I hate leaf hops....

[manwithbeers]

Lol, people, stop calling them "leaf" hops...the leaves are not used, it is the cone!!! You really don't want any of the leaf in your bag of hops just like you don't want stem, just cone.

To be fair ... the cones ARE made of leaves!

Actually I think they are Petals.

Hopshead.... I use a similar paint strainer type set-up. I don't know about the 5 inch PVC coupler... I use something much more ghetto but it works well. I cut the top of a HDPE bucket off. This particular bucket was about 8 inches across and has several ridges in the first 2 inches. So I chopped the top 3 inches of the bucket off to make a ridged ring of sorts. Then I pulled off the handle and drilled the handle holes right through and large enough for a dowel to go through. The bag I use is actually a wine bag meant to hold the fruit when fermenting wine. It's about 3 gallons in capacity, 9 or 10 inches in diameter. Cost a few dollars. Now I take that bag and put the ring I made into it then I use Zap Straps to hold the bag on the ridges of my ring. Now I stick my dowel through and place it on top of the kettle. I also use one of those little hop sacks too. But I use it filled with marbles and drop it into the wine bag to hold the sucker down which lets the hops roll around a bit instead of floating all the time.

Yes I've noticed I use more hops. In my bag they drip pretty dry when the wort falls below the level of the bag. I've suspended 8 ounces of wet whole hops in there so far and the bag wasn't in danger of falling off. I hope you find a good way to get through your whole hops. I would love to go with pellets but my set-up clogs really bad with pellets and can't use more than 1 ounce in a batch.

Good Luck!

[Jane Simmons]

I grow and use my own hops and I have a food processor that I use solely for hops. I got frustrated by the amount of wort absorbed in the kettle and the amount of finished beer lost while dry-hopping, when using whole hops. Putting them in a food processor breaks up the cones and makes them behave like pellets. Faster extraction of their flavor, less absorption and they form a compact cone like pellets.
Told you it was simple.

I absolutely agree with calpyro on using a food processor. I have used the Oster Pro 1200 Blender 3-in-1 with Food Processor Attachment and XL Personal Blending Cup for years now but have no complaints. You can try it if interested.