# Blichmann Hop Rocket



## beers (30/10/10)

I know these can probably be made much cheaper, but I think $130 is a decent price for the quality of the unit. Very tempted to get one to use as a Randal.

http://www.ibrew.com.au/html/equipment/Hop%20Rocket.htm


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## Fents (30/10/10)

if its a randle wouldnt you rather make one from a clear filter housing so you can see the hops?

although i do agree very nice piece of kit, pretty decent price too.


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## beers (30/10/10)

Fents said:


> if its a randle wouldnt you rather make one from a clear filter housing so you can see the hops?



What?! Plastic over SS bling?!.. thats crazy talk. Have you lost your mind man?


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## Fents (30/10/10)

:kooi:


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## yardy (30/10/10)

beers said:


> What?! Plastic over SS bling?!.. thats crazy talk. Have you lost your mind man?



oh no ! don't mention the plastic, I did but I think I got away with it..



nice bit of gear, you're right, it wouldn't be too hard to build one.

cheers


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## Batz (30/10/10)

yardy said:


> oh no ! don't mention the plastic, I did but I think I got away with it..
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I've thought about building one out of a stainless coffee plunger pot, easy as and the filter comes with it !

Batz


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## jimi (30/10/10)

Fents said:


> :kooi:



Fents - you got a cost or DIY info on that one? It doesn't look like the usual filter conversion .. or is it?

I pretty interested getting a randall together - pity we can't buy the cheap yank flower hops


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## Bizier (31/10/10)

That hop rocket is pretty porn-ish.

jimi - that is a Dogfigh Head original randall (their logo is on the base)


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## Doc (6/1/11)

I've got two that I've built on water canister housings as per the piccies in this topic.
However over time being used as both hopbacks and randals the plastic has started to discolor and has become scratched.
I love the look of the HopRocket mainly because of the materials used and also the 1/2" fittings. 

Doc


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## fraser_john (6/1/11)

Yeah, nice bit of kit that......and with my missus heading to the US in February to visit her mum........hmmmmmmm


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## MHB (6/1/11)

Mine is here and I hope to put a brew through it next week. First impression is that its well made, well thought out and sexy as all get out.
Couldnt buy the parts to make one of this quality for the price.

MHB


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## schooey (22/2/11)

Giving mine a run tonight...










Should be interesting to see the results


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## sinkas (22/2/11)

AM I right in thinking cant be used with pellets?


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## peas_and_corn (22/2/11)

I can't see any reason why it can't.

This is an interesting piece of kit, one that I have my eyes on for my setup, so I'm keeping an eye on this thread to see it work!


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## theover (22/2/11)

Ive used mine with pellets and flowers when I use pellets get one of these fine mesh bags
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=2891 and reverse the flow


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## jimi (22/2/11)

schooey said:


> Giving mine a run tonight...
> 
> View attachment 44246
> 
> ...



Using it for randall, hopback or both?


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## schooey (22/2/11)

Just a hop back. Not sure how it would go as a Randall to be honest... you'd probably be better served buying a filter housing


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## jimi (22/2/11)

schooey said:


> Just a hop back. Not sure how it would go as a Randall to be honest... you'd probably be better served buying a filter housing


If you get tempted to try it as a randall let us know how it goes schooey - hope the hop back aroma goes well.


Theover - when you've used the the rocket with pellets has it been as a hop back or randall?


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## schooey (22/2/11)

Flowers didn't expand as much as I thought they would... overall, very good result; wort smells awesome!


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## Florian (22/2/11)

Have a look at this video, very informative. Explains how to use it as a Randall and hop back. Blichmann reckons you shouldn't use them with pellet hops, but I think it should be fine if you use a hop sock like Theover mentioned. You're also meant to turn the hop rocket upside down (so it can stand by itself and you can read the writing on the sticker) as this purges any air out when filling.

EDIT: spelling


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## WitWonder (21/5/11)

Schooey how is it working out? Very tempted to get one of these with the $ so strong...


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## reVoxAHB (5/7/11)

WitWonder said:


> Schooey how is it working out? Very tempted to get one of these with the $ so strong...



