Hop Spider

[Mark Weusten]

Billy T would have been proud. This made a huge difference to my brew. Not only was the amount of trub minimal but I managed to get the contents of the boiler down to 27c by recirculating and as a result wort was in the fermenter at 18c.

[Taubin]

That's pretty genius, I might have to try making one like that for my next brew day. 

[Dene McDonald]

Couldn't find any Number 8 wire then?

[Dene McDonald]

What are you using for your car aerial now

[Mark Weusten]

ha ha, funnily wire coat hangers are scarce these days and I needed to hunt high and low for one. When I pulled it out after 3 late additions totalling 150g I was amazed how much they swelled up.

[Dene McDonald]

150 grams - that's a hoppy beer!

[Mark Weusten]

Yeah tried the Deebles late hop bursting technique in a NZ Pale with a mixture of NZ cascade, riwaka and motueka  50 @ 15, 50 @10 and 50@0. Didnt actually taste that hoppy but have a 75g dry hop at 5 days which should get it there. Hopefully haven't overcooked it......

[mattd2]

That is crazy... I just brewed pretty much the same beer last night - NZ cascade / Riwaka / Motueka @ 15 / 10 / 0. Only did 30g per addition plus some more cascade at 60 to hit the IBUs I was going for. It is amazing how much the swell up - I am glad I did decide on using the hop bag (don't have a fancy spider like you...yet) as it would have definitely clogged the plate chiller!

[Mark Weusten]

classic!

[Mark Thomas]

Excellent work! Late hopping is definitely the way to go for full hop flavour. I did a 22 litre BIAB batch with:

11.8%aa Nelson Sauvin 

4g      60 minutes

100g    5 minutes

50g      0 minutes / 15 minutes whirlpool

No dry hopping because I was lazy and it gets so messy. The bitterness was about right

It turned out great

[MrC]

Is a hop spider an essential tool in brewing hoppy beers with a Grainfather?  I've been doing some reading and it seems that a lot of Grainfather users are choosing to use a hop spider.

If so, are there any pros & cons of stainless vs. bag?