hopstopper users...

Well, after this discussion, I thought I'd give something a try.

I've got one of these in my kettle.



It does great with whole hops, but does nothing for pellets. So I decided to sew a piece of nylon hop bag onto it to help catch the pellet hop particles. Here's a few pics. I'll be brewing this weekend. I'll give an update on how it works.

Bobby_M said:

Stainless came from Mcmaster but I can't help on the source for stainless wire. It was given to me from someone who works on airplanes. Search for lockwire. I mean, Mcmaster has it but the quantity is cost prohibitive. Actually, now that i look at it, they have 1/4lb rolls for under $10. I'm using what appears to be .032" diameter, but you can def get away with something half as thin.

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Another place you can get small spools or lengths of stainless steel 304 or 316 wire in various gauges is http://www.smallparts.com/ Also screen.

I didn't check prices to see how it compares with McMaster, but it's another source for anyone who is looking.

Well, I brewed a 10 gal batch today with the nylon-modified-filter. It ruined my batch!

I guess this kept the wort from circulating enough around in and out of the area underneath and it ended up burning. I didn't even know until I tasted it once it was in the carboy after I took an OG reading. It tasted like a cigar!

I thought I smelled something as the boil started, but I just thought it was the paint that was burning off the new brew stand. Anyway, I just thought I would share so the rest of you don't try this and make the same $45 + 4 hour mistake I did. Otherwise, prepare for this:

Lil' Sparky said:

Well, I brewed a 10 gal batch today with the nylon-modified-filter. It ruined my batch!

I guess this kept the wort from circulating enough around in and out of the area underneath and it ended up burning. I didn't even know until I tasted it once it was in the carboy after I took an OG reading. It tasted like a cigar!

I thought I smelled something as the boil started, but I just thought it was the paint that was burning off the new brew stand. Anyway, I just thought I would share so the rest of you don't try this and make the same $45 + 4 hour mistake I did. Otherwise, prepare for this:

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UGH.

*cues up "Cadence to Arms" on the pipes*

Sorry for your loss.

Good luck getting that kettle clean. Yikes.

Man, that just sucks hind tit.........I would just sit down and cry!!!!!

That pic on the bottom is enough to make a grown man cry.

Well, look at it this way, you helped all of us to know what doesn't work. Edison's lightbulb failed like 1000 times before it worked. I wonder if the hopstopper design can cause the same problem.

.

Arrrrrggh! That's just a hideous site! The horror, the horror!

Sorry man.

Boil some P.B.W. in it and it will clean right up!!!

Not a nice sight.

How high did you have the burner? How long to the rolling boil.

Lil Sparky, you spent $45.00 on grain for $21.95 more you could have bought a Hop Stopper. I'm sorry but sombody had to do it. I really do feel your pain!!!

I tried the false bottom on my first brew, of course that was before I realized that they only worked for whole hops!

After clogging my CFC and wasting a good portion of that first brew, I decided to get a hopstopper. I'm glad that I let my fiancee talk me into making my own!

I got my mesh from McMaster (12" x 24" of 30x30 mesh, .013 wire), and just used my ss dip tube from the false bottom.

The mesh may not be fine enough, some hops is getting through. What size mesh has anyone else used?

Otter, what did you sew yours up with?

I used 60x40 mesh which is basically twice as fine as your 30x30. I haven't tested it yet, but it looks about right. It's a larger mesh than a hop bag, but a little smaller than my funnel mesh which I KNOW stops pellet hops because it clogs all the time.

I used some wire from a piece of 18x18 stainless mesh that I had laying around. I simply pulled the strands out and used those.

Lil' Sparky said:

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Aaaarrrrrrgggghhhhhhh!!!1!!one!! (runs off screaming into the hills)

Oh the brewmanity!

Any reason I couldn't use brass wire to sew one of these up? I'd pickle it first of course. Saw a spool of 22ga brass wire in the hardware store today and figured it might be easier and quicker than ordering some off the interweb and waiting on delivery.

edit: Just realized I have some stranded copper wire left over from an electrical project. Is there any reason I couldn't use copper instead since I already have it? Anything special I'd have to do to clean it? Not sure if it's coated with some special chemical because it's electrical wire. There shouldn't be any reaction between the coper/SS mesh in the brew kettle I'm assuming.

