Hopster Hopscreen

CidahMastah said:

Be sure to let us know how this works. I use mostly pellets in 10G batches and really want to know how well this will work for pellets. Whole leaf hops are easy to size for the screen - the challenge is the pellets.

I am considering making one that my IC would fit in, if the cost isn't insane. I like the free boil.

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No prob. I use only pellets too at this point. I also do a recirculating plate chill. All those put together are probably the worst idea in the world.

SankePankey said:

No prob. I use only pellets too at this point. I also do a recirculating plate chill. All those put together are probably the worst idea in the world.

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Yeah with the recirc you are asking for trouble with a chiller

What's the copper tubing for? Does is pour the hot wort over the hops?

baer19d said:

What's the copper tubing for? Does is pour the hot wort over the hops?

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?? what copper tubing

any update on the 30 x 30 .013 diameter mesh? Thinking about making the purchase based on the thread but wanted to see if anyone has completed there build with this first.

Just finished up a 30 by 30 .012 wire model. I'm brewing a 10 gallon batch of IPA on Friday. Pics and I'll let you know how it goes. I have a good feeling about it though.

BSD

great thanks, looking forward to hear your results.

BSD_Glass said:

Just finished up a 30 by 30 .012 wire model. I'm brewing a 10 gallon batch of IPA on Friday. Pics and I'll let you know how it goes. I have a good feeling about it though.

BSD

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Very interested how you make out with this, I've got a sheet of the 30x30 that I haven't gotten to building yet.

I put some build shots in my gallery. Let's see if I can link to them.

Why yes, Yes I can.










BSD

I just completed the initial run using my 30x30x .012 screen. Mine was made for a 6 gal batch sized rig. It's about 4" in diameter by 12" in length.

I used pellet hops for this Centennial Blonde brew. The screen appeared to catch most of the material since I found several teaspoons of green debris in the filter when all was done.

The hop material was well incorporated into the boil (very active movement) so I don't have any concerns for utilization. I guess time will be the ultimate judge however.

I did observe however, that the remaining cold break material still covered the bottom of my boil pot after whirlpooling. Frankly, I couldn't tell any difference from this batch without the hop material as compared to prior batches with the hop material included. Visually it just wasn't as green but the volume of material was basically the same.

So, in the end the benefit from using a screen seems to be a minor factor. I'll probably continue to use the screen since I now have it, but knowing what I do now I probably wouldn't have built one.

I'm curious to hear what some of you have observed with respect to a screen eliminating the post boil sludge.

BSD would you mind listing the McMaster Carr parts numbers?

the mcmaster number is 85385T519 for the screen.

For the rivets, I bought close stainless rivets by arrow at my local hardware store.

the ring is Paderno World Cuisine 9 1/2 Inch by 3/4 Inch Tart Pastry Ring from amazon

I also needed a box of 100 #6 stainless washers to back the rivets going through the screen where there was no pastry ring.

I used (3) 6" by 1/4"-20 bolts I had laying around and some 1/4" nuts (2 per bolt) that I also had laying around.

I guess I also bought a 1/8" and a 3/8 cobalt bit for various stainless drilling projects and used those on this project.

Cheers. I'm trying mine out Friday. 20 ounces of hops in a 10 gallon batch. Chinook, Cascade, Centennial and Nugget all whole leaf. I'll throw in some Amarillo pellets to sub for the pearl leaf I used last time and to test it against pellets.

I'll take pics.

BSD

I used the screen yesterday in a 11 gallon heavy hop IPA. There were 12 ounces of leaf hops and 2 ounces of pellet hops.

With this full kettle of wort, I think I had over 4 gallons of space inside the hopster for stuff to move around. I had about 13 gallons pre-boil.

The hops were almost fully contained. I couldn't see ANY green in the protein and stuff left at the bottom of the keggle. The screen drained wort at the same rate as the rest of the kettle. I didn't have the amount of movement I would prefer in the screen after I added hops, but there was some movement. For the last 20 minutes, I recirculated through the screen to make sure I got good utilization on my later additions.

Clean up was easy. Dump the hops and spray it out.

I'm pretty pleased and think this is going to work out for a long time.

BSD

That my good man is a thing of beauty! PS: that's the same thing the ladies tell me

So it looks like we still haven't nailed down the mesh size for all pellet IPA brews. If people have please let me know, I am looking at doing a full sized pot liner. Making an entire basket to line the kettle. More surface area and a free boil. Also Will accommodate my immersion chiller. Will be $$ for the mesh, but worth it I think...

CidahMastah said:

So it looks like we still haven't nailed down the mesh size for all pellet IPA brews. If people have please let me know, I am looking at doing a full sized pot liner. Making an entire basket to line the kettle. More surface area and a free boil. Also Will accommodate my immersion chiller. Will be $$ for the mesh, but worth it I think...