Same. Schooey, you got your ears on? 

I'd be interested to do back to back batches where batch A utilises the hop back, and batch B is FO only (with the same addition), to compare results.
Sure looks to be a nice bit of kit.

reVox


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## schooey (5/7/11)

Sorry fella's; been busy busy busy and missed the thread...

I'm really happy with it. Like I've said, I couldn't make one like it for the price. Easy to assemble/disassemble, easy to clean and running the hort wort through it and then straight through the plate chiller seems to lock in a lot of aroma. I believe a few other members have bought and are similarly happy. I'll leave it to them to comment if they wish..


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## remi (5/7/11)

happy to second-

very happy with mine. have used it as a randall for an ipa, and also as a hop-back- most recently for hop-backing a pilsner with saaz plugs...very promising out of the fermentor. haven't done a back to back comparison or anything like that.

agree with schooey with regards to quality of contruction etc, easy to clean- and with 1/2" male bsp thread on inlet and outlet, it's very easy to connect up to any part of my brewery that i like. looks nice just sitting on the shelf as well!

remi


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## OzBeer_MD (5/7/11)

Hey Schooey, where did you purchase yours from?

MD


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## schooey (6/7/11)

OzBeer_MD said:


> Hey Schooey, where did you purchase yours from?
> 
> MD



I got mine from the Blichmann dealer here in Aus... ibrew or whatever he is. Odd bloke to deal with


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## reVoxAHB (6/7/11)

Thanks schooey and remi B) Very cool. 

rebelbrewer have them at $111AUD free shipping USA (& medium flat-rate box USPS priority $40.42AUD to AUS) or ibrew $155AUD no idea on shipping. Shop is in QLD, weight of HopRocket 1.8kg less packaging. 

Cheers
reVox


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## reVoxAHB (6/7/11)

reVox said:


> Thanks schooey and remi B) Very cool.
> 
> rebelbrewer have them at $111AUD free shipping USA (& medium flat-rate box USPS priority $40.42AUD to AUS) or ibrew $155AUD no idea on shipping. Shop is in QLD, weight of HopRocket 1.8kg less packaging.
> 
> ...



shipping to Melbs $13.50 express post, $10.50 standard


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## schooey (6/7/11)

He's skinning you...paid $135 for mine when the dollar was just below parity!


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## goomboogo (6/7/11)

schooey said:


> He's skinning you...paid $135 for mine when the dollar was just below parity!



I don't know if Revox has spoken to the guy but it's $155 on the ibrew website at the moment. As you said before, the guy is quite odd. Other people describe him as an utter prick.


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## reVoxAHB (6/7/11)

schooey said:


> He's skinning you...paid $135 for mine when the dollar was just below parity!



I've got a buddy who wants one now too which means we can split shipping from the US putting the cost landed, via [email protected] $135 or thereabouts. 
Thanks for the heads-up and direction, all the same :icon_chickcheers:


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## sinkas (6/7/11)

goomboogo said:


> I don't know if Revox has spoken to the guy but it's $155 on the ibrew website at the moment. As you said before, the guy is quite odd. Other people describe him as an utter prick.



really strange farquar to deal with, the mind boggles why he is in retail


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## Malted (6/7/11)

sinkas said:


> really strange farquar to deal with, the mind boggles why he is in retail



He just runs the shop, his wife takes care of sales; but she is not at the shop and you can't telephone her. It works well. :lol: 
But anyways, I think the price has gone up because of the new 'High Flow Upgrade' basket.
I can't wait to use the one I bought.


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## davewaldo (6/7/11)

Would using one of these before the plate chiller be better than flameout / whirlpool hop additions?


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## Batz (6/7/11)

Malted said:


> But anyways, I think the price has gone up because of the new 'High Flow Upgrade' basket.




Well if it has I'll just buy from the US


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## KillerRx4 (6/7/11)

Malted said:


> But anyways, I think the price has gone up because of the new 'High Flow Upgrade' basket.



Thanks for the heads up! Will be onto them for the free upgrade.


