fit in the carboy.

 

[nh_homebrew]

what about using a Washing Machine Connector and putting a plug on one or both ends?