DIY Hop Spider

[GrahamR]

I seem to be using whole leaf hops lately and since the HTC mash kits also include them I figured I would build myself a hop spider. This essentially allows you to do all your hop additions in a single bag which you remove at the end thus keeping your wort free of whole hops.

You will need 3 bolts (mine are 10mm coach with 280mm length), six 10mm washers, six 10mm nuts, suitably sized jubilee clip and a piece of pvc coupling.


Drill 3 holes using a 10mm drill bit



Next we add a nut and then washer to our bolt


This is pushed through our hole and we then add a washer followed by a nut. Repeat this for all 3 bolts



We attach our bag next. Iv used a muslin bag. simply open your jubilee clip, fix your bag around the opening and tighten your clip


There we have it. Finished hop spider sitting atop my PECO boiler. It literally took 10 mins to put together.


Total cost of the build was €11.70 in my local hardware shop. For the time and money it takes it may be a really useful tool for some brewers.

[jawalemon]

I could do with one of them. Last brew a hop bag got caught around one of the elements in my keggle and got burned to bits. The beer tasted like drinking a campfire. It's the first batch i've had to throw down the drain.

[Greg2013]

Thanks for the list of parts Graham,i have a keg boiler but i think with slightly longer coach bolts(maybe like 400mm) it will still work.I have had the plastic collar part for ages(same as what comes off back of a toilet bowl to the pipe coming from wall,and yes it is new and unused) but have been lazy about getting it together.