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## altstart (7/7/11)

Took a drive to ibrew yesterday had a look at one of these Hop Rockets and bought one on the spot. I found the guy to be very friendly and helpful he spent some time talking with me about brewing It is not so easy to buy from the USA these days most of the big Corparations will not accepy credit cards from outside the USA. Items I have tried to buy useing Paypal are also being refused by Palpay with the reason, this item can only be bought with a Paypal account linked to a credit card issued in the USA. It makes useing a proxy useless. I think Harvey Normans owner and his complaint earlier this year re overseas online shopping is behind this and as a result of this I will not enter any of his stores again.
Cheers Altstart


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## reVoxAHB (7/7/11)

davewaldo said:


> Would using one of these before the plate chiller be better than flameout / whirlpool hop additions?



Yep. That's the idea, as I understand it.

Found some reviews on the NorthernBrewer website.

Apparently, they work really well catching break material too. Bonus.


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## drsmurto (7/7/11)

I bought a hop rocket from ibrew after having a chat with Schooey about it.

It arrived safe and sound with no hassles at all. I bought the 1/2" barb fittings as well. 

Yet to use it but I am taking my handpump to the case swap on the weekend and was asked if i was going to pull a beer via the hop rocket used as a randall.

As it happens the keg lid that i use to pull beers via the handpump also has 1/2" fittings :icon_chickcheers: 

Hopefully one of the boys will donate their keg of beer to this experiment or we may just hop the hell out of the beer which is going on the handpump (stout) while the owner of said beer isn't looking (Butters) :lol:


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## Hatchy (15/7/11)

Kieren was kind enough to bring his round for a brewday Wednesday & it's definitely user friendly. I was pissed enough at the time that I left my fermenter tap open, no issues with the hop rocket though. I lost about 7L to the lawn but the 16L in the fermenter smells pretty tasty.

I used 100g of flowers & it was pretty full afterwards. What's the most hops someone has used in one?

There was some discussion at last weeks case swap of having 2 between the kettle & chiller. I wouldn't mind giving that a shot.


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## BrewGuru (17/7/11)

schooey said:


> View attachment 44250
> 
> 
> Flowers didn't expand as much as I thought they would... overall, very good result; wort smells awesome!




I need a hop rocket as well. I notice you have modified the tap on yout braumeister any benefits??


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## KillerRx4 (17/7/11)

Based on a comment earlier in this thread about the high flow upgrade, I contacted Ibrew (who is the distributor in Aus). 

Cost me $8 for postage & they sent me out the Free high flow upgrade kit. Pretty happy with that.


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## reVoxAHB (26/7/11)

Hats off to Jayne at iBrew. She worked with me on price where I purchased 6 units, some with fittings. Cost including delivery to Melbs. was on par (slightly more) than if I'd gone direct to the US but I'm happy to support her Australian distribution channel. The service I received was excellent. She was very quick to answer all email, invoicing and payment a breeze. Can't go wrong with FastWay as a courier, too. Highly recommended, across the board. 

Cheers iBrew :icon_chickcheers:


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## fraser_john (26/7/11)

reVox said:


> Hats off to Jayne at iBrew. She worked with me on price where I purchased 6 units, some with fittings. Cost including delivery to Melbs. was on par (slightly more) than if I'd gone direct to the US but I'm happy to support her Australian distribution channel. The service I received was excellent. She was very quick to answer all email, invoicing and payment a breeze. Can't go wrong with FastWay as a courier, too. Highly recommended, across the board.
> 
> Cheers iBrew :icon_chickcheers:



Darn, wish I had known you were doing a mini-bulk buy  I'd have been in on it, I really like the look of this unit.


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## Effect (26/7/11)




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## reVoxAHB (26/7/11)

Nice work, Phillip.


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## Malted (26/7/11)

Phillip said:


>



You fellahs could make things a lot easier for yourselves if you had some of these:




It was a shame I couldn't stay because from what I saw it would have been a great day.


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## Hatchy (26/7/11)

Malted said:


> You fellahs could make things a lot easier for yourselves if you had some of these:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I've seen those & wondered how durable the plastic bits are, thus the screwdriver.


