Hop back

[Chrishendo]

Hi Guys,
I am thinking of building a Hop Back and using it with my Robobrew.
My plan is after the boil to circulate out the bottom of the Robobrew, pass through the Hop Back and back into the kettle whilst cooling with the immersion chiller.

But I am worried - will I loose loads of aroma whilst the wort is cooling?
I will submerge the return line to the kettle, so HSA is not really bothering me - or should it?

Can anyone please tell me if this is a sensible plan - or am I missing something here??

Cheers Guys...........Chrishendo.

 

[fdsaasdf]

Hopbacks are cool and when you're talking commercial scales they can help develop some particular hop-forward characteristics. Sierra Nevada's torpedo units are a great example.

However, IMO they're not worth the effort for a homebrewer for the cost and complication. A whirlpool recirc through a hop spider is likely to be as effective for a lot less cost and effort. Otherwise, a steep or reciric after flameout/0 is likely to be similarly effective.

 

[Belgrave Brewer]

You'll mostly get flavour additions from the hops the way you are planning to use the hop back. A big aroma hit comes from dry hop additions post fermentation, although some articles I've read recently have brewers using hop additions during fermentation as well.

If you don't want to muck around with building one, there's an inexpensive hop torpedo on the market for around $150 delivered.
https://cheekypeakbrewery.com.au/inline-filter-hop-torpedo-randle

I just bought one of these and plan to use it for dry hopping in my closed system.

 

[Chrishendo]

Thanks for the help guys. I was thinking of getting a clip lid Stainless Container from Kmart, drilling and fitting an inlet at the top and put a half a hop ball filter in and drain from the bottom. I saw something similiar on the American Homebrewers Association webpage (Acrylic lid, but I guess its food safe).
Belgrave Brewer - just looked at the torpedo-randle (envious emoji) - it looks the business - might have to try and get on the good side of the Household finance Minister.
fdsaasdf - cheers for the info mate. I hear what you are saying - I just thought that with a dedicated device to flow the wort through it would get max from the hops.
Trouble with the Robobrew is there is no space to put a Bazooka screen on the outlet as the malt pipe fills the space for the mash. I have had troubles with gunk getting into my pump in the past. I even tried an inline filter on the downstream end of the outlet ball valve - that was partially successful as I could at least stop the operation and clear it.

Thanks again Guys.

 

[Judanero]

I would add brew brite (or similar agent) at whirlpool, whirlpool in the robobrew, cover and leave it for 20-30 mins. If you turn it off you can still watch what temp your wort is at on the display- at ~80c transfer it to your secondary vessel (via the hop back) where your chiller is and continue whirlpooling there til pitching temp.

I usually wait til 80c on my Robo until I transfer to cube (no chill) and the wort is pretty crystal at that point.

 

[Chrishendo]

thanks Judanero.
I am not familiar with brew brite but will Google it. I always add Whirlfloc and have tried a couple of times doing the Gelatine thing - but with mixed results.

I'm really a newbie at the hobby but am finding the community to be excellent and have met a great bunch of guys.
I'm on the Mornington Peninsula in Vic., and get most of my gear from Keg King - i have to say they have been good with me as well. Bit frustrating that they seem to run out of stock on a lot of items, but otherwise no problems.
Main thing is I have fun. Thanks again fellas.

 

[fdsaasdf]

I haven't used a Robobrew so wasn't aware of the inability to fit any screen inside the vessel to stop sediment clogging up your pump. I'm also not sure of how sediment-tolerant the pump is. Years ago on a different setup I had a march pump that managed to somehow move porridge from mash tun to kettle thanks to errors on my part...

It sounds to me like you need a filter inside the vessel... is there absolutely no room for something like the lauter helix that sits on the bottom of the kettle with a height of 20mm?

 

[Chrishendo]

Thanks fdsaasdf - the problem is the Malt pipe fits inside quite snugly to amout 2mm off bottom (there are feet on the Malt Pipe) - I think to keep the bottom of the grain from being too close to the heating elements and scorching. I really like the small foot print of the system and just pump out of the lower ball valve through on inline filter. To minimise gunk I always use a Hop Spider so its really just hot break material and misc protein gloops. When I recirculate during mashing its never a problem. I just Googled the Lauter Helix and it looks a great bit of kit. I might try looking into fitting a false bottom below the malt pipe to give it more room - it would at least work with small grain bills I think, without adding to my dead space.
All the best mate and good wishes for a Happy New to you, your family and all the guys on Aussie home Brewer.

 

[Judanero]

Thanks fdsaasdf - the problem is the Malt pipe fits inside quite snugly to amout 2mm off bottom (there are feet on the Malt Pipe) - I think to keep the bottom of the grain from being too close to the heating elements and scorching. I really like the small foot print of the system and just pump out of the lower ball valve through on inline filter. To minimise gunk I always use a Hop Spider so its really just hot break material and misc protein gloops. When I recirculate during mashing its never a problem. I just Googled the Lauter Helix and it looks a great bit of kit. I might try looking into fitting a false bottom below the malt pipe to give it more room - it would at least work with small grain bills I think, without adding to my dead space.
All the best mate and good wishes for a Happy New to you, your family and all the guys on Aussie home Brewer.

Try ditching the hop spider- both for utilisation purposes and anecdotally I also find hop pellet material helps to form a nice trub cone during whirlpool- if using a crazy amount of hops you will need to factor this into your volume calculations to still produce enough clear wort without having to tip the Robobrew.

I used to use whirfloc but find brewbrite to produce superior results.. Brewman.com.au supplies it (no affiliation), in my experience you are creating unnecessary work by fitting a pre-pump screen, the whirlpool should absolutely do enough of a job as I've never had any issues using the exact same setup (Robobrew + pump - chiller in 99% of cases).

Cold break in small amounts is no problem, and depending on yeast strain and ferment practice you should end up with clear beer (or definitely beer that can be cleared up post-ferment, either through filtration or additives).

Back to your original question regarding hop back, some hop flowers will also help to create a filtration bed but of course it will also slow down the wort flow.