Wort runoff with leaf hops

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SickTransitMundus

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Hai,

All-grain noob here. I upgraded to a Fermentap 8 gal kettle with a ball valve spigot when I switched to AG. It has a copper U-tube to pull wort from the side of the kettle. I used pellet hops for my first couple of batches and was able to whirlpool and runoff into the fermenter with no problem.

I went a little nuts a few weeks ago and bought about 3lb of whole leaf hops from freshops. Made a black double IPA that had about 6 oz. of leaf hops total. I quickly learned that my whirlpool technique was ineffective - the tube and spigot clogged up immediately. Ended up dumping the wort through a strainer into the primary. Didn't lose much wort, but the maneuver wasn't too kind to my back.

So, anyone have tips for getting the wort to runoff through the spigot when using large quantities of leaf hops? I thought about maybe fashioning a mash-tun style steel braid to screw into the interior port of the spigot.
 
False bottom works great for leaf hops. Hop bag is ok as well - just make sure it is the biggest one you can find so the hops have enough room to expand.
 
Hai,


So, anyone have tips for getting the wort to runoff through the spigot when using large quantities of leaf hops? I thought about maybe fashioning a mash-tun style steel braid to screw into the interior port of the spigot.

I used the big paint strainer bag, suspended in the BK, for a while with good results. But recently I did just what you said. I made a copper tube ring which is connected to the valve. I drilled 5/16" holes very close together in the bottom of the ring, and put an SS braid over it. It works very well, and I like it better than the paint strainer. To be fair I can't say why I like it better - probably just the aesthetics of all those hop flowers loose in the kettle. I do find it a bit more convenient for the chilling process (using an IC).
 
Siphon it. If the siphon starts clogging between the black cap and the tube, pull the black cap off and just let it suck up some of the hops.
 
"False bottom works great for leaf hops."

This is the way that I ended up going and I couldn't be more pleased. I have been using quite a bit of leaf lately when brewing (smoother taste IMHO) and there is quite a bit of leaf trub in the BK when I am pumping the wort into the carboy. With the leaf the wort easily flows through the FB to the spigot below. Cleanup is easy - I just carefully lift the FB out of the BK with the somewhat compacted leaf and dump it into a bucket for the compost pile. Montanaandy
 
Will you brewpot accept a bazooka screen? I always brew with whole leaf hops only and my bazooka tube filters them out perfectly without clogging. It cost me $18.95 from morebeer. I tossed my hop bags in the trash.
 
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