djdixon1995
Well-Known Member
I've been wrestling with how to keep hop matter out of my plate chiller and fermenting vessels while still keeping the hops roaming freely about the brew kettle. On my last batch, my plan was to whirlpool with the hop cone forming directly on the bottom drain in the center of the kettle...I figured I'd just discard the first pint or two that cam out the drain and then have smooth sailing. Well, as it turns out, there was enough material to clog the half inch drain. I won't go into what a mess that was to clear out or the scalding I got from the hot wort. But I got to thinking; what if I built a false bottom that was solid, elevated it slightly off the bottom, then whirlpooled. The hop cone would form on the false bottom and allow the wort to reach the bottom drain via the gap between the false bottom and the kettle bottom. Anyone tried this method or have any thoughts?