I think it would be fine. Give it a shot.

Only problem with copper is that it is very soft. It may tend to break during use. Not to mention during sewing up the mesh.

I find this picture extremely offensive! Someone call the UN and report this severe case of Barleycide.

Owwww, it hurts just to look at it.

Ya could have saved it, bottled it and sold it to the local cigar club. Stogie Stout with Havanna Hops has a good ring to it.

Better Beer next time dude!

Yes, it was quite painful - and that was the 2nd carboy (10 gal batch).

I've since remedied the situation w/ a homemade hopstopper and have done a few batches, but the gigar beer ghost still haunts me!

Bobby_M said:

I used 60x40 mesh which is basically twice as fine as your 30x30. I haven't tested it yet, but it looks about right. It's a larger mesh than a hop bag, but a little smaller than my funnel mesh which I KNOW stops pellet hops because it clogs all the time.

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Have you tried yours yet? I am wanting to build a hop screen, but am not sure about the mesh. My bazooka screen is about an 18 x 18, but you talked about a 60 x 40. My bazooka clogs up using pellet hops all the time so I'll like to try this one. Just seems like a course grid would be less prone to cloging.

How are these working out with the immersion chillers, BTW?

How are these working out with the immersion chillers, BTW?

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I don't have a hop stopper (yet) but I do have a pickup tube made of 1/2 inch copper. My IC works fine with a 10 gallon batch. I gently whirlpool the wort with a drill and a 5 gallon paint mixer around the coils. It also helps to aerate the wort.

Good question. I went to a CFC at the same time so who knows.

dblee50 said:

Have you tried yours yet? I am wanting to build a hop screen, but am not sure about the mesh. My bazooka screen is about an 18 x 18, but you talked about a 60 x 40. My bazooka clogs up using pellet hops all the time so I'll like to try this one. Just seems like a course grid would be less prone to cloging.

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First, I'm quite sure the reason the bazooka clogs is because it doesn't have enough surface area, certainly not as much as the hopstopper. I've also only used a combination of pellet and some whole hops. I think the whole hops act as a filter bed. I've done two batches so far with it and no clogs at all. However, keep in mind I have no cold break because I use a counterflow, not an IC.

Are you using aluminum? Is it less stiff than ss?

I would think that if you are making your own HopStopper and many other homebrew materials, you could shape an IC to sit comfortably around the hopstopper and dip tube without a problem.

I'm about to purchase a 12"x24" 60x40 SS wire mesh and a 1/4lb spool of .032" diameter SS Safety Lock wire for a total of $14.52 without shipping. That seems well worth the time and effort as opposed to buying one already made. I also plan on making my own IC specially bent to fit over the dip tube and around the hopstopper....then again, maybe I want some cold break in the fermenter and will go with the CFC....decisions decisions

I actually plan on testing the DIY hop filter against cold break by using my IC on the next batch.

I look forward to hearing how that turns out.....keep us updated

I will say this, I have been through v1.0, v2.0, and v3.0 of home-made hopstoppers, all of them seemed to clog when I used my immersion chiller in the keggle, my new theory after reading this thread and thinking, is that it isn't the hops, but cold-break that is doing the clogging. It seems that *most* people with keggles and pickups use a plate chiller or CFC, which eliminate the cold-break clogging the hop-stopper.

My plan with my brew-partner this weekend is to drain the keggle with hopstopper v.3.0 into a bucket with a spigot, use the IC in the bucket inside a paint-strainer bag or a large grain bag (which I have on hand) and either drain the bucket into the fermenter or siphon it out a-la-brewmeister depending on where the cold break ends up (which I think may be equally inside and outside the bag if my years of biochemistry are right).

Anyone care to comment?

I will update.