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## DJR (10/2/12)

Picked mine up today - pretty happy with the construction. Looks pretty good.

Some of the US guys have had results with pellets that were just fine, this may have been before the high flow adapter came out though. Looking at the unit there would be two ways to make it work better with pellets, that'd be putting a finer mesh (e.g. frypan splatter guard) on the bottom of the top filter with the bell-housing, and putting a stainless scrubby in the very top above the bell housing filter bit. Would slow down flow a little though.

Only problem now is i need to get a plate or counterflow chiller instead of an immersion, oh well.

Just had a thought, like with Torpedo they use a recirculated device like this on a bigger scale.It would probably be possible to pump beer outta the fermenter, run it through the hoprocket back into the fermenter just before bottling or instead of dryhopping, you could leave it running on the pump for half an hour or more. I wonder what the result would be like :icon_drunk:


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## rotten (10/2/12)

I see an experiment brewing. let us know how it goes-brews-tastes.


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## Batz (8/12/12)

You guys who have bought Hop Rockets, how have you found them? Do you use them as much as you thought you would? How many hop flowers do you use per batch and do any of you use pellets?

I have seen one and I know the quality is there but wonder if it's something that would end up in the brewing cupboard.

Batz


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## seamad (8/12/12)

I use mine every time i use my chiller. I find that some beers benefit from chillers and that those beers also suit the flavour / aroma that the hop rocket gives, if i gotta clean the chiller might as well clean the rocket too, plus it filters out crud that may block the chiller.

Probably 1/4 of my beers use the chiller/ rocket.

Typically i use 2 g/ l so in my case 45 g. Have used double that twice and worked well. Have also used pellets in it a bit. Normally wrap them up in a bit of voile from my biab days, usually with some flowers to help filter. Have also double bagged with rice hulls first then pellets in seperate bag. Was suprised at the shitty rice hull tea the first time i boiled them to sanatise so i now try not to use them or boil, empty water and reboil and rinse. 

Cheers
sean


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## Batz (8/12/12)

seamad said:


> I use mine every time i use my chiller. I find that some beers benefit from chillers and that those beers also suit the flavour / aroma that the hop rocket gives, if i gotta clean the chiller might as well clean the rocket too, plus it filters out crud that may block the chiller.
> 
> Probably 1/4 of my beers use the chiller/ rocket.
> 
> ...




Thanks, I would use it much as you, not often but when I did it was worth it. After the Xmas spending I think I'll buy one.  

Rice hulls? I ordered a heap once and made a tea in my coffee plunger to access the flavour. I then used them in the chooks laying boxes.

batz


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## DJR (8/12/12)

If you have a plate chiller or CFC they are great.... with an immersion chiller not that great but still handy. Could be OK for no-chilling though, haven't tried, might give it a go sometime.

Typically between 25 and 50g of flowers is the way to go in addition to flavour/aroma hops, just replace the whirlpool hops with the hoprocket, I have used NZ cascade, NZ Sauvin and I have some Galaxy flowers to put into it


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## CONNOR BREWARE (8/12/12)

Great thread.

That settles it, i've told the fiscal overlord what she's getting me for Christmas.

Being eyeing this off for a while and after seeing the latest beer camp pics with their massive hop back 'torpedo' and reading this thread I gotta have one. Wish I had more than just cascade growing.


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## neal32 (20/2/13)

Love my Hop Rocket. Has anyone actually used pellets with it yet? I have a heaps of rice hulls and was thinking of mixing them with the pellets and using a hop bag. After boiling the rice hulls though to get rid of the rice tea flavour.


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## Dunkelbrau (21/2/13)

altstart said:


> Took a drive to ibrew yesterday had a look at one of these Hop Rockets and bought one on the spot. I found the guy to be very friendly and helpful he spent some time talking with me about brewing It is not so easy to buy from the USA these days most of the big Corparations will not accepy credit cards from outside the USA. Items I have tried to buy useing Paypal are also being refused by Palpay with the reason, this item can only be bought with a Paypal account linked to a credit card issued in the USA. It makes useing a proxy useless. I think Harvey Normans owner and his complaint earlier this year re overseas online shopping is behind this and as a result of this I will not enter any of his stores again.
> Cheers Altstart


I shop for most things in the US, and I've need had an issue with the credit card, only distribution regs from the parent co pant not wanting to undercut their aussie distributor. Fair enough in my opinion.

