Looking for Opinions on using a Hop Spider

[Reillisson]

Hey all,

I'm going to buy a plate chiller next week and i'm concerned about filtering out the hops in the kettle so as not to clog my chiller. I've been reading a lot about hop spiders and from what I can tell it seems that they don't seem to affect your hop utilization in a negative way but I was looking for some input from other people who may have used one to see if its a good idea or not.

Thanks

[KB1138]

I haven't used a spider, but I will use a cheese cloth or a grain sock when I'm making a super hoppy beer and want to keep them out of the fermenter. I bought a really small mesh bag recently that can be washed and re-used for that exact purpose

[LeafMan66_67]

I was never happy with the nylon bag version I made as it seemed the hops didn't float free in the boil, but balled up at the bottom of the sack. If I was to do it again, I'd go with something like this from Everwood Ave, allowing the hops to float free.

http://www.everwoodavebrewshop.com/prod ... t-spdr.htm

[spears104]

I have the ss mesh kind that hangs off the side of the pot. It works great and no issues with plugging my plate chiller.

[Swine]

I was never happy with the nylon bag version I made as it seemed the hops didn't float free in the boil, but balled up at the bottom of the sack. If I was to do it again, I'd go with something like this from Everwood Ave, allowing the hops to float free.

http://www.everwoodavebrewshop.com/prod ... t-spdr.htm

I have this and it works great!

[mumblecrunch]

I was never happy with the nylon bag version I made as it seemed the hops didn't float free in the boil, but balled up at the bottom of the sack. If I was to do it again, I'd go with something like this from Everwood Ave, allowing the hops to float free.

http://www.everwoodavebrewshop.com/prod ... t-spdr.htm

I have this and it works great!

I was out to visit Dave the other day and asked specifically about these. His comment was that everyone who has bought one has loved it and, further, that nobody's said anything about having to adjust for changes in utilization at all. I may very well invest in one myself, if only for hop-heavy brews.

[Celiacbrew]

I have one of those. I like it. Works as advertised and keeps the hops out of the fermentor. I recirculate into it and it catches the cold break material. When I transfer from my kettle to the fermentor sometimes I have to shut off the pump for a minute to let the basket fully drain, which is nice because that means the hops aren't soaking up wort.

[GAM]

I use a spaghetti strainer, the type you put in the pot. It is nowhere near 300 micron but still removes 80-90% of the hops. I also run my pump through it.

S

[Reillisson]

Thanks guys I was looking at the stainless steel one online when I was pricing out my plate chiller. I'm gonna buy one when I go out to see Dave about my plate chiller.

Thanks for the Info It was very helpful.