Hop strainer problems

[Mike]

I made my AG equipment a while back and I used the stainless steel shell of a pipe (which is like chain mail) as a hop strainer.  It worked fine on the first batch (albeit I had to wiggle it a bit) but the on the last two batches it has become clogged leading to a very slow flow/dribble and in the end I have had to pour the batch through a sive.  Is there something I can do to the hop strainer to make it perform better or should I try another type?

http://imgur.com/dEjKv#.UNSVu5IBR5U.email

[Spud395]

They can be troublesome.

When I had a bucket set up (very like yours) I had good luck with a length of 1/2" copper with 2mm holes drilled in it. Only time I had hassle was the time I forgot to fit it before the boil 

I use a keggle now and have an upsidedown colander which does the job nicely.
Not used one like yours although I've seen them quiet a bit so there must be a way of making them work.
Do you have anything inside to stop it crushing and closing the holes? I've seen lads put short pieces of copper pipe it there to support it, maybe!

[Jacob]

Never had any problem with it, however not using it as a hop strainer but as a filter when mashing. Have u tried to stir around it to remove hops from it?

[Mike]

I'm a hop fan so generally there are too many hops in it to get a good stir going. 

I had thought of putting something in it like a length of copper pipe.  I was wondering if it'd be better just to replace it with a length of drilled copper pipe?

[Ciderhead]

I had one of these





Before I started using one of these

[Mike]

Yeah I think that's a strong solution.

This is my APA today.  I'm worrying because I had to pour through a sive, does it look ok or could that be an infection?  It still smells good.

[Will_D]

Nothing to worry about.

Some top cropping yeasts like US-05 have these dark spots as normal, they are justr drying out & autolysing old yeast.

Perfectly normal.

Now naturally there are at least two opions on what to do:

1. Do nowt and maybe get a flavour off the brown bits

2. Regualarly skim the brown bits off the top. This removes the flavour risks BUT ups the likelyhood of contamination greatly.

Personnaly I leave well alone

Will

[Mike]

Cheers. Will leave it alone so!

[Will_D]

I made my AG equipment a while back and I used the stainless steel shell of a pipe (which is like chain mail) as a hop strainer.  It worked fine on the first batch (albeit I had to wiggle it a bit) but the on the last two batches it has become clogged leading to a very slow flow/dribble and in the end I have had to pour the batch through a sive.  Is there something I can do to the hop strainer to make it perform better or should I try another type?

http://imgur.com/dEjKv#.UNSVu5IBR5U.email

The problem is there are too many wires in the weave.

These braids usually have 4 or 5 strands running parallel to each other and braided against the others.

What you could do is cut every other and pull them out. That way the weave is 50% less dense. Tedious but would work. Maybe quicker to go the copper route

Will

[Mike]

Will try that first. Is it damaging to the beer to pour it through a sive?

[Ciderhead]

Will try that first. Is it damaging to the beer to pour it through a sive?

At the end of the boil to get oxygen in prior to pitching yeast, a lot of home brewers in the US pass through a STERILISED sieve

[RichC]

I tried various solutions and finally this works best:


However, I did have a problem with a load of pellets recently(I f**king hate pellets) . Will use a hopsock with pellets from now on

[Ciderhead]

Simpler design to my hop spider above

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFxuooOKe4o[/media]

[Ciderhead]

Lars hop strainer reminded me of a simple timber template i knocked up for those wishing to cut defined depths with a jigsaw blade into copper pipe for a hop strainer or fly sparge


You can see you insert your pipe, slide your jigsaw along until it hits the stop and you have a uniform depth cut along your pipe length. Much easier than a Dremmel or hack saw.

[JimmyM]

Good solution!!! - I have just built my whole kitchen from scratch - alot of routing and cutting - I swear by jigs n templates.
Jigs n templates has a nice ring to it - could be a show on rte.