But, hop shop and go takes care of that, they ship on to me from my own US address. They will even purchase it on behalf of me and let me pay them via PayPal.


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## Batz (21/2/13)

I have seen these and they are a quality item, I'm just not sure if I would use it enough to justify the price. I have tried plenty of US retailers but the savings are only around $20.00 so I'll rather shop local for one.

In the meantime I'm going to have a go at building one out of a Woolies asparagus steamer ($20.00). I have not doubt that if I use it a lot I will eventually buy the genuine hoprocket.

Batz


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## peas_and_corn (21/2/13)

I incorporated mine into my kegging setup, so I use it all the time. It's great for infusing a lot of hoppy goodness into a beer


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## Batz (10/6/13)

Well I bit the bullet and have one of these now, can't wait to brew with it. 

Batz


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## nathan_madness (10/6/13)

Batz said:


> Well I bit the bullet and have one of these now, can't wait to brew with it.
> 
> Batz


You'll love it i've had mine for 4 brews now and the aroma and flavor is amazing. The only downside is that it does not gravity feed very well at all even with 45g of flowers in it. I have changed to pumping it through and it is much easier and you can fill it up with hops.


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## jimi (10/6/13)

nathan_madness said:


> You'll love it i've had mine for 4 brews now and the aroma and flavor is amazing. The only downside is that it does not gravity feed very well at all even with 45g of flowers in it. I have changed to pumping it through and it is much easier and you can fill it up with hops.


Can't remember whether it was reVox or ThirstyBoy who PMed me their hop rocket set up as a hop back with a gravity feed. Rocket was loaded up to, so it is possible. In the coming months I'll be finally getting around to doing the same with mine .. gravity feed set up.


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## nathan_madness (10/6/13)

Yeah it does work but painfully slow. I had my boil pot 1.2m up, the rocket on the floor and the chiller at the height of the fermenter. Maybe i'm just impatient but with the pump it was so much faster.


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## jimi (10/6/13)

nathan_madness said:


> Yeah it does work but painfully slow. I had my boil pot 1.2m up, the rocket on the floor and the chiller at the height of the fermenter. Maybe i'm just impatient but with the pump it was so much faster.


Pumps fix a lot of things and you're now set. I'm not arguing any point other than pointing out that one of the Melbourne gurus have got the gravity / hop rocket thing down pat. I'm hoping that it won't be too slow when I set mine up in the not too distant future, and the advice I was given is that it should be fine. Your experience will make me more nervous though.


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## Florian (11/6/13)

nathan_madness said:


> Yeah it does work but painfully slow. I had my boil pot 1.2m up, the rocket on the floor and the chiller at the height of the fermenter. Maybe i'm just impatient but with the pump it was so much faster.


so did you have the fermenter basically above the hop rocket?

that might be why, I'd try to sit the rocket somewhere halfway between kettle and fermenter, so it gets both the push from the top and the pull from the bottom.


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## seamad (11/6/13)

Use the pump to get mine started then gravity feed with the tap partially closed, if i go too fast the wort doesn't chill enough. It does start without the pump by lowering it. Urn sits on the bench with the rocket, chiller 1/2 between floor and bench. At the end I invert the rocket to try and get all the hop goodness out.

The flowers and the rocket/chiller probably account for at least 500ml of wort so I up the batch size slightly to allow for it compared to my no chill technique. Also more careful of getting less kettle break with the rocket so batch size is + 1l.


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## Shitchins (11/6/13)

FWIW, I've used the hoprocket 3 times now. All gravity fed, with only 900mm of height. No trouble with flow rate. I was a liitle anxious the 1st time and only used 40g of flowers, and was half expecting to have to hoist up my urn to give it some more grunt. On my last ale I cranked it up to 80 g of flowers and still no problems. I'm really happy with it. Wort comes out nice and clear, and hop aroma is beautiful.


