Pros and cons I use it in the 1st 45minutes not after that Thinking more contact is better for aroma Any thoughts
I use my spider before I even start boiling.
After my sparge and everything I have a tube from my mashtun that goes directly into the kettle/spider. It helps me with some grist particle matter. Since the spider is never full submerged I just pitch all the hops into it and dunk it like I would a tea bag for a few minutes before I let it stand.
By the end of my boil, and depending how many hops I use, I have a fair size ball of the remainder pellets I just throw into compost.
I want to believe my spider has helped with clarity. I do know all that matter from the hops is no longer In The Carboy
I use a spider also, otherwise I have trouble keeping hop matter out of my fermenters. It’s not a huge deal for my 3 gallon batches, but if I ferment in my 5 gallon carboy I want as much beer in the keg as possible.
I don’t see any cons tbh. The hop oils are there.
So long as you have a vigorous boil and the bag is moving around you will get good contact and isomerization of the hops. There is a theory out there that placing dry hops and late addition hops in a sock (or i guess a spider) does not allow full extraction.
I would check out exBEERiment | Kettle Hops: Loose vs. Bagged In An American Pale Ale | Brülosophy
I usually add everything to the boil sans bag and whirlpool to remove loose hop material.
That’s the hop spider I own also great article THANKS