Yet another hop spider thread...

[rarobe01]

I am contemplating having a fairly large stainless steel hop spider made. My thinking is to have the dimensions be slightly smaller than my kettle in order to get the most utilization from my hops. Now I'm wondering if anyone has tried this before? Specifically I'm wondering it it will interfere with my boil or will there be any other unintended inconveniences that I haven't thought of?

Here are the specifics:

80qt brew kettle
18" diameter by 19" tall

the spider I am considering would be 16" diameter by 18" tall

 

[grathan]

I think you'll be let down. The boil won't roll as much and you'll spend a small fortune. Plus you got more surface area to clean gunk off. Plus if it clogs it will be a pain to lift.

 

[rarobe01]

I'm glad I posted this before I ordered it. I was thinking as wide as possible for when I do 5 gallon batches since the post-boil wort level is only about 5 inches deep. Does anyone know if there will be enough area for proper hop utilization if I ordered a spider that was 9 inches in diameter?

 

[grathan]

What size mesh? How many hops? pellets or whole?

I don't think utilization is gonna be a problem. My ideal setup would have 2 separate filters instead of a single big one though. I would use a fresh one for late hop additions and the other for 60-15 minutes. The first filter is gonna get semi-clogged with protein during the boil.

I use a single small filter 300 micron mesh. I also use an immersion chiller, so this basket gets in the way (something to consider). But I am able to throw late hop additions right into the kettle because I don't have to worry about clogging a plate chiller.

The filter is cylindrical 4x10" and I would put maybe 6-10oz pellets in there max.

 

[rarobe01]

Thanks for the reply. I recently switched to a plate chiller which is why I'm looking in to a hop spider. I primarily use pellet hops and was thinking about going with the 400 micron mesh.