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My 30 x 30 x .012 appears to keep the pellet hops contained. There was still a significant amount of trub to deal with but no green to be seen and the basket did have a fair amount of hop debris in it when done. No concern about utilization since the wort within the screen was very active during the boil.

The results are in the bottle as we speak. This is the clearest brew I've made in the three years I've been brewing. And this is specifically the fourth batch of this particular brew. I was puzzled by this since there was basically the same amount of trub left behind. Had my doubts about the contribution of the hop spider but not so sure now.

What "may" be occurring is the whirlfloc might be more effective with clearing the protein debris than the hop material. Anyway the brew is mighty clear and I'm anxious to taste the results. A taste of the green brew was very encouraging... A couple of weeks will tell the tale.

Sudz said:

My 30 x 30 x .012 appears to keep the pellet hops contained. There was still a significant amount of trub to deal with but no green to be seen and the basket did have a fair amount of hop debris in it when done. No concern about utilization since the wort within the screen was very active during the boil.

The results are in the bottle as we speak. This is the clearest brew I've made in the three years I've been brewing. And this is specifically the fourth batch of this particular brew. I was puzzled by this since there was basically the same amount of trub left behind. Had my doubts about the contribution of the hop spider but not so sure now.

What "may" be occurring is the whirlfloc might be more effective with clearing the protein debris than the hop material. Anyway the brew is mighty clear and I'm anxious to taste the results. A taste of the green brew was very encouraging... A couple of weeks will tell the tale.

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Maybe I will run with the 30 30 size you have. I made the hop stopper with 3030 I think, but it dodn't stand up to the test IMO. However I do 11G batches and so I guessed that I needed a large hop stopper. Then I thought... maybe the best way to do this is make a full liner for my pot. i.e. 20 diameter x 15 tall so it sits on my element. It might be cost prohibitive, but I am going to look into it.

I will also have to reinforce it etc. to make sure the end product is usable. I have also considered do two stage mesh basket but cost would be $$

I agree with the 30 x 30. It will filter the vast majority. I don't have the
30 x 30, I'm 20 x 20 can't remember. I love the way it works. No problems what so ever! I wish I had made one that was a full diameter of the kettle instead of 10". One of the top 5 pieces of equipment I've made or purchased. Post back if you do the build and give us your feedback CidahMastah.

Dog House Brew said:

I agree with the 30 x 30. It will filter the vast majority. I don't have the
30 x 30, I'm 20 x 20 can't remember. I love the way it works. No problems what so ever! I wish I had made one that was a full diameter of the kettle instead of 10". One of the top 5 pieces of equipment I've made or purchased. Post back if you do the build and give us your feedback CidahMastah.

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I definitely will (post if I build one). I missed this becasue I found a steal of a deal on a 60 amp GFI breaker. So my focus when from hopscreen to ... upgrading my control panel so I can run two elements simultaneously!! Just laid out and tacked in the #6AL wiring this morning to my new indoor subpanel. Hoping I will be wired up for indoor brewing by the end of the xmas break!

What is the cost of constructing this thing?

I wanted to post an update to this thread I brewed today for the first time with my new hop stopper and I must say it exceeded my expectations. I brewed a small beer with about 4 oz of hops and had zero trouble with all pellet hops. I have attached a few pictures.







Almost forgot I used the 30x30 and had no problem with all pellet hops, will update after my next brew which will be somewhere around 8-10 oz of pellet hops.

Biscostew said:

I wanted to post an update to this thread I brewed today for the first time with my new hop stopper and I must say it exceeded my expectations. I brewed a small beer with about 4 oz of hops and had zero trouble with all pellet hops. I have attached a few pictures.

Almost forgot I used the 30x30 and had no problem with all pellet hops, will update after my next brew which will be somewhere around 8-10 oz of pellet hops.

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please do - I think this will be the route that I am going once I recoup from my other builds

Might be a dumb question, but does anyone think that the 30x30 mesh could be sewn with a sewing machine? Anybody have some scrap and would be willing to try?

Being that most of the rivets are along areas where the mesh overlaps, I do not think there is anyway possible this could be sewn together with a needle. I used a drill and then put the rivets in which I think is the best option.

I toyed with sewing but what kind of thread would one use?

The rivets actually work quite well. Simply drill and pop. I did use aluminum rivets simply because I had them. They have performed just fine. I also used 30 x 30 which seems to be idea for the pellets I use.

The first time you use it you will be amazed by how much stuff comes from those few pellets of hops.

