Hopback newbie

I was considering trying a hopback. Currently I brew IPA and Pale ale extracts with steeped grains. I have a chill plate on a pump that recirculates into the kettle until I reach my desired pithing temp and was thinking of adding this in line.

I guess I have a couple of questions...
1) would this replace the last addition of hops?
2) Do I add the same amount of hops that I would add for the last addition or do you add more?
3) Will recirculating the water through the hopback make it to overpowering?


Any pointers or tips would be great!

A Clockwork Orange! Found some info for ya,

http://beersmith.com/blog/2009/11/25/using-a-hop-back-for-homebrewed-beer/

I guess I'm still concerned with point 3?

I have a morebeer one. I only use it on certain styles so I don't use it all the time. IMO you can't have too much hop flavor/aroma in an IPA or most pales, so I usually use the hop back in addition to the recipe's late and flameout additions. You'd probably want to experiment and see what best suits your tastes.

You're going to have to see what works with your system and your taste.

I use a Blichmann Hop Rocket as a hopback and have had great success with it. I set it up between my pump and plate chiller.

1.)Whatever the final addition is, I use that hop variety in the hopback.
2.)The Hop Rocket instructions call for 2oz so that's what I do. Even if the recipe calls for .25oz, I go with 2. I'm a hophead so it doesn't bother me that I have some added aroma.
3.)IMO it's not overpowering.

Before I had a hop-back I would do a hop-stand (flame-out addition allowed to sit for about 20-30 minutes before I started chilling) with another dose right as I started chilling. The hop-back replaces that second flame-out addition.

The problem with a hop-back with your setup, is that if you recirculate through the hops and back into the kettle, you are defeating the purpose. The goal of the hop back is to run near-boiling wort through the hops and then immediately drop the temperature to pitching. By recirculating you are getting the exact same effect as a flame-out addition because the chilled wort is mixed back with the main/hot wort, heating it and volatilizing the hop oils. You are also chilling the wort so that it isn’t near boil as it continues to run through the hops.

I run hot PBW, hot water, and then cool Star-San through my chilling rig (pump, to HopRocket, to plate chiller), then put ~3 oz of whole hops into the hop back, and then run the wort through and into the fermentor. Slowly at first, then adjust once wort is flowing to the desired speed to achieve the target pitching temperature.

Excellent point^