anybody whirlpool with tea balls?

i use them to dry hop and they work great. i am thinking about getting some of the real big ones to use instead of hop bags. my only concern is will the mesh clog up with trub when whirlpooling and kill utilization?

Why would you whirlpool if you use tea balls? you don't need to build a trub cone if the trub is in the balls?

I use 3" tea balls all the time, including for post-boil hopping.

I have several large hop balls that i use for dry hopping. I use them at times when making a beer without a lot of hop additions such as lagers or stouts, for large hop additions I use my spider. The balls work great in this capacity. Mine have a short chain and I hang them over the side of my kettle.

Weezy said:

Why would you whirlpool if you use tea balls? you don't need to build a trub cone if the trub is in the balls?

I use 3" tea balls all the time, including for post-boil hopping.

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to not run a ton of sludge through my pump and counter chiller

I use a hops spider when I brew outside and a hops bag when I brew inside.

yeah, i was thinking about one of those all SS hop spider/filters at stainlessbrewing.com but if i could use a couple of tea balls and save $65 that would be nice. i have used the hop bags but buying new ones all the time (if you use disposable ones) or cleaning the nylon ones is not as nice as throwing the tea balls in the dishwasher and done.

btw i have never been able to build a trub cone. i whirlpool strictly for hop flavor. the outlet on my kettle is a little higher than normal so i leave almost a full gallon on the bottom of my kettle when drained which is usually 90% of the trub.

itsratso said:

to not run a ton of sludge through my pump and counter chiller

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I doubt it'll work as you hope. Most of the trub will stay in the ball but the little that gets out isn't going to compact into a cone with the balls rolling around in the whirlpool.

I've done it many times and have no problem with hops in my plate chiller or pump. I have one of those mega spiders from stainless brewing. I love it, but dont use it when i'm only adding a few ounces of hops. in these situations the hop balls are perfect. I think mine are 5 1/2 inches. Like you, I whirlpool for recirculation and hop stands not for trub control.

I bought about 5 of the 4" tea balls. I have to be very careful of the amount of hop pellets I put in them. The expand like crazy.. to the point they totally fill the balls. Which is why I don't like them and defer to bags. When the balls are full from expansion there is no wort circulation in the ball. However, tea balls or hop bags. I still get hop residue on the bottom of the pot.. Just not nearly as much That's my experience

thanx to both of you for that. that was what i was hoping for, just to keep some of the hop sludge down in big huge dipa's. i am not looking to totally clear the wort. do either of you notice any loss of hop flavor with them?

No loss in hop flavor at all. In fact, I think the wort circulation through the hop balls is better than through my large hop spider. The fluid level in the spider is generally a couple of inches above the kettle level when draining especially when its packed with 2# of hops for a 10 gallon DIPA. The fine screen restricts flow in and out. Try it out. I think you will like the results. I do agree with not over packing the hop balls. I put at most 2 oz in the 5 1/2" balls.

i would never over pack my err.. balls.

I have the 3inch balls and they can get pretty full with an ounce of hops. For less than an ounce it's no worries but I've gotten into the habit of doing hop stands and have not noticed any decrease in utillization. They do keep my trub loss way down. I just hang them over the pot to drain while I whirlpool and my picckup tube stays out of the hot break cone and leaves less than a pint behind in the pot.

Then its dump, rinse, and into the dish washer.