Hop spider alternative: reusable tea bags?

[mtb]

A brewer friend of mine recently popped his all-grain cherry with a bang and bought a Grainfather, and mentioned to me that the hardest component to clean is the stainless hop spider. Being a fan of BIAB I couldn't empathise but I begin thinking of alternatives to the mesh filters that inevitably get clogged with hops (hop socks, stainless tea balls etc). All alternatives I could find share a fault - they all require cleaning.

Then I had a thought - for years SWMBO has brewed her loose-leaf tea in reusable tea bags - see here http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/100-200Pcs-Empty-Tea-Bags-String-Heat-Seal-Filter-Paper-Herb-Loose-Teabags-/161858718565?var=&hash=item25af880b65:m:m-W7J-luDDAMkL-pWYlyXxg. If we're using tea balls for hopping, why not use tea bags? At ~2c each, you don't need to bother cleaning them after use. Just chuck 'em and use a new one next time.

I don't know how well they seal but I assume well enough considering they're designed to retain tea leaves.

Thoughts?

 

[butisitart]

see Stainless hop spider thread for detailed on this, especially as it pertains to gf.

my main concern with your reusables is the size. my guess is you'd need at least 3-4 for a modest hop addition.

 

[mtb]

Let's say you did need 3 - 4 for a modest addition, that's still under 10c for a brew (4 x ~2c bags). Not bad.

 

[DU99]

you can get bigger sizes.. also

you can recycle these ones

 

[Digga]

Good ideas!

 

[Fents]

good idea for dry hopping in the keg as i dont trust my dodgy tea ball anymore!

 

[TidalPete]

I have just replaced my 250 micron hopsock (obtained from CraftBrewer -- no affiliation, etc.) which sadly sprung a leak after 280 brewdays.

All hopsocks & ss hop spiders need a good clean every so often to keep them from clogging up.
Here's a pic taken after the last caustic clean & a few brews before it died.

 

[Bribie G]

If a grainfather in similar in structure to an urn, my time tested method is to peg a Craftbrewer grain bag (not a BIAB bag, this one) around the top of the urn to make a hop swimming pool. It retains nearly all the hop material from pellets as well as hop flowers, but gives them a good boil, as the steam from the boil has to go right through the bag to escape.

 

[mtb]

I bought a couple different styles of teabags off eBay, waiting for them now. Once I get them I'll do a brew (like I needed an excuse...) and update here.

Bribie I'm wondering if you're achieving more with that bag than just a hop sock.. it looks like it'd insulate the pot a little, meaning you're boiling more efficiently than if the top wasn't covered at all because heat isn't escaping but steam is? Just a side thought.

 

[welly2]

If a grainfather in similar in structure to an urn, my time tested method is to peg a Craftbrewer grain bag (not a BIAB bag, this one) around the top of the urn to make a hop swimming pool. It retains nearly all the hop material from pellets as well as hop flowers, but gives them a good boil, as the steam from the boil has to go right through the bag to escape.

I think I might try that, not that I've had loads of problems with hops clogging my grainfather. Didn't have a lot of success with the stainless steel hop sock, or at least I felt it wasn't allowing full utilisation of the hops so am keen to try another option. Would you need to weigh the bag down in any way to make sure it sits at the bottom? My concern (possibly needless) would be that the bag kind of floats and so the wort again wouldn't get full utilisation of the hops.

 

[mtb]

Once waterlogged, the hops should be heavy enough

 

[Bribie G]

I think I might try that, not that I've had loads of problems with hops clogging my grainfather. Didn't have a lot of success with the stainless steel hop sock, or at least I felt it wasn't allowing full utilisation of the hops so am keen to try another option. Would you need to weigh the bag down in any way to make sure it sits at the bottom? My concern (possibly needless) would be that the bag kind of floats and so the wort again wouldn't get full utilisation of the hops.

What you see in the photo is just the top of the system, there's a lot of bag down below (edit: it's a two foot by two foot bag in the old system) and as it gets boiled, the foam and wort massages the bag in a quite, erm, erotic way so the hops get a good workout as the bag billows this way and that. A few times, early on, I just chucked a few SS dessert spoons into the bag to weigh it down but don't bother nowadays.
Also the boil seems to be a bit better as the top of the wort isn't exposed to the air.

 

[welly2]

What you see in the photo is just the top of the system, there's a lot of bag down below and as it gets boiled, the foam and wort massages the bag in a quite, erm, erotic way so the hops get a good workout as the bag billows this way and that. A few times, early on, I just chucked a few SS dessert spoons into the bag to weigh it down but don't bother nowadays.
Also the boil seems to be a bit better as the top of the wort isn't exposed to the air.

I'm going to give it a go! Cheers B!

 

[Jack of all biers]

you can get bigger sizes.. also

you can recycle these ones

FFS I recently bought 5 large teaballs for $1.50 each! for $1.53 I could have bought 100 of the muslin bags that hold more and can be reused. Kicking myself now. Cheers DU99 :kooi:

EDIT - I'm pissed because I thought $1.50 was a steal as I previously bought 2 teaballs for $7.50 each from a local HBS.

 

[mtb]

If anyone's interested, my 200pk of teabags turned up and I tried them in a brew. Results were very good.

Fairly small but sturdy enough.

Each one holds 10g of hop pellets with a little tight packing (not so much that the bag is broken);

With my 30g hop addition in a 50L batch of Hairy Muffler I simply tied up three bags so that they stay together in the boil.

 

[A.B.]

have you tried the beer yet? I'm intertested to find out if the teabags restrict or retain any of the hoppy goodness...

 

[mtb]

Haven't tried it yet, no. Still fermenting. Will be sure to post further results

 

[DU99]

i have used a few times dry hopping ..only issue is tying them up.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

You can get huge spice bags on aliexpress made of nylon, reusable.