Love my HopStopper! (21oz in the kettle with pictures)

**kal** · 11-27-2009, 08:54 PM

I brewed 12 gallons of Pliny the Elder clone a couple of days ago.

Normally I'd do 10 or so but I knew the hops would soak up a lot so I decided to make 12 gallons. Still only ended up with 10.5 gallons in the fermeters due to the 21 oz of hops used in the boil (and another 4 in the mash).

I don't think I would have tried this without a HopStopper. The amount of hop sludge was incredible!

Some pictures of the kettle and the hopstopper after I drained:

It's hard to see in the photos but the hop sludge is about 1.5-2" deep in the bottom of the kettle, and about the same piled up on the hopstopper. I have to say the hopstopper is amazing. No problems draining - you just need to make sure to not go too fast once you get down near the end to avoid sucking air in through various channels which would then stop the flow of wort (a problem I had in the past when I drained really fast).

The recipe if anyone's curious:

Pliny the Elder clone (106)
14-C Imperial IPA
Size: 12.0 gal
Efficiency: 92.91%
Attenuation: 85.0%
Calories: 253.86 kcal per 12.0 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.077 (1.070 - 1.090)
Color: 8.29 (8.0 - 15.0)
Alcohol: 8.63% (7.5% - 10.0%)
Bitterness: 260.5 (60.0 - 120.0)

Ingredients:
1.0 ea Campden Tablet - added to 20 gallons in HLT
23.29 lb Standard 2-Row (La Quebecoise)
0.55 lb Crystal Malt 40°L
1.67 lb Carapils®/Carafoam®
2.4 lb Corn Sugar
4.08 oz Chinook (11.5%) - added during mash
6.7 oz Warrior (15.4%) - added during boil, boiled 90 min
1.27 oz Chinook (11.5%) - added during boil, boiled 90 min
2.4 oz Simcoe (11.9%) - added during boil, boiled 45 min
2.45 oz Columbus (14.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
1.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
6.14 oz Centennial (8.0%) - added during boil, boiled 0 min
2.4 oz Simcoe (11.9%) - added during boil, boiled 0 min
26.0 g Fermentis US-05 Safale US-05
26.0 g Fermentis US-05 Safale US-05
7.8 oz Columbus (14.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
4.2 oz Centennial (8.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
4.2 oz Simcoe (11.9%) - added dry to secondary fermenter

Notes
25.5 lbs of grain.
Added campden tablet day before to 20 gallons Ottawa tap water.
Mash with (25.5 x 1.25)/4 = 8 gallons of strike water.
Single infusion mash @ 151F for 90 minutes. (Should be able to get the FG close to 1.010 - 1.011 with this low mash temp).
Mash out at 168F.
Sparge at 168F.
GU = 74 x 12 = 888. Pre-boil gravity should therefore be 888/14.75 = 1.060 (at 72F)
Collected 14.75 gallons. Measured 1.040/150F which is ~1.058/72F.
Added corn sugar (before boil). SG was 1.042/150F which is ~1.060/72F so right on target.
Boil for 90 minutes.
Got 10.5 gallons at 1.077/68F into fermenters. Lost a lot to hop absorption.
Ferment at around 68F using ~20 g of US-05 per 5.25 gallons.
Dry hop for 2 weeks (note: may want to reduce dry hop amount as original numbers were for 12 gallons not 10.5).

Kal

Mountainbeers · 11-27-2009, 11:11 PM

Only us home brewers would find that picture delicious looking.

chefchris · 11-28-2009, 01:14 AM

Did the recipe a couple weeks ago. Lost 2 gallons to hops! Did you buy the stopper or make it yourself?

mordantly · 11-28-2009, 01:52 AM

so where in this is the stopper? i see a buttload of hoppy goodness.. but i cant see the stopper feature.

denimglen · 11-28-2009, 02:50 AM

That's awesome.

I thought they suffered with a 100% pellets but looks like yours stood up to it OK.

What diameter is the hop stopper? Is it a DIY one?

chefchris · 11-28-2009, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mordantly

so where in this is the stopper? i see a buttload of hoppy goodness.. but i cant see the stopper feature.

Awesome website btw. I've been looking at going electic so I can brew indoors.

mordantly · 11-28-2009, 05:26 AM

that thing is awesome. where did you get it and how sturdy is it??

**Sherpa FE** · 11-28-2009, 01:25 PM

did you modify that for the blichman pot? If so, I would love to hear more about it.

**kal** · 11-28-2009, 02:18 PM

hi guys!

Thanks for the comments! To answer some of the questions:

This is a regular HopStopper bought directly from Dennis the guy who builds them at ihomebrewsolutions.com. At least I thought that was the place I bought it - the site seems to be under maintenance at the moment.

I didn't build it myself. It's the regular HopStopper without the 1/2" bolt on compression fitting. It's simply a 1/2" stainless tube that slides into where the regular Blichmann dip-tube would usually sit. No modification to the Blichmann pot is required.

Diameter of the HopStopper's about 8" or so.

Kal

**HopheadNJ** · 11-30-2009, 03:13 PM

I made a similar DIY version of the hop stopper... While browsing at the hardware store for bulkhead fittings, I came across a SS lint trap for like $3. It's basically a 5" piece of SS mesh tube (no dip tube). I've used it for 2 batches -- works excellent with whole leaf, but the pellets in the last batch seemed to clog it up a bit.