I’ve tried various methods of adding hops to my boil kettle during the course of the last several years. When I first started brewing, I was brewing extract beers. With this process, I used lots of hop pellets. With the pellets came the hop bag. Some of the beers required two or three separate hops bags depending on the style and additions.
Soon after switching to all grain brewing I faced a new challenge. I really enjoy using leaf hops for brewing. I also enjoy letting them float in the boil unrestricted. The problem comes when it is time to transfer the cooled wort into the fermentor. I don’t want the hop debris making there way into the fermentor. I found several solutions to work around this issue but I was still faced with lots of loose hops to clean out of my boil kettle at the end of the brew day.
I finally found the answer after reading one of my favorite home brew magazines. It is called the hop spider. For whatever reason(s) you have decided to try the hop spider, you will find this build very simple and inexpensive. The hop spider allows you to make whatever additions you want to make at whatever time you want to make them. You can do all of this by using only one strainer bag. This is a very simple process. Once the boil is over and its time to remove the hops, You simply remove the hop spider and attached strainer bag. This is incredibly easy to use.

Parts List
- One 4 inch to 3 inch PVC reducing coupling
- One nylon paint staining bag or other hop bag
- Three 1/4″ All Thread” with 6 each 1/4″ x 20 nuts and 3 each 1/4″ wing nuts
- One stainless steel hose clamp that will fit the 3 inch end of the coupling
- Power drill with a 1/4″ drill bit

Start by drilling three 1/4″ evenly spaced holes into the top (4″ side) of the reducer coupling

Thread one of the 1/4″ nuts approximately 1/2″ onto the “all thread”. Repeat this for all three threads.

Place the all thread into the coupling as shown. Thread a 1/4″ x 20 nut onto the all thread on the inside of the coupling to hold the all thread securely in place. Complete this process for all three threads.

You should now have something that looks like the picture above.

Gently place the strainer bag over the outer edges of the coupling. Once in place, secure the strainer by using the stainless steel hose clamp.

The wing nuts are used to keep the hop spider in place. Simply thread the wing nuts onto the all thread until they line up with the edge of your kettle.

You should now have a completed hop spider. Enjoy!
My new beer brewing stand is getting so close I can almost taste the home brew.
The propane banjo burner and propane jet burner have been plumbed. The main vertical tube is assembled using 1/2″ steel black pipe. The Banjo burner has a 1/4″ ball valve assembled in-line.
A friend of mine wanted me to assemble a temperature control box for his gas valve. He chose the Johnson Control A419 to be the heart of his system. The controller has a digital display with adjustable differential. It can be used to heat or cool and features a wide setpoint temperature range (-30° F to 220° F) and differential adjustment (1° F to 3° F). The temperature sensor is a 1.94 inch thermistor on an 8 foot cable. The purpose of this build is to control the gas valve which fires the burner for the hot liquor tank.
This control box consists of the box, a 24 volt transformer, a Johnson Controls A419 120/240 volt controller, two terminal blocks, and wire. Cost of materials is estimated at around $120.
One of the main components of my mash process is the Tri Clover RIMS tube which I purchased from
I also completed the brackets for the Hot Liquor Tank gas valve. The burner and gas valve have their own individual brackets to support their weight. The gas valve is protected by a heat and liquid drip shield.
With summer here, I have not had as much time to work on this brewing stand as I would have like. One thing I realize is that all the custom made brackets are taking up serious time. Thank goodness most are now completed.
How do I connect my BCS-460 wirelessly to the internet? This seems to be one of the more common questions asked about the BCS-460 beer brewing controller. It can also be one of the more confusing this to do… Until now…
My newly added RIMS Tube for brewing beer makes provides another notch in my “gadgetry” belt. In fact, I think I enjoy gadgets just as much as I like the results (beer).
Cleaning of the RIMS Tube after brewing beer is simple. I use a carboy brush on the main tube and a line cleaning brush on the ports. It is easy to rinse and disassemble. The water heater element usually is coated with proteins and such. A simple scrub or soak on the element and all seems to be well.
Today I received my RIMS Tube from Derrin over at Brewers Hardware. The item was shipped via USPS priority mail. Needless to say, I opened the package and was excited about all the sparkle from the stainless steel. The items inside the package matched exactly what was described on Derrin’s website.
A water heater element and temperature controller are required but not included. Your system will also require a pump.
Like most brewers, I am interested on always finding a better way to do things. I own a Banjo burner along with several jet burners and have been tossing around my opinion of what really is a better burner. I have yet come to any conclussion. I have, however, reached an opinion on where the High Pressure Banjo burner might work better.