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## Batz (11/6/13)

The mule said:


> FWIW, I've used the hoprocket 3 times now. All gravity fed, with only 900mm of height. No trouble with flow rate. I was a liitle anxious the 1st time and only used 40g of flowers, and was half expecting to have to hoist up my urn to give it some more grunt. On my last ale I cranked it up to 80 g of flowers and still no problems. I'm really happy with it. Wort comes out nice and clear, and hop aroma is beautiful.



Do you also feed through a chiller ?

I've ordered some flowers from CB, really keen to this this thing a go asap.

Batz


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## roger mellie (11/6/13)

75 gms of flowers and up to 20gms of pellets in the little basket thing - never had an issue with blockages. 

There is a lot of stuff written about reversing the flow from what Blichmann recommend - personally I have tried both and find that the reverse method works better for me.

Very happy with the results - except when using Nelson Sauvin - found an annoying cloying/sweet character - wont do that again in a hurry.

RM


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## Shitchins (11/6/13)

Yep, use a 30 plate chiller. Setup is:
40L crown urn on benchtop -> hoprocket (on floor) -> plate chiller (on floor)-> fermenter (on floor)
The hoprocket and the chiller sit in a plastic tub on the floor next to each other in case there's a leak. 
I sanitise it in the same tub initially, so it's a nice clean way to store it while you're stuffing around with final hop additions, whirlpooling etc.
Hope it works for you as smoothly as it has for me so far. 

Mule


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## Batz (11/6/13)

roger mellie said:


> 75 gms of flowers and up to 20gms of pellets in the little basket thing - never had an issue with blockages.
> 
> There is a lot of stuff written about reversing the flow from what Blichmann recommend - personally I have tried both and find that the reverse method works better for me.
> 
> ...


So you use the top as the inlet?


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## vonromanz (11/6/13)

Hi,

I've gravity fed the Rocket from day one without any hassles. The most flowers I've used was 120g, no problems. My kettle is on a stand about 1.2m high. The 'out' of the Rocket level with the 'wort out' of kettle,plate chiller below Rocket, fermentor filling from 'beer out' on the floor.

If you are using a pump, I would suggest to back down the flow, even when gravity feeding it. The reason for this is to make sure the wort gets enough contact time with the flowers for maximum flavour extraction. The hop variety, ofcoarse, will also have a significant impact on how much flavour and aroma you will get.

Cheers


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## Shitchins (11/6/13)

roger mellie said:


> 75 gms of flowers and up to 20gms of pellets in the little basket thing - never had an issue with blockages.
> 
> RM


That' s encouraging. I was tempted to give this a try myself but was worried about blockages given my gravity feed from limited height. I guess if there are more flowers than pellets in the mix then you might get away with it. It's a good strategy if you can't get one of the hops you want in flower form. 

Mule


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## roger mellie (11/6/13)

Batz said:


> So you use the top as the inlet?


That is correct Batz

I found I waste less wort - and it just fits my Kettle --> Pump --> Hop Rocket --> CFC --> Fermenter setup the best.

If you read up on TBN there is lots written about Kettle --> Hop Rocket --> Pump - Chiller - Fermenter setups - but I am not game to try - march pumps shit me at the best of times - rather push than suck.

What I have done to reduce wastage is once the kettle is empty - put a very low pressure CO2 purge on to push the ~ 1 L of wort that can get hung up in the hop rocket through my system.

Mule - I wouldnt be putting pellets in there on there own though - if they go on top of the flowers the filter action of the flowers catches most of the pellet material.

Just kegged a LCBA clone with B Saaz flowers and Riwaka pellets as the Hop rocket candidates - is good.

RM


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## djar007 (7/9/13)

Just got one of these from ibrew. Got here in two days. Very happy and can not wait to use it as a hop back. Not sure about the high flow thing and where to put the hops.Anyone know? Inside or outside the cage?


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## nathan_madness (7/9/13)

They go on the outside of the cage. Just bolt the cage to the plate with the smaller perforations fit the rubber seal then slide that in to the rocket fill it with hops and fit the cap on with the plate with the larger perforations. I find about 90g of hops work really well.