I've been using a SS braid off to the side and that has worked pretty well - until I bought a pump and recirculated chilled wort back to the boil pot. What I'm going to try is to use a nylon hop bag placed over my braid. I just need to figure out some kind of internal support to hold the bag up. I"m envisioning something geodesic jungle gym like (bare copper wire?). I'll then insert my braid and clamp it onto the copper pipe the braid is attached to. Then I'll end up basically with a prefilter (hop bag) surrronding a final filter (braid).

I have a homemade hopstopper using two pieces of round 60x60 stainless steel mesh from McMaster-Carr (9317T323), crimped around the edges, no stainless "thread" to hold them together, with my 5/8" copper immersion chiller. It works great. This weekend was about 78F and I cooled to around 75F in under 30 minutes with water from my hose.

Just put a round object, slightly smaller than 12" diameter (maybe about 11.5" to 11.75") on top of the screens placed on top of each other, and bend the screen up all the way around. Then completely fold over and crimp with heavy pliers or vise-grips. (I just did it free-hand, but it would have been easier if I had something to start the bend over.)

I'd take a picture of mine, but my wife is gone for a couple of weeks and she has the camera.

I also made my own with I think 60 x 60 mesh. I have what seems like an impossible problem. Mine seems to not be able to flow quick enough, Even gravity draining. It also forms an air pocket under the mesh. I have no idea how this is possible. The mesh is not that small.

Any idea what could be causing this?

I really don't know, but I'll take a stab at it. I used 60x40 mesh ( 9241T432) and it might have larger open area percentage than your 60x60. When you think about it, in the 60x direction, the opening size is .0107" wide so this is the smallest partical size that can get through. However, in the 40x direction, it's .019" wide for more open aread, but it still traps particles .0107". This mesh has a 49.4% open area.

In the 60x60, you might have chosen 9230T631 which is 60x60 and has a 53% open area, but the 9238T336 has a slightly larger wire size (as the 60x40) so it would be lower than 45% open area.

What shape did you end up with? is it a 12" diameter circle?

Bobby_M said:

I really don't know, but I'll take a stab at it. I used 60x40 mesh ( 9241T432) and it might have larger open area percentage than your 60x60. When you think about it, in the 60x direction, the opening size is .0107" wide so this is the smallest partical size that can get through. However, in the 40x direction, it's .019" wide for more open aread, but it still traps particles .0107". This mesh has a 49.4% open area.

In the 60x60, you might have chosen 9230T631 which is 60x60 and has a 53% open area, but the 9238T336 has a slightly larger wire size (as the 60x40) so it would be lower than 45% open area.

What shape did you end up with? is it a 12" diameter circle?

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Mine is a square shape, I made it as large as possible to fit, I think 10". I also used .020" wire I think, it is very stiff. It just seems really odd that it can't flow enough water.

I can see the air bubble happening. Water has a lot of surface tension. You should be able to knock it aside, or it may go away when the boil begins.

Is your pickup tube tight against the bottom of your kettle now that the hopstopper is in place? That would cause a flow reduction.

Great point. I don't care how close to the bottom of the kettle your dip tube get, you need to drill a series of 1/8" holes around the bottom skirt of the dip tube. The mesh directly below the dip tube opening will get clogged the fastest and y ou need to provide a way for the flow from the entire surface area of the mesh to get into the dip tube.

Bobby_M said:

Great point. I don't care how close to the bottom of the kettle your dip tube get, you need to drill a series of 1/8" holes around the bottom skirt of the dip tube. The mesh directly below the dip tube opening will get clogged the fastest and y ou need to provide a way for the flow from the entire surface area of the mesh to get into the dip tube.

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my dip tube does go to the bottom but it is angled so it is not directly against the mesh. Keep in mind this is happening with plain water, I've not tried the pump with wort yet.

I think mine might be 30 x 30 and has something like 40% open area, I honestly don't recall the exact part number of it. The way it looks now I'll probably have to take it off for the next brew session, I can't have this thing screwing up a batch.

Has anyone with a real hop stopper noticed this happening?

I just bought one. 60 bucks plus returnable if it doesn't work as advertised...although from what I've read, it works perfectly. Now how do you guys clean this thing?



Dan