Stainless hop spider

[TidalPete]

takai, on 06 Jul 2016 - 12:57 PM, said:takai, on 06 Jul 2016 - 12:57 PM, said:takai, on 06 Jul 2016 - 12:57 PM, said:

So my KK one is all but clogged up now, and hot caustic isnt doing anything. I think its just too fine.

Soaking for 24 hours in caustic followed by a light scrub should have solved your hassle although I have zero experience with ss ultra-fine mesh? Did you soak long enough at a reasonable temp before scrubbing?

Most likely to be :icon_offtopic: but for the life of me cannot work out why you would need an expensive ss hop filter when a 250 micron hopsock should be good for more or less 280 brewdays (as mine was before replacing) & is only $20 from one of the AHB sponsors. Cheers Ross. :super:

Here's a pic of my old hopsock just before she died after the stitching finally gave out.

 

[takai]

Gave it another big soak for 48hrs in strong caustic and a big scrub and it has come up a bit cleaner. Still keen on getting a MJ one though, the higher flow will be appreciated.

Hop sock can be ok, but the ease of a hop spider is normally much much better. Also no issues with it touching the internal element and getting burnt.

 

[TidalPete]

And there's my answer!
No problems with gas.
With such a fine ss mesh perhaps blast with the hose rather than scrub?

 

[620rossco]

I have a UBD 80litre basket. Postage said it was made by abfab. Either way it is the bomb. Interested in a hop filter of the same quality as well.
Rossco

 

[takai]

And there's my answer!
No problems with gas.
With such a fine ss mesh perhaps blast with the hose rather than scrub?

Bigger problems with gas for me. Like dying from CO poisoning

 

[takai]

Managed to unclog mine, hit it with the MAPP torch with a broad flame and heated it until the mesh was getting a little glowy and then let it cool. Immersed it in caustic and a lot of it came out, then a subsequent soak in Sodium Perc got the rest out. Its now in Citric acid repassivating

With all that effort i think 300 micron is just too fine, still keen to try the MJ one.

 

[sp0rk]

Bigger problems with gas for me. Like dying from CO poisoning

That little ventilation?
I brew in my garage in winter, I only have the double wide door open 6 inches and then the window on the side of the garage is open as well, seems to be fine

 

[dicko]

I use a KK unit and I have never had any trouble with cleaning it.

I do hose it off immediately after removing it from the kettle and I give it a rub over with a dish mop and napisan.
I notice that the strip behind the stainless bracket that runs from the top to the bottom can trap some gunk under it if it is not hosed out thoroughly.
About every six brews or so I soak all my gear in PBW overnight and the hop filter gets to swim with the rest of the gear.

Cheers

 

[takai]

That little ventilation?
I brew in my garage in winter, I only have the double wide door open 6 inches and then the window on the side of the garage is open as well, seems to be fine

I brew in the kitchen of my 2bed apt which has a completely inadequate extraction fan over the smallest hob in the world (we use a separate induction stovetop). With all the windows open it still steams up like you are in the shower during the boil.

 

[honesmo]

About 4 brews ago gave up on using my kk hop spider for its intended purpose after it clogged to a point it wasted all my late hops on an IPA. I'm now using it after whirlpooling to filter the wort into the fermenter. Very happy with the results so far looks to help aeration as well running the tap on full down the inside of the sock. If I remember I'll get some photos of it in action as an added bonus I can get an extra litre from the trub so now getting a keg and a 2l growler from every batch.

 

[fdsaasdf]

About 4 brews ago gave up on using my kk hop spider for its intended purpose after it clogged to a point it wasted all my late hops on an IPA. I'm now using it after whirlpooling to filter the wort into the fermenter.

Since getting the hop spider I've been running a 20min whirlpool/hop steep with the march pump close to flat out, with the outlet fed into the hop spider. I have found this to be excellent for both sediment reduction and utilising hops (80% of my brews are based around a 'late and great' hop philosophy anyway). Cleaning is a bit of a pain but a rinse with the hose and a PBW soak suffices.

I do suspect that there is some inhibition of maximum utilisation using the spider during the boil, but as I am forcing the wort through the hops for so long and then no-chill cubing I've been more than happy with the APA/IPA/BIPA/IIPAs produced with the hop spider.

If starting from scratch, however, I would prefer a wider hop spider with slightly less fine mesh and then have a very large fine mesh filter to run as a hop bazooka inside the kettle. This would probably cost hundreds of dollars, so realistically for a touch under $40 posted the KK hop spider does a pretty decent job.

 

[takai]

Ive been using my new MJ Hop Spider for a few brews now and its great. Much better flow than the KK one, and a non tapered bottom to maximise wort flow. The only disadvantage is that the hook makes the top of the spider even with the top of the pot, and for my setup it sits a bit high. Will just weld on a new one to put it lower down.

 

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

Just bought one of these http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/172348450350?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Says the mesh is 500 microns, so bigger than the keg king one but smaller than the MJ one. $20 delivered... although it looks like it could take up to 3 weeks to arrive.

 

[SBOB]

I ordered one of those a week or so ago also.. Will be interesting to see what it's like when it turns up.

Seems to be an influx of hop spiders from Chinese sellers in the last month or so on ebay

 

[ScottyDoesntKnow]

Was going to make one from stainless bits from Bunnings but the cost and time to make/drive to Bunnings etc. is going to be a lot more than $20! Yay China...

 

[Tex083]

I had some of the same issues with keeping my spider clean. I listened to a podcast and it appears PBW is not that good at removing beer stone. You need an acidic solution such as citric acid. Soaked overnight and the thing is clean as!

 

[Stouter]

Used my Fleabay, ex-H.K. S/S hops basket yesterday. It's cheap, and looks it, and may well fall apart after a few more brews, but appeared to work ok.
Didn't clog up and was easy to wash out.
If it dies in the arse I'll upgrade to a better version, until then happy days.

 

[Stouter]

Doopdy double post sorry.

 

[Stouter]

Had a peak at one of the KegKing branded versions of this hop basket the other day at my LHBS, and there's a big difference in quality.
The joining of the frame work, the taunt mesh, uniformity of shape. And for only about $10 more than I paid for my banged up chunk of s#!t that looks like it's previous life was as a diesel filter in mining machinery, and also like it will be lucky to last another 10 brews at the most.
Yes, will upgrade soon.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Used a hop spider for the first time today, wish I hadn't bothered. I know its not my imagination running away with me, but drinking the wort from the hydrometer tube the hop kick just wasn't the same as from the same beer I brewed a couple of days ago. I have been trying all manner of different methods for emptying the kettle. Dip tubes, 3,5 meters of helix, I have made a bazooka for the Brau Wolf from one of these.

Idea being if they can keep hops in they can keep them out.

I will keep using the helix on the Guten but it is slow. I haven't tried the above yet hopefully this week.