Hops Strainer

I try to limit the amount of hops floating freely in my boil kettle because it helps to keep my beer clearer when I transfer to the fermenter. In the past I've done this by individually bagging each hops addition in straining bags. While this works well for malty, low hop beers that only have two of three hop additions, it becomes a small amount of work for an IPA and an insane task for a Double IPA.

This hop strainer is build out of a PVC coupling, three stainless steel I-bolts and a few washers and nuts.  Put the bag through the center of the PVC coupling and secure it with a large hose clamp.  Now all of your hop additions are simply dumped in the strainer.  Remove the strainer at the end if the boil and you'll take most of the hops with you.

Photos by Jeremy Drey