Home made Hop Stopper - hop taco etc

Reading many hop stopping threads here, and seeing the official "hop stopper" The Hop Stopper I was intrigued about using one, but I did not have the $60 to spend on it. I read Bobby M's website Equipment about using a 60x40 mesh screen, and that he bought 30x30 but had not tried it. I bought some 30x30 screen and pulled some wire from the sides, used a pot lid to trace the circle and threaded it around. You want some really good needle nose pliers to get the threading tight. The 30x30 mesh is a lot stiffer then I thought it would be. It looks to be slightly looser than a hop sock, but the socks expand so I don't know what the equivalent would be. Anyway, here is what it looks like but I don't plan to brew for a few weeks. My kegerator died and I have too much beer already brewed/kegged for my storage at the moment (soon to be fixed)

Wow, looks really good. The only thing I would caution you on is where your siphon tube hits the mesh. You should cut a few 1/8" deep slots in the bottom of the tube in case suction pulled the mesh over the entire opening. You'll get a ton of break/hop sludge collecting right there and effectively choking off the rest of the surface area. Slotting up the side (or drilling a few 1/8" holes near the end) will provide an alternate wort path to keep drawing from the rest of the mesh. Nice sewing job. You've inspired me to put this project on the top of my list.

Once I worked 1/2 way around the circle, my stitching had really improved. I started to consider redoing the beginning part but I figure who's gonna get that close to my workmanship anyways. Maybe I could stick a copper tee on the end of the tube, not that it would fit through the hole in the mesh normally but if I cut the sides down flush?

Bobby_M said:

The only thing I would caution you on is where your siphon tube hits the mesh.

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I have the hopstopper and found this issue to. I got around it by adding a copper tee fitting to the bottom of the pickup tube. Works much better for me now.

I also put a copper tee on, based on Ryan_PA's suggestion, it works great. If you're using an immersion chiller, cross your fingers. And toes.

Well, an easy way is to slot the end of the tube. I'd cut into the end with a hacksaw or dremel like I was cutting a pizza. Slot it enough so that you think you'll get good flow even if you were to put your thumb over the end of the tube. Kind like this:

I do use an immersion chiller. Perhaps I will clog this up. we shall see, I guess. Good idea with the slots, maybe I can cut it like a rook

Is that screen material SS? If so where did you get it? I'd love to have one of those but I don't want to shell out the cash for the Hopstopper.

Mcmaster.com has tons of stainless mesh in different sizes.

I heart this thread.

if you check my first post, the link labeled Equipment takes you to Bobby's site, if you scroll down to his hop stopper he has mcmastercarr part numbers

Oh yeah. I forgot I even did that.

As an update; I just ordered 12x24" of the 30x30 mesh. I plan on doing a round style hopstopper. We'll see how it goes. I don't need hardcore straining properties, (I don't have a plate chiller) but I do need a good coarse strain for my chillzilla. I'm not going through unclogging that thing again...I almost had a heart attack last time

So how did this work out? I've got some 30x30 on the way, wondering what method to use for the stitching/copper pipe/etc.

Has anyone tested these with a large amount of pellets only (no whole leaf)? I am curious to see if they still hold up in that situation.

I just acquired a hopstopper this past weekend. I joined the local homebrew club, and Dennis (owner of Innovative Homebrew Solutions) is a member/officer. I bought one from him, and Dennis personally installed it for me on my keg (I also picked up a sight tube kit for each of my kegs, which he also helped install).

Quality construction and excellent customer service (WAY above and beyond), I'm very happy, and I know that Dennis is the kind of guy that stands behind his stuff 100%. Dennis modified the dip tube in a similar manner as shown above.

That being said, Dennis did warn me that if you use an immersion chiller you may be subject to plugging from the cold break. I do use an immersion chiller, and I would agree that it is an issue. The batch I made this past weekend did have some clogging towards the end from the cold break, but it was expected and explained to me upfront. I've been upgrading my equipment anyway, so this gives me an excuse to upgrade my chiller.

avaserfi said:

Has anyone tested these with a large amount of pellets only (no whole leaf)? I am curious to see if they still hold up in that situation.

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It's not an entirely "pellet only" test, but here's a link to a press release from IHS. A combination of whole and pellet hops (22.8oz pellets and 3.3oz leaf) were used in a single batch, and there were no apparent problems with the hopstopper performance. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else had similar experiences.

