Hop Baskets - Not Just for Hops
The stainless steel hop basket (what I like to call it) goes by many names including hop spider, hop filter, hop strainer etc. Regardless of what you call this nifty little device, I’ve found it to be one of the most valuable items in my brewhouse. I have found a multitude of cool ways to use a hop basket that probably go beyond what the designers originally had in mind. In all of its simplicity, the hop basket is basically just a fine mesh all stainless steel strainer / sieve with sizable internal volume. It’s primary purpose is to contain hops (whole or pelletized) within your boil kettle and allow your boiling wort to move through the stainless mesh. The boiling wort picks up all of the goodness your hops have to offer while keeping the bulk of the hop material separated from the wort in order to prevent it from clogging your brewing systems pumps, chillers, etc. These are an especially critical component of your brewery when using plate type heat exchangers. This makes your hop mess very easy to clean up at the end of your brew day as you can simply dump the material from the hop basket and rinse it out.
Now let’s move on to some other cool uses for a hop basket and why you may need more than one…
CONTAINING SMALL PARTS IN YOUR SANITIZER BUCKET - My brew day usually starts with a 5 gallon bucket filled with about 2.5 gallons of StarSan mixture. I’ll set one of these hop baskets in the bottom of the bucket and then toss in any small parts that should be sanitized. The basket is perfect for containing tri-clamp gaskets, clamps, O-rings, oxygen stones and more. When you are ready for a gasket it’s much easier to lift the basket out of the sanitizer and grab what you need rather than to go fishing in sanitizer up to your forearm.
FIRST RUNNINGS - Whether you prefer to batch sparge or fly sparge, your first runnings will inevitably contain some amount of grain that makes it through your false bottom while your filter bed is being fully established. While there is probably not enough grain going into your boil kettle to be really concerned, I personally like to keep all of it out of the boil kettle. This can be easily achieved by placing a hop basket in the bottom of your boil kettle and placing the outflow end of your transfer hose in the bottom of the basket to completely avoid any splashing of the wort during transfer. As the wort level increases, I hang the hop basket up on the side of the kettle. Yes, I leave it in for the entire transfer and then rinse it out while starting the boil so it can then be used for its intended purpose. The fine mesh of the hop basket will actually contain any small grains that make it into the boil kettle.
FINE SINK STRAINER - I have a large sink that I use to rinse out my mash tun at the end of my brew day. I’ve always felt it best to keep as much grain as possible out of the plumbing system. My sink bottom is relatively flat so by placing a hop basket (open side up) centered over the drain, I find that the metal ring on the bottom of the hop basket creates a nice dam that prevents the grain from going down the drain while spraying out the mash tun. Once all of the liquid has drained out it’s easy use a paper towel to gather up and dispose of the excess grain in the bottom of your sink.
KEEPING YOUR FLOOR DRAINS CLEAN - I realize that this one doesn’t apply to everyone. but those that have larger mash tuns with bottom drains and (of course) floor drains can easily use a hop basket to keep the grain out of the floor drain while rinsing out the mash tun by placing the hop filter on it’s side and placing the drain hose into the hop basket.
USE IT WITH YOUR FILL AND FLUSH UNIT - Again, not applicable to all, but many that have Ruby Street brewing systems with the Fill and Flush cleaning system have informed me that you can place your hook valve assembly that returns the cleaning solution from your plate chiller to the HLT in a hop basket inside of the HLT to trap any solids that were flushed from your plate chiller. This is a simple and efficient way to completely eliminate the possibility of those solids re-entering the plate chiller while you’re recirculating the cleaning solution.
I’m sure that, like me, many of you have found other cool and interesting uses for hop baskets in your brewhouses. Please feel free to share in the comments.