Hop Spiders are they necessary?

Marcus Roper · May 27, 2019

Hi Guys
Herse the thing I got one, because who wants a messy clean up and extra particles in the beer. Well I'm having second thoughts, it's a pain in the butt to clean and I'm not sure that is that effective. I use a grainfather honestly it seem, it gets in the way.
Any thoughts and experiences please pros and cons?

stevey · May 27, 2019

I've used one with my grainfather, it didn't make clean up any easier really. I didn't like the way the wort in the spider didn't seem to be boiling and I suspect it affected utilisation. Now I just use leaf hops, and never have any problems pumping the wort. I just have to remember to allow for more absorbtion as brewmate always underestimates.

hop-a-long · May 27, 2019

If you do a full batch in your GF it works a treat, but if you do a 10-12L batch you're better of without. In a small batch the hopspider barely touches the wort.

As for cleaning: I first dump out the contents in the bin. Then use the handheld showerhead to rinse. And finally I use compressed air to clean the rest of the debris out from the outside. If nessesary repeat the last two steps.

Takes me about 15-20 mins.

Dutto · May 28, 2019

I have used a Hop Spider recently, but before that I used either a sieve or a Hop Bag; so I guess the answer is "No".

Muslin bags last at least ten boils and (like nylon ones that last much longer) they are easy to wring out, turn inside out, empty, then rinse and dry.

Brewstore sold disposable hope bags at 8p each, so you can get a lot of brews out of the money it costs for a Hop Spider!

Another alternative is a Hop Ball like this one ...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321985867523?ul_noapp=true

Enjoy!

Brew_DD2 · May 28, 2019

I used to swear by my DIY hop spider but now I just chuck my hops in. A good whirlpool should prevent any blockages on your hop filter. Better hop utilisation and less time to clean up. Win-win in my opinion.

Clint · May 28, 2019

I use a 300micron nylon filter sock...it's very brown now having been used for a couple of years. I fix it to a home made spider consisting of a Tupper ware tub with the bottom cut out and some threaded bar. It works a treat. Afterwards I tip it out into the bin rinse it then peg it on the line where it stays in all weathers til next brew day.

BeerCat · May 28, 2019

I use the nylon nut bags of eBay. They are about 100 micron and less than £1.50 each. A lot of people complain about bad utilisation with spiders. I don't whirlpool and if I joined chill this keeps hops out of the FV.

RichK · May 28, 2019

A hop spider is far from essential & may even have a downside of lower utilization (is there any evidence or otherwise of this as I don't think I've had any such problem?).

I find it helps keep the hop sludge away from the fermenter (but so does filtering which I do anyway) and cleaning up afterwards (but itself needs cleaning so not a massive win there).

With 20/20 hindsight, I'm not certain that I'd buy one now as they're not cheap (though I bought mine from HK & waited four weeks for delivery).

Richie_asg1 · May 28, 2019

I haven't tried this yet and have just dry hopped so far, but I suppose it is a bit like making tea?
You can put them in a tea bag, use loose leaf tea in a pot - then strain afterwards, or a larger tea ball infuser type thing. Based on that experience alone I would say loose leaf tea in a large pot makes the best tea - but so does keeping a lid on it. If you don't believe that then make a cuppa in a mug with a tin foil lid to keep the air out and taste the difference.
So I see the purpose of boiling bittering hops but steeeping aroma hops cooler.

I suppose you could make a giant tea ball from two sieves wired together rather than a hop spider.

Kybren · May 28, 2019

Cleaning mines I normally chuck the hops that are in it give it a rinse off, let it dry and then most the bits fall off with a quick wipe of a clean cloth.

Hop Spiders are they necessary?

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Hop Spiders are they necessary?

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