Something to consider for those not using pumps, like me, is that the resistance of the sludge can result in a lot more wort staying in the kettle, it's easy to lose the suction with a lot of pellets. I have used mine a few times, once it was a real problem, and I had to scrape sludge off of the screen, but I had already lost the siphon.

jtucker101 said:

It's not an entirely "pellet only" test, but here's a link to a press release from IHS. A combination of whole and pellet hops (22.8oz pellets and 3.3oz leaf) were used in a single batch, and there were no apparent problems with the hopstopper performance. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else had similar experiences.

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Yeah, I have seen that press release, but I am thinking just hop pellets with no leaf. Anyone try that experiement?

What amount of hops are you looking at for testing?

I'd be willing to put it to the test, with photos and possibly some video. I'd need a bit of time to get some additional equipment (counterflow chiller & misc fittings to get my pump hooked up. No way I'd try this without a pump).

The more the better . I have a tendency to make big IPAs and would like to move away from a hop bag, but just did a bulk buy of pellet hops. It seems like the hop stopper will have trouble with a large amount of pellets, by themselves.

I'm in the same boat, I tend to brew some really hoppy IPA's with tons of pellets and I wonder how something like this would work out.

jtucker101 said:

It's not an entirely "pellet only" test, but here's a link to a press release from IHS.

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Looks like the site was recently migrated to Joomla, because the link is a vanilla Joomla install page.

I'm pretty interested in this sort of unit, as it might be a good way out of whirlpooling and also because I use a Therminator.

Any word on the 30x30 mesh setup?

My experience with this hop taco and an IC was:
Between the pellet hops and cold break, I got clogs. I planned to reorient the opening on the dip tube and give it another whirl but I lost interest. If you do not use a IC, and you use at least some leaf hops or have a smaller hop bill it should work fine. There is a lot of surface area. For now I am back to the nylon pain strainer bags. Bobby M's pyramid design looks more promising than my flat taco, though.

This was a PITA to clean, and hard to troubleshoot when covered by 10 gallons of boiling wort. It worked well though. I did 10 gallons with a mixture of several ounces of whole and pellet....and I used the 30x30 mesh. FWIW, I had equal results with my bazooka tee, and it was a lot easier to clean.

I'm looking real hard at going with a very large screen lined steamer basket. Seems like utilization would not suffer if the basket were big enough, and cleanup would be as simple as dumping it. No more scooping out the bottom of the BK!

Made one out of 60x60 mesh but instead of threading the edges I simply folded them under to create a square shape and what I dub the "Hop Pocket."

Worked very very well as a filter for my Therminator. Flow was excellent and not a single hint of a clog for its maiden 5 gallon batch.

Cleaning was easy, I unfolded the edges and soaked in OxiClean Free.

subscribed

Does anyone have a parts list, original link is dead and I can't seem to find which mesh screen everyone is ordering

For what it's worth, I made a hop stopper out of 28 x 28 mesh with .010" wire size and it filtered 3 ounces of pellets in a test perfectly!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/keg-ekeggle-conversion-pics-259848/index2.html#post3151052

I have since done a 5 gallon batch with a ton of whole hops and some pellets and it worked like a charm:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/keg-ekeggle-conversion-pics-259848/index3.html#post3378336

For those that don't like using nylon bags .. ie: Hop Spider, can you explain why? I'm currently using a hop spider with nylon bags and would love an excuse to DIY something new (-:

It will help filter out hot break

Dukeman9988 said:

It will help filter out hot break

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But only if you're using an immersion chiller or an ice bath

Anyone make one of these and using a plate chiller? I'm planning to make one for my new setup, but unsure of the size screen to order. I was going to go with 90 x 90, but fear that may be too tight. Any help would be great. Thanks!
Tom

TomRep said:

Anyone make one of these and using a plate chiller? I'm planning to make one for my new setup, but unsure of the size screen to order. I was going to go with 90 x 90, but fear that may be too tight. Any help would be great. Thanks!
Tom

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Can't help you with that specific application, but don't forget to also take into consideration the wire size. The mesh and wire size together determine the open area/hole size. Also, the larger surface area the hop stopper has the more flow it will support, especially when you're considering very tight meshes. This is what went by a 28x28 mesh with .010" wire size: