StillSmart

Wanting to buy a hop spider for my Grainfather because cleaning hop bags of pellet sediment is chore. I looked at the Mangrove Jacks spider from Grainfather because the cost was very reasonable,(£34 + p&p), but was unaware at first it is only made of 800 micron mesh.

On visiting several other sites asking a few questions, I came to realise these are not fine enough for pellet sediment to be retained 100%, but are OK for leaf.

I shopped around and decided to buy one made from 300 micron mesh, cost £52 + p&p, but now I have used it, it's well worth it.
http://www.angelhomebrew.co.uk/en/search?controller=search&orderby=position&orderway=desc&search_query=hop+spider&submit_search=Search

I have tried a couple of these contraptions. I have to say they all leave me a bit cold, They are A complete and utter b. to clean generally. And leave the hop flavour subdued. I think they probably need a greater hop load to balance it off. Probably poor circulation.

I have for a long time used a very large strainer over the tap hole (sink strainer). The hop utilisation is fantastic, but you do get left with the crap in the bottom. I handball this out, wring it out dry and then bin it.

The mangrove Jack strainer did look appealing only because it was an bigger coarser filter (& Not a fortune). Another solution is a bigger bore tap And a 99p stainless steel sieve from Tesco's

But I do not use pellets.............

Mash, from your post I don't think you know how a Grainfather works.

When in boil mode it tends to create a flow in one direction, as long as you place the spider in the right position with the recirc arm feeding down the center of it, you get all the flavour of the hops because the wort is forced through it.

A hop spider is easier to clean than any bag, all you do is spray it from the outside inwards to dislodge any particles.

Can you explain what you mean by changing the tap size because a Grainfather doesn't have one.

Yes of course. Never considered the sparge arm - good point.
Maybe the reason for the coarser sieve - flow rate!


I have a BM so I am 'dunking'. The larger tap is beneficial because it is less likely to clog. Never got why the GF never had a tap. Seems a bit silly and that from a man who actively abores taps

Mash wrote:Never got why the GF never had a tap

It has a built in pump instead of a tap, because you use it on the floor.
The pump is used with the recirc arm and counter flow chiller.

Yeah. I get that, but I think it limits is other uses....sous vide, burco, steriliser

T'was never intended to fulfill those roles

Robert.

I really really can't believe I am putting in case 'For' a tap... Not me at all. I normally suggest avoiding or removing them.

Mash wrote:Yeah. I get that, but I think it limits is other uses....sous vide, burco, steriliser

I use my T500 boiler for anything else including my sparge water via a pump fitted to the tap & a spinning arm.

I only use leaf in my grainfatehr and just throw them into the boil, whirlpool at end and leave for half hour before cooling and pumping into fermentor, never had a problem but have never used pellets.

Cheers VT

I've been looking for some kind of hop basket for my GF, I've only used pellet in it once, in those plastic perforated tea bag things, not sure it was so successful though as the pellet expanded and filled out in the bags, at that point probably trapping the good hops in the middle from doing their job.