The Hop Stopper
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TidalPete
BREWING BY THE BEACH
Stagger said:
Is that the fine grade Termimesh Stagger? :unsure:
Darren -- Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
:beer:
I started with a bazooka screen. It's 30cm long and 2.5cm in diameter. It was crap. It took no time at all to get clogged with hops and break material.
Currently I use a false bottom. This works a treat with plugs and I can drain the kettle to the last drop. Some small amount of crap gets through, but it keeps out 98%.
However the false bottom is useless when it come to pellets. The holes in the false bottom and the gap between the edge and bottom of the kettle let in enough hops to clog the pick up tube. The pick up tube has a 90 degree bend in it which compounds the problem of hop pellets clogging it.
I'd love to find a system that is good at keeping out both plugs and pellets.
Cheers
MAH
Currently I use a false bottom. This works a treat with plugs and I can drain the kettle to the last drop. Some small amount of crap gets through, but it keeps out 98%.
However the false bottom is useless when it come to pellets. The holes in the false bottom and the gap between the edge and bottom of the kettle let in enough hops to clog the pick up tube. The pick up tube has a 90 degree bend in it which compounds the problem of hop pellets clogging it.
I'd love to find a system that is good at keeping out both plugs and pellets.
Cheers
MAH
MAH,
No screen works a treat for both pellets and plugs. Just put the pickup tube off to the side of the kettle. When the boil is finished allow the crap to drop to the bottom (15 minutes) and then just transfer to your fermenter as usual. A bit of stuff gets throug at first but all the break and hop material actually makes a good filter. It took me years to work out that kettle filters ARE SILLY.
cheers
Darren
No screen works a treat for both pellets and plugs. Just put the pickup tube off to the side of the kettle. When the boil is finished allow the crap to drop to the bottom (15 minutes) and then just transfer to your fermenter as usual. A bit of stuff gets throug at first but all the break and hop material actually makes a good filter. It took me years to work out that kettle filters ARE SILLY.
cheers
Darren
Hi Darren
I'm certainly leaning towards a simple pick-up tube offset to the side, but at the moment I basically use plugs and the false bottom works a treat for this. English and German hops are easy to get as plugs, but if you want American hops, other than Cascade, then it seems pellets are your only option.
I know Chiller uses a simple pick-up tube and have seen how well his kettle drains, but he still seems to have problems with plugs clogging it.
Cheers
MAH
I'm certainly leaning towards a simple pick-up tube offset to the side, but at the moment I basically use plugs and the false bottom works a treat for this. English and German hops are easy to get as plugs, but if you want American hops, other than Cascade, then it seems pellets are your only option.
I know Chiller uses a simple pick-up tube and have seen how well his kettle drains, but he still seems to have problems with plugs clogging it.
Cheers
MAH
warrenlw63
Just a Hoe
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With Plugs or flowers only a Copper or S/S scrubby shoved over the end of the pickup tube works well.
With just pellets. I whirlpool and let the wort sit for about 30 mins. Minimal crap goes through this way. In fact it works very well. I'd avoid the srubby here. Pellet debris will most likely saturate it.
With a combination of plugs and pellets there's really no pefect world.
Warren -
With just pellets. I whirlpool and let the wort sit for about 30 mins. Minimal crap goes through this way. In fact it works very well. I'd avoid the srubby here. Pellet debris will most likely saturate it.
With a combination of plugs and pellets there's really no pefect world.
Warren -
pint of lager
brewing on the verandah
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I use mainly pellets and have no filter in the kettle.
On flameout, I whirlpool, wait 20 minutes and runoff through the CFC. Most of the rubbish stays in the boiler, which attaches to the CFC with a flexible pipe to a tap so that the boiler can be gently tipped to get the wort out. The wort is allowed to stand for an hour or so in a fermenter and any break and hop material that made it into the fermneter settles out. The wort is then transferred to the primary fermenter through the tap and all the rubbish stays behind.
You can then collect all the break material in a jug, allow it to settle out and use any clear wort for starters. But I find there isn't alot and generally use DME or LME for starters.
On flameout, I whirlpool, wait 20 minutes and runoff through the CFC. Most of the rubbish stays in the boiler, which attaches to the CFC with a flexible pipe to a tap so that the boiler can be gently tipped to get the wort out. The wort is allowed to stand for an hour or so in a fermenter and any break and hop material that made it into the fermneter settles out. The wort is then transferred to the primary fermenter through the tap and all the rubbish stays behind.
You can then collect all the break material in a jug, allow it to settle out and use any clear wort for starters. But I find there isn't alot and generally use DME or LME for starters.
