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rob6239
Joined: 14 May 2016
Posts: 18
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 Link Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:35 pm Post subject: Hop stopper video |
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Can anyone who uses a hop stopper show a video of it draining up to/or past the mesh with a highly-hopped brew and that shows the flow rate out of kettle and chill method?
I know its not recommended but I use a plate chiller right now and recirc ~5 mins before flameout to help clean everything out before chilling and like to occasionally add whirlpool hops as my wort cools. Anyone have success whirlpooling with a hop stopper? I'm not a fan of spiders and bags (used both). I never get that immediate aroma release as when I drop hops right into the boiling kettle
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McGruber
Joined: 12 Aug 2014
Posts: 237
Location: Idaho
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| Link Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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You should do a search of the forum using keywords Hopstopper, and/ or Whirlpool. This topic comes up regularly and there's lots of reading you can do in this forum. You're "not supposed" to whirlpool or recirculate through a HopStopper. I personally suggest removing the Hopstopper all together if you plan to chill and whirlpool. Jonymac had good results in his boil kettle. I also took out my HopStopper. I hand-stir after flame out to "whirlpool" in the boil kettle. Then I transfer out (drawing off the side like jonymac does) into a separate dedicated WP vessel for whirlpool hop additions. Check these out.
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30802
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28523&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=whirlpool&&start=20
Last edited by McGruber on Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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rob6239
Joined: 14 May 2016
Posts: 18
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| Link Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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thanks. I had had been using youtube and google for whirlpool with hop stopper and nothing I was hoping to see was coming up. That first one from Jonymac I think is exactly what i want to do, as long as no trub, pellets, or break get into pump or chiller on first couple pass through before whirlpool gets going
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McGruber
Joined: 12 Aug 2014
Posts: 237
Location: Idaho
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| Link Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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| rob6239 wrote: | | thanks. I had had been using youtube and google for whirlpool with hop stopper and nothing I was hoping to see was coming up. That first one from Jonymac I think is exactly what i want to do, as long as no trub, pellets, or break get into pump or chiller on first couple pass through before whirlpool gets going |
I forgot that you said you were using a plate chiller. I think that hops and trub would jam it up in the absence of a HopStopper. I also don't think you'll get very good whirlpool effect because of the resistance in the plate chiller which will get worse as it jams up with break and hops.
You'd be better off (as an example) running your hot wort whirlpool through a cheaper copper immersion chiller submerged in a bucket of ice. That will cool the wort down pretty quickly to your target temp, without screwing up your plate chiller. Don't run through your plate chiller until after all that gunk has settled on the bottom. Also, don't use whole hops if you choose my suggested method. I made the mistake of doing that once. My hoses and pumps got jammed up with hop cones, and required some disassembly while brewing to un-stick everything.
I really suggest not trying to use the HopStopper in your situation. I found it painfully slow just trying to drain the kettle with the HopStopper in place. If you read all the threads here you'll find that filtering while whirlpooling is not going to work. Good luck!
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rob6239
Joined: 14 May 2016
Posts: 18
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| Link Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 12:00 am Post subject: |
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| McGruber wrote: |
I forgot that you said you were using a plate chiller. I think that hops and trub would jam it up in the absence of a HopStopper. I also don't think you'll get very good whirlpool effect because of the resistance in the plate chiller which will get worse as it jams up with break and hops.
You'd be better off (as an example) running your hot wort whirlpool through a cheaper copper immersion chiller submerged in a bucket of ice. That will cool the wort down pretty quickly to your target temp, without screwing up your plate chiller. Don't run through your plate chiller until after all that gunk has settled on the bottom. Also, don't use whole hops if you choose my suggested method. I made the mistake of doing that once. My hoses and pumps got jammed up with hop cones, and required some disassembly while brewing to un-stick everything.
I really suggest not trying to use the HopStopper in your situation. I found it painfully slow just trying to drain the kettle with the HopStopper in place. If you read all the threads here you'll find that filtering while whirlpooling is not going to work. Good luck! |
I guess Im getting off track from my original post but this is probably why there are so many posts and debates about filtering and screens etc
Right now I just use a bazooka screen and everything works fine but I use a hop spider I want to eliminate. I much prefer my hoppy beers after adding free to the kettle. I also don't want to go back to my old immersion chiller after investing in a decent plate chiller. I don't know that a CFC would perform much differently than a plate chiller in this setup.... hence what brought me to seeking a hail mary on recirc with hop stopper....
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sirmellor
Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 16
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| Link Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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This is another thread that deals with a alternative to the hop stopper.
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30663&highlight=
I bought the filter mentioned in the thread and have been extremely happy with it.
I brewed the Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA last weekend and didn't have to slow down my chill rate at all. It works just like the hop stopper without the risk of loss of siphon.
The only thing that effects flow rate is the temp of the ground water used in the counterflow chiller, here in northern California its still a little warm, but I look forward to seeing the difference in speed during the winter.