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## brewologist (7/9/13)

Nice work djar,

I'm loving my hop back. Let us know how yours goes.


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## djar007 (7/9/13)

Thanks very much nathan. Will report back after next brew day Brewologist. Got some yob cascade i am going to trial with.


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## brewologist (7/9/13)

Last brew, yet to taste, I put about 70g of cascade in mine and pumped the wort post plate chiller into the fermemter at 25c to pitch yeast. 

I will report back once its ready to drink. Its still sitting on 120g of keg hops.


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## browndog (7/9/13)

brewologist said:


> Last brew, yet to taste, I put about 70g of cascade in mine and pumped the wort post plate chiller into the fermemter at 25c to pitch yeast.
> 
> I will report back once its ready to drink. Its still sitting on 120g of keg hops.


Jeez, I think that 120g of keg hops are going to negate anything added by the Hop Rocket bro.


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## brewologist (7/9/13)

That 120g is split between two kegs as I do double batches. But yeah.... I have been uping the dry hops latley to get a big hop hit.

This next batch will be 3g dry hop per liter.


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## sav (8/9/13)

Gav and I should get ours next week, apparently he sold 33 units last week so waiting for next order to come in.
I have gone all cam locks so I am going kettle to rocket via camlock through chiller and back into kettle wirlpool for 5 min to 0 hop additions then empty and add fresh flowers into rocket for transfer into fermenter.
My plan is to use it every brew for a bit of a inline filter less shit going through my chiller.
Cheers Sav


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## Batz (8/9/13)

sav said:


> Gav and I should get ours next week, apparently he sold 33 units last week so waiting for next order to come in.
> I have gone all cam locks so I am going kettle to rocket via camlock through chiller and back into kettle wirlpool for 5 min to 0 hop additions then empty and add fresh flowers into rocket for transfer into fermenter.
> My plan is to use it every brew for a bit of a inline filter less shit going through my chiller.
> Cheers Sav


They were out of stock when I wanted one as well, I ended up finding them at Brewers Choice - Enoggera. They matched the price and I was very pleased with the service I received from them. Just another option for you Sav.


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## sav (8/9/13)

Cheers batz I will check it out
Sav


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## Batz (8/9/13)

sav said:


> I have gone all cam locks so I am going kettle to rocket via camlock through chiller and back into kettle wirlpool for 5 min to 0 hop additions then empty and add fresh flowers into rocket for transfer into fermenter.
> My plan is to use it every brew for a bit of a inline filter less shit going through my chiller.
> Cheers Sav


I have made a whirlpool type return that will simply hang over the side of my BM, next brew I'm planning a chiller back to kettle trial as well.

Batz


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## Spiesy (16/10/13)

I'm in the game.

Just splashed out for the Blichmann Hop Rocket and Therminator.

I'ma BIAB'er, the chilling and hop backing is all very new to me but I'm very keen to give it all a go.

Kind of sucks that we're so limited to hop flower choices here though :mellow:


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## Cocko (16/10/13)

Well, cry me river.....



Lucky prick.


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## Thefatdoghead (16/10/13)

Crying rivers of joy


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## Spiesy (17/10/13)

Cocko said:


> Well, cry me river.....
> 
> 
> 
> Lucky prick.


Pretty sure "luck" has naught to do with it, old mate.


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## Yob (17/10/13)

Gav80 said:


> Crying rivers of joy
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Good book that, just finished it a month ago..

Been listening to  Imperial IPA on the Brewing with style on the BN which isnt a bad listen. 

Currently reading For the love of Hops which is also a good read.



Wish there was a more local distributor for this gear B)


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## Cocko (17/10/13)

Spiesy said:


> Pretty sure "luck" has naught to do with it, old mate.


So just a prick?

Gotcha.


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## Spiesy (17/10/13)

Yob said:


> Good book that, just finished it a month ago..
> 
> Been listening to  Imperial IPA on the Brewing with style on the BN which isnt a bad listen.
> 
> ...


