Ss Braid Hopscreen

[jonw]

I made an improvised hop screen for my kettle for this weekend's brew. It's just a short length of braid with one end flattened and the other secured to the pickup tube with a clamp. It didn't work at all - it just got clogged up with hop crud and left me having to siphon 30L of hot wort into the cubes.

Does anybody else use braid as a hop screen (searching the site indicates that some people do), and if so how did you get around the hop crud clogging problem?

Cheers,

Jon

 

[T.D.]

I'd say it'd be too fine. Break material and/or hop pellet debris would probably clog it quicksmart. I have thought about a few times, I must say, but have usually chickened out for this reason.

 

[reVoxAHB]

I researched this some months ago before building my tea ball hop screen. The consensus among several brewers and replies here (just can't find the thread) is that it will definitely clog, and clog quick. Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you... at least you gave it a shot

reVox

 

[Hutch]

Plenty of people think its a failed idea, though it works perfectly well for me.
My boiler is a 40Ltr Urn, with 36cm base.
I use a 1m length of the stuff, laid out around the perimeter at the base of the boiler. The whirlpool takes care of the crud-pile, preventing it clogging up until the last few litres, when the crud-pile flattens out, and runoff slow's down.

1m braid cost $20+, so not the cheapest option, though cheaper than a SS FB.


Hutch.

 

[jonw]

I probably should have said that I'm using flowers and don't whirlpool (because it doesn't seem to make any difference to me - I still just end up with a layer of flowers at the bottom.)

Thanks for the feedback, though. I think I might try a version of the tea ball - I'd like to be able to make it from stainless, which may be a challenge. I'm using a vaguely keg shaped boiling vessel, so if I could get the ball in the middle of the pot I'd probably have very little wastage.

Cheers,

Jon

 

[Stuster]

Plenty of people think its a failed idea, though it works perfectly well for me.

I tried it for the first time last week and it worked fine for me. I have a pick-up tube running to the side of the kettle and whirlpool (works for me :huh: ). That usually means the wort runs out clear, but the only issue can be blockages with plugs/flowers. So in my half-assed way I just stuck some braid that I had lying around over the pick-up tube. No clamp or anything. No problems with Stuster's Slacker System^TM but I'll give it a few more runs before I'm sure it's as successful as it is lazy. B)

 

[enoch]

I came unstuck with braid and have used a hop sock since.
A few helpful suggestions that came my way are in this thread....
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=122791

 

[Hutch]

I tried it for the first time last week and it worked fine for me. I have a pick-up tube running to the side of the kettle and whirlpool (works for me :huh: ). That usually means the wort runs out clear, but the only issue can be blockages with plugs/flowers. So in my half-assed way I just stuck some braid that I had lying around over the pick-up tube. No clamp or anything. No problems with Stuster's Slacker System^TM but I'll give it a few more runs before I'm sure it's as successful as it is lazy. B)

If it worked, and was simple to do, and required no fixing (= extra work + cleaning) then what's lazy about that Stuster?
...it seems a lot of people are having trouble with the whirlpool not producing a nice neet cone. This often results from trying to whirlpool too soon after flame-out, and is caused by hot-spots on the base of your boiler. If you wait about 5-10 minutes for the thermal eddy-currents to settle-out, and then whirlpool vigorously, then you should get the desired result.

Having said that, I think the false-bottom / hop-screen idea has merit, as it removes the need for a whirlpool, and seems to work well as long as you have a certain proportion of hop flowers in the mix.

 

[Stuster]

I think you're right Hutch, just feeling inadequate in comparison to the bling brigade.

Good instructions for whirlpooling too IMO. I usually wait 10 minutes or so after stirring before running off the wort.

 

[poiter]

I have had success with a SS braid screen in my keg shaped kettle.

I use a 30cm length attached to an elbow angled to the bottom of the kettle, but near the outside of it and the braid curved around the edge.

The domed bottom, waiting10min, whirpooling and using hop flowers means that the braid is away from the crud cone left in the centre of the bottom. Very little wort is left apart a small amount bound up in the hop sludge.

The braid does collect some debris and has slowed towards the end draining, but hasn't blocked. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

 

[3G]

I use a large piece of very fine stainless mesh (termimesh). Its folded in a circle the size of the base of the kettle and has a pick up tube inside. The edges are simply folded and hammered to flatted. Has worked beautifully for a dozen or so 40lt batches.

 

[jonw]

If you wait about 5-10 minutes for the thermal eddy-currents to settle-out, and then whirlpool vigorously, then you should get the desired result.

Thanks for that tip. I made my second brew using this kettle on Saturday evening. It was Tony's LCBA using Cascade and Amarillo pellets, and I used the pickup tube without any hopscreen.

As it was late in the evening, after flame out I took the dog for his evening constitutional and whirlpooled on my return, probably 5 mins later. The result was a perfect cone of hop crud, and freely flowing clear wort down to the last few litres. Unfortunately my pickup tube extends quite a long way into the kettle - beyond the base of the cone of crud, so I picked up some hops at the end. Nothing I won't be able to fix with a hammer, I'm sure.

Jon