What is everyone's thought on this mesh

McMaster Carr number: 85385T522
Mesh Size - 32 × 32
Wire Dia. - 0.0065"
Opening Width - 0.025"
OpenArea - 62.7%
Each - 36.80

It has a good opening width, enough to block pellets and has a high percent open area, which should help flow, and the price is right.

Also, thinking about this ring.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001A44YTS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Can't help you.

My 30 x 30 came from McMaster Carr but I haven't a clue on the details other than size.

If they only have one size of 30 x 30 you could possibly use the associated info for comparison however I did purchase mine over a year ago. Who knows what if any material changes they may have gone through.

On the surface your 32 x 32 sounds fine, where as my 30 x30 still allows some particles to escape the 32 may be beneficial.

Cheers....

QUOTE "What is everyone's thought on this mesh"

McMaster Carr number: 85385T522
Mesh Size - 32 × 32
Wire Dia. - 0.0065"
Opening Width - 0.025" "



It looks good to me, Im thinking I'll pull the trigger on this, if theres a disadvantage to this mesh let me know..?

My only thoughts on it, is the wire strong enough.

Sudz said:

Can't help you.

My 30 x 30 came from McMaster Carr but I haven't a clue on the details other than size.

If they only have one size of 30 x 30 you could possibly use the associated info for comparison however I did purchase mine over a year ago. Who knows what if any material changes they may have gone through.

On the surface your 32 x 32 sounds fine, where as my 30 x30 still allows some particles to escape the 32 may be beneficial.

Cheers....

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There are two 30x30s available. They are pretty comparable.
wire diameter..........opening width........open area
0.013"....................0.020"..................37.1%
0.012"....................0.021"..................40.8%

I used 28x28x.010" for my hop stopper and it filters everything well, but it clogs with big hop bills. I'm debating building one of these hopsters and using both. Can anyone chime in on how well they work with big hop bills?

has anyone made a skinny version of this build to fit into a carboy neck? I would like to be able to put pulpy stuff like raisins and pureed ginger into my carboys, and be able to retract them later

Maybe I'm a moron, but I can't figure out for the life of me how a 24" sheet of screen goes around a 10" circle. I mean, doesn't C=∏Ø?

logdrum said:

Maybe I'm a moron, but I can't figure out for the life of me how a 24" sheet of screen goes around a 10" circle. I mean, doesn't C=∏Ø?

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You're not a moron; a 10" circle has a circumference of 31.4".

milldoggy said:

Also, thinking about this ring.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001A44YTS/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

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http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GBN1DG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Go with these pastry rings / stainless hoops. I used it on mine (Page 6 of this thread). The thing is 2"tall, and is heavy duty. Just make sure you select the right diameter from the drop down at Amazon.

Also, an update to my hopstopper, I wouldn't change anything. The hopstopper catches probably 65-70% of pellet hops, and 100% of leaf. There is just enough of a boil to cause currents in the wort inside the hopstopper. Any other size mesh and more **** would get in/out. If ANYthing, go with a thicker wire than what I have (one step up), but be sure you stir inside the hopstopper during the boil because there might not be much current. A little agitation never hurts once in a while.

You can't sew this stuff. You'll get bloody trying and it isn't worth it. Just fold over every rough edge (trust me) to give support, and then rivet there. Note though those folded spots have a higher tendency to collect crap. Mine is definitely seasoned from all the hops it has seen, but I appreciate that effect. I still get it 95% clean after each use.

Brewed some DFH 60m IPA on it twice now, the utilization is great. Cleanup is easier.

I have to thank the OP for posting this. This post inspired me to make my own. Well that and I'm down to one last hopsack for my Gen2 holder that uses the 10 x 23 nylon bags. I was growing tired of the bags. This new setup is looking promising. I'll post a pic when I'm done soaking it in PBW...

One of the best things I've ever done for my brew day was building one of these.

Very good info and thanks. Now I just need to decide how big i need to go with one of these

I made this 8" diameter model with perforated mesh. I was able to source the mesh for dirt cheap at a scrapyard, only $8.00. Because it was bought there, I have no idea how they measure the size. McMaster's price on perforated mesh is out of this world. My system is electric, so I made it to be just 1/4" above the element. The bottom is solid and has 1" sides to try to contain pellet material. I have brewed two beers with it so far and have used mostly leaf. The one ounce of pellets were hung from a bag into the bottom, because I wussed out. From test that I have done some material from the pellet hops gets incredibly small, and probably some would even go through the 30x30 mesh. I like the large diameter so that it can be stirred.

Beautiful!

Thanks again to the OP for the inspiration. Here's my iteration:



Highlights include 9" diameter rings, 30x30 mesh, removable arms to make storage easier. It is a big mother after all. I'm setting up now to brew with it Sunday...