Auto Hopping - Hop Volumes

[lael]

I'm looking at designing and building an automatic hopping device. I'm trying to figure out if it is worth building one that can handle whole/fresh hops. Never having used them or seen them in person I have no idea what volume they take up.

Can anyone suggest - on a 'normal' batch of beer (20L, 'normal' IBUs for you) that you do - when you use fresh hops - how much do you use, and how much volume do they take?

Similarly - I'd be interested in knowing what quantity of hops most people use per brew (max 'normal' addition per brew is really what is important to figure out what size each chamber needs to be) and how many additions you would normally do. If you do double batches etc, calculate it down and post for a single batch.

I'm figuring that for special batches (infrequent, super high ibu beers) that manual hopping will be fine.

Here's mine:

Lael - standard IBUs - 20 - 50, normally 2-5oz per brew depending on AA - largest single hop addition - normally 1-1.5oz

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Goomba - standard IBU 40-60, normally about 60g per brew, largest single hop addition generally at 0 minutes (no chill).

 

[Yob]

Chill or no chill? I'd assume chilling, the unfortunate thing is that you are likely to need to weigh each addition anyway, but it'd be cool to have some revolver type setup where it just drops the addition in,

Sounds like a fun build, thought about it a few times myself but in the end, no chill and slamming 100g into the cube is a shitload easier for my needs...

Looking forward to the photos

 

[lael]

lol - for whatever reason.

Chill or no chill? I'd assume chilling, the unfortunate thing is that you are likely to need to weigh each addition anyway, but it'd be cool to have some revolver type setup where it just drops the addition in,

Sounds like a fun build, thought about it a few times myself but in the end, no chill and slamming 100g into the cube is a shitload easier for my needs...

Looking forward to the photos

Cheers! It is a part of a plan to fully automate the brauduino - the plan is - mash in and come back to fully chilled wort. I'm working on designs and trying to make them as useful to as many people as possible... What additions do you normally do before your 100gr cube addition?

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Yeah, given I weigh out my hops anyway, and with most beers they consist of 1 addition at 90 minutes and a bucketload of cube hops (so I'm down to 2 containers), I'm not in the need of a regular addition machine, though it does sound cool.

 

[n87]

for an automated setup, i would think that this would be better:
measure your additions
enter in when your additions will be needed to your computer/whatever you are using to automate
when time comes, first hop addition is dropped in, second, third.

this can be done with something like a conveyer with cups attached, computer moves conveyer 'x' distance, which drops one of the additions into the boil.

just depends how your stuff is automated, and how automatic you want the end result to be.
fyi, i have nfi how your current system works, so this my be completely irrelevant.

 

[Yob]

I'll usually do a bittering to 1/3 of total IBU desired and the rest from the cube mate.

 

[lael]

for an automated setup, i would think that this would be better:
measure your additions
enter in when your additions will be needed to your computer/whatever you are using to automate
when time comes, first hop addition is dropped in, second, third.

this can be done with something like a conveyer with cups attached, computer moves conveyer 'x' distance, which drops one of the additions into the boil.

just depends how your stuff is automated, and how automatic you want the end result to be.
fyi, i have nfi how your current system works, so this my be completely irrelevant.

Thats pretty much the plan. The mechanics of it are still being worked out.

 

[sponge]

I'll usually do a bittering to 1/3 of total IBU desired and the rest from the cube mate.

A man after my own heart.