I'm reading the IPA book right now, too. I'm finding the start a little tedious - looking forward to getting into more current day shiznit.


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## syl (17/10/13)

Let me know how you get on Spiesy! I am off to the states in Feb. Getting a Therminator + Hop Rocket + In-line thermometer. (Not packing any clothes!)


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## Spiesy (18/10/13)

syl said:


> Let me know how you get on Spiesy! I am off to the states in Feb. Getting a Therminator + Hop Rocket + In-line thermometer. (Not packing any clothes!)


I'm off in Jan. Might add the in-line thermometer to my setup whilst there. Local bloke doesn't seem to stock it.

BTW: local prices were pretty decent on the hop rocket and therminator for me. Quick service/supply and much better shipping prices (if you were to ship from o/s).
*no affiliation


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## SimoB (7/11/14)

hey all - read through this thread and I'm def about to buy one of these when fullpint are stocking them again. I was wondering, for those who have them - are you still using them now after this long???

Cheers,
Simo


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## Black n Tan (7/11/14)

SimoB said:


> hey all - read through this thread and I'm def about to buy one of these when fullpint are stocking them again. I was wondering, for those who have them - are you still using them now after this long???
> 
> Cheers,
> Simo


I don't use mine often. Probably because I don't want to be restricted to only using the few hop varieties that are available in cones. The other reason is probably it it a bit fiddly cleaning and sanitisation all the extra components (hoses, pumps, plate chiller), as I normally just use an immersion chiller. That said I am a little excited as I plan to use it next week with some NZ cascade (25g), Victoria Secret (25g), Nelson Sauvin (15g) and Galaxy (15g) cones. I used it as randall once (used way too much cascade) and the smell reminded my wife of dishwashing detergent (I have to agree). It was way to intense and not pleasant.


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## SimoB (7/11/14)

Yeah, I was a bit concerned about the limited amount of flowers available. That is a bit balls to be honest.


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## Mardoo (7/11/14)

Grow yer own


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## seamad (7/11/14)

Just pack some SS scrubbers @ the filter bit and wrap some pellets up in muslin cloth, or pack the cones in first then wrapped pellets, works fine for me. I've wondered whether plugs would work as you can get them for foreign grown hops.


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## wobbly (7/11/14)

With a bit of lateral thinking you can use pellets in the Blichmann Hop Rocket as demonstrated by Wollfy in his DIY Hop Rocket in the following topic. I understand Roger Millie has also had success with pellets in the Blichmann.

Another alternative to using Swiss Voile is to load the HR up with some polyester filling like that used in pilows

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/65135-wolfys-3v-stainless-home-brewery-build-details/page-6

Wobbly


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## peas_and_corn (7/11/14)

Still using mine as a randall, works well.


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## SimoB (8/11/14)

Awesome thanks, guys. I'm waiting patiently for them to become available at full pint, can't wait. Finally a pre filter for my chiller! Oh and hoppy goodness


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## jeddog (31/12/14)

What connection do you use peas-n-corn on ya hop rocket?
I have a hop rocket and not sure what fitting to use. John Guest?


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## peas_and_corn (1/1/15)

Yeah there's a John guest fitting that connects to the rocket


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## jeddog (1/1/15)

I got in the mail yesterday from Craftbrewer some guest fitting 1/2 BSP x 5/16 but there too big for the hop rocket. I thought the rocket was 1/2 "? I also got a couple of bags of cascade flower to get the randall up and running for last night but had no joy with the fittings.


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## iambj (1/1/15)

jeddog said:


> I got in the mail yesterday from Craftbrewer some guest fitting 1/2 BSP x 5/16 but there too big for the hop rocket. I thought the rocket was 1/2 "? I also got a couple of bags of cascade flower to get the randall up and running for last night but had no joy with the fittings.
> 
> 
> 
> ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1420066385.269796.jpg


The Hop Rocket is 1/2", sounds like you were sent (or ordered) the wrong ones.

My guess is you have 5/8"


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## jeddog (1/1/15)

I just checked and I did I order the 1/2". Maybe the wrong one was sent. I'll give them a call when I don't feel so shit


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