Or you can let some crap through straight after chilling and then drop into another fermenter 30 minutes later once it has settled to aerate before pitching like some of us lo-tech types do h34r:
I know, back to the bottom of the class :lol: Sorry fellas, couldn't resist...
Shawn.
h34r: I know, back to the bottom of the class :lol: Sorry fellas, couldn't resist...
Shawn.
warrenlw63
Just a Hoe
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Jye said:
Jye,
None whatsoever.
Warren -
ausdb
Copper kettles don't kill people....
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I finally got a chance to brew and try out my home made hopstopper. I was sick and tired of wasting a couple of litres of wort every time to the spooge pile in the bottom of the kettle.
The stainless mash I had was rectangular so I folded it over to make a square 280x280mm then on the other three sides I just double folded the edge over with a pair of pliers and hammered it down. I left one corner open to fit the pickup tube in and secured it with some heavy copper wire. This picture is the underside showing the pickup tube which is just open on the end.
It was tight squeeze into the kettle but it sits nicely in the bottom, the pickup tube almost touches the bottom of the kettle. My kettle is the tall style 50l keg which are a lot more rounded in the base than the squat 50l ones I have noticed. The discolouration on the mesh is not from scorching, its where I previously used the mesh as a heat diffuser with an erlenmeyer on the gas stove.
To test it I brewed a batch of koelsch yesterday, I had 48L of runnings in the kettle and I figure there was about 44-45L in the kettle at flameout. The batch had 90g of pellet hops in the brew and two plugs. I whirlflocked the batch and started pumping wort through the CFC about 5minutes after finishing the boil. As I pumped out of the kettle the very first couple of hundred mLs were a bit cloudy but once the pump started pulling the hops down on to the mesh they formed a filter and it became crystal clear. Here is my dodgy washing machine mag drive pump setup which lets you check wort clarity at the same time!
After the boil I let the kettle cool down and took a few photo's, there is a little mark in the spooge/break material where I rubbed it with my finger to see how thick it was. It had built up to almost 1/2" thick in places.
With the kettle tilted over this is all that was left behind!
Cleanup was bit of pain as it is not easy to get out due to its size and the small opening I have in my kettle. It took quite a few blasts withe hose to clean it out, I think before I use it again that I will cut off the three corners so it is a bit more rounded and I can get it out of the kettle easily.
On the whole I am STOKED :super: :super:
No more wasted wort, I'll drink to that :chug:
The stainless mash I had was rectangular so I folded it over to make a square 280x280mm then on the other three sides I just double folded the edge over with a pair of pliers and hammered it down. I left one corner open to fit the pickup tube in and secured it with some heavy copper wire. This picture is the underside showing the pickup tube which is just open on the end.
It was tight squeeze into the kettle but it sits nicely in the bottom, the pickup tube almost touches the bottom of the kettle. My kettle is the tall style 50l keg which are a lot more rounded in the base than the squat 50l ones I have noticed. The discolouration on the mesh is not from scorching, its where I previously used the mesh as a heat diffuser with an erlenmeyer on the gas stove.
To test it I brewed a batch of koelsch yesterday, I had 48L of runnings in the kettle and I figure there was about 44-45L in the kettle at flameout. The batch had 90g of pellet hops in the brew and two plugs. I whirlflocked the batch and started pumping wort through the CFC about 5minutes after finishing the boil. As I pumped out of the kettle the very first couple of hundred mLs were a bit cloudy but once the pump started pulling the hops down on to the mesh they formed a filter and it became crystal clear. Here is my dodgy washing machine mag drive pump setup which lets you check wort clarity at the same time!
After the boil I let the kettle cool down and took a few photo's, there is a little mark in the spooge/break material where I rubbed it with my finger to see how thick it was. It had built up to almost 1/2" thick in places.
With the kettle tilted over this is all that was left behind!
Cleanup was bit of pain as it is not easy to get out due to its size and the small opening I have in my kettle. It took quite a few blasts withe hose to clean it out, I think before I use it again that I will cut off the three corners so it is a bit more rounded and I can get it out of the kettle easily.
On the whole I am STOKED :super: :super:
No more wasted wort, I'll drink to that :chug:
Ross said:
Hi Ross
A hop bag certainly solves the problem of getting the hops out of the boil, but it creates its own problems. The reason for a rolling boil is not just for the heat but also for the physical motion. The hops should be physically moving out in the boil and a hop bag limits this. It's not a serious problem, but it's not ideal.
Cheers
Mark
Ross
CraftBrewer
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MAH said:
A nice large hop bag means the hops get plenty of movement (yes i don't like the stocking technique) - Tried with hop bags & without & if you can notice any difference (assuming there is any, which i doubt) in the end product you're a far better man than me...