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McGruber
Joined: 12 Aug 2014
Posts: 237
Location: Idaho
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| Link Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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| rob6239 wrote: | | I don't want to go back to my old immersion chiller after investing in a decent plate chiller. I don't know that a CFC would perform much differently than a plate chiller in this setup.... hence what brought me to seeking a hail mary on recirc with hop stopper.... |
If you want to cool while recirculating, then the CFC would be a better choice because its internal diameter is much larger than the plate chiller. If you wanted to recirculate/ whirlpool but don't need to actively chill at the same time, then just pump the bitter wort around from/ to your boil kettle until it passively cools to the temperature you're shooting for. Obviously, that will take considerably longer. Once all the trub is settled to the bottom the way you like then you can still use your plate chiller. My comment on the immersion chiller was just if you wanted to actively cool it while you recirculate - that way break material would be "less" likely to plug up the plate chiller. After you formed your trub cone on the bottom you would then use your plate chiller on the way to fermentation.
Maybe I'm overthinking it too. I've never tried what you're suggesting, but it sounds like a cleaning nightmare for your plate chiller. I have a plate chiller too, and it works great. However, like I said previously, I hand stir the boil kettle, then transfer to a separate WP, and then run through a hop screen before it hits the plate chiller. I can't imagine trying to WP through the plate filter, but that doesn't mean it won't work.
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McGruber
Joined: 12 Aug 2014
Posts: 237
Location: Idaho
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| Link Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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| sirmellor wrote: | | This is another thread that deals with a alternative to the hop stopper. |
Not sure how I missed that thread. I had envisioned building something like that too. I still don't think you could "whirlpool" through it, but it looks like a good filtering option.
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jonymac
Joined: 18 Dec 2014
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rob6239
Joined: 14 May 2016
Posts: 18
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| Link Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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| sirmellor wrote: | This is another thread that deals with a alternative to the hop stopper.
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30663&highlight=
I bought the filter mentioned in the thread and have been extremely happy with it.
I brewed the Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA last weekend and didn't have to slow down my chill rate at all. It works just like the hop stopper without the risk of loss of siphon.
The only thing that effects flow rate is the temp of the ground water used in the counterflow chiller, here in northern California its still a little warm, but I look forward to seeing the difference in speed during the winter. |
I guess that is just a matter of having a manufacturer that can build to the specs close enough to you.... but I would go for something like that
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dp Brewing Company
Joined: 08 Jul 2013
Posts: 664
Location: Midwest
Drinking: Chocolate Taco, Raspberry Mango Cider, American X, Sandy Dunes
Working on: Nothing
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| Link Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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| rob6239 wrote: |
I guess Im getting off track from my original post but this is probably why there are so many posts and debates about filtering and screens etc
Right now I just use a bazooka screen and everything works fine but I use a hop spider I want to eliminate. I much prefer my hoppy beers after adding free to the kettle. I also don't want to go back to my old immersion chiller after investing in a decent plate chiller. I don't know that a CFC would perform much differently than a plate chiller in this setup.... hence what brought me to seeking a hail mary on recirc with hop stopper.... |
I also stopped using my hop spider. I do not use any blocker at all. I just cool my wort through my CFC and whirlpool back into the kettle. I normally get it close to 70 degrees and turn off the pump. I wait about 10-15 minutes for everything to settle. Most of the hops and trub collect in the center of the my BK. I then pump through the CFC again and get the wort down to pinching temp as I move to my conical. A day or two later I dump the trub from the conical. With this approach I don't see the need for a blocker of any sort. Just my 2 cents.
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Mr Walleye
Joined: 23 Dec 2013
Posts: 71
Location: Ossining, NY
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| Link Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 4:36 am Post subject: |
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| sirmellor wrote: | This is another thread that deals with a alternative to the hop stopper.
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30663&highlight=
I bought the filter mentioned in the thread and have been extremely happy with it.
I brewed the Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA last weekend and didn't have to slow down my chill rate at all. It works just like the hop stopper without the risk of loss of siphon.
The only thing that effects flow rate is the temp of the ground water used in the counterflow chiller, here in northern California its still a little warm, but I look forward to seeing the difference in speed during the winter. |
I had Utah Biodiesel make me one of these too and couldn't be happier.
Don't know why, but I always had issues with my hopstopper being a wort stopper too down around the bottom few gallons.
The only thing that holds back my flow rate now is cooling water temp.
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mikesteadman
Joined: 04 Sep 2018
Posts: 1
Location: kansas
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| Link Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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I have an alternative solution... I completely agree with just about everyone's comments so far on this thread - plate chillers and loose pellet hops don't mix - and hop-stoppers can work "too good" - especially the 'bag' approach... My solution is the blichmann hop-rocket packed with loose hops in between the boil kettle and the chiller. From what I've seen over the last 4 or 5 batches - it is filtering basically all of the loose pellet hops in the boil I'm a 10-gal batch brewer, by the way - so we are talking between 5 and 8 oz hops total... I'm not sure what the results would be for a 20-gal or higher IPA with double the hops... but like I said - for me - placing this thing in between the boil-kettle and the chiller does the trick, without having to lose intensity of flavor or gumming up the chiller or fermenter... before anyone asks - I do think that the initial temp of the boil-kettle wort is enough to kill any harmful bacteria/yeast that may exist in the loose hops. this thing was/is expensive - maybe too expensive - but I think it's worth it just for the filtering effect... not to mention the aroma and taste of adding those last-minute hops to my brews. just food for thought - happy brewing!
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kal
Forum Administrator
Joined: 12 Dec 2010
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Location: Ottawa, Canada
Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter
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