Hops in a basket

I use a Stainless Steel basket, about the size of a 5 gallon bucket… I think it is a 600 mesh, which works just fine… But cleaning it out was always a PITA… I have a 6" bondo applicator I’ve not used anywhere… So I used it to scoop out the hops and scrape down the sides into a plastic bag and into the trash can… Now that sure made clean up quite a bit easier for me… Another process better organized… :sunglasses:
Sneezles61

1 Like

I just use the spray attachment of my faucet. Cleans it out fine.

1 Like

Yeah, I can use a spray… but getting rid of 4 oz with the scraper makes me use less spray… and less trub down the drain…
Sneezles61

I shake mine into the garbage like a madman but I guess that would be harder with your sized basket. If you can find a wooden scraper it would be a step up IMO. Preventing micro plastics is our next (trending) duty as a species.

https://www.consumerreports.org/health-wellness/how-to-eat-less-plastic-microplastics-in-food-water/

2 Likes

Same here. Me like a mad thrash man. After that. I do clean with. A low pressure. Cleaner. After brew day. Everything on the front pourch and start cleang with the low pressure power wash cleaner

Since I brew in the garage I can use a garden hose to clean my false bottom. A few spent grains haven’t hurt the lawn yet. For the hops muslin bags may be kind of a waste but just tossing them sure makes clean up easier.

1 Like

Why would you toss them. I dump my bags in the compost let them dry then shake them out and toss in the laundry. Same with brew bag

1 Like

I’m all for recycle and reuse but we don’t have a compost or decent place for one so for the price of the muslin bags and grief I would get about them going in the laundry in the trash they go for now.

1 Like

I have read hops are really bad for a dog… I can’t tell from first hand experience… Nor would I want to find out…
So, thats why I throw mine in the trash… in those grocery plastic bags… Now I’m a horrible waster of the environment… :disappointed:
Sneezles61

That’s my routine too. Can’t get the plastic bags in the grocery in NY anymore. Oh, unless you pay for them. Apparently they are OK then. In Florida they hand them out like candy so my wife saves them up to bring north. They are handy for little trash cans like in the bathroom.

I think the dogs that died from eating hops ate unbelievable amounts like an entire pound. Better safe than sorry with spent hops though.

1 Like

I use the 1gallon paint strainer bags. I bury the hops in the compost pile so dogs dont bother with them

If theres something sweet around… seems a dog can find it! And we’ve got many dogs around here… I wonder about that family of fox? I wouldn’t want him to disappear from our “wild backyard” watching…
Well, at least for now, I won’t change my ways of doing as I do…
Sneezles61

My hops disposal depends on the amount used in that brew day. I have a stainless basket as well. Smaller than @sneezles61 's but I don’t do a lot of massive hops beers anymore. If it’s a smaller amount it does down the drain and into my septic system. Not sure if that’s bad or not for the biosystem in there… If it’s a larger amount I’ll toss it over the fence so that dogs can’t get it and let it compost. I used to put it in the garden and eventually till it in but I’m not doing a garden this year. Got lazy.

edit:

I’m not very concerned about cleaning the hops basket honestly, since it contains hops and goes in the boil every time. I just rinse it under the tap until it looks clean.

2 Likes

Yeah well i have a huge compost pile everything goes in there hops grain yeast. Also leaves grass peels. It gets dug in and nobody bothers it. I have pumpkins and beans growing on top now. Hopefully I’ll get some pumpkins big enough to fermemt in. Last year i bought a pumpkin

2 Likes

I put mine in the compost pile, I bury them right away, no dogs that are loose in the neighborhood.

When I first put out spent malt for the trash pick up they would not take it. I use two 55 gallon “drum liners” plastic bags since the mash is usually around 50lbs dry so the wet grain gets heavy. I called them and nicely explained it was a food byproduct (sort of) so they really should be picking it up. They have taken ever since.

Kind of got off track a little here :open_mouth:

1 Like

Its all a fun filled adventure HDMark!
Pumpkin Ale turned out …How Brew Cat? After you mentioned it… I checked a pumpkin I got too… it was mushy…
Sneezles61