Hop back options

Hey guys,

As I'm building my new 3 keggle brewstand with 2 March pumps, I figured I might as well go all in and get a hop back right off the bat. I've looked into the one that MoreBeer offers, as well as the Blichman Hop Rocket. I've also seen a post here where someone made one out of a mason jar. All 3 seem to be great options. I'm not opposed to spending the money for one as I'm not much of a DIY guy. The Blichmann one is expensive, but allows for 4 oz's of hops. The MoreBeer one is cheaper and only holds 2 oz of hops. I was looking for some opinions from owners of each before I make my decisions. Any pros or cons anyone has found on these?

I recommend the BrewersHardware Trub Filter... Hop back and filter in one.

Do you know how many oz's of hops that thing holds?

ziggy13 said:

Do you know how many oz's of hops that thing holds?

Click to expand...

Here's an article

That thing is definitely awesome, I'm gonna have to get it. Now if I can figure out all the tri-clover stuff needed to hook this into my brew system...I've never used tri-clovers before

and here's a photo


From your bottom port ball valve add a street elbow

I have the trub filter from Brewer's Hardware, but I don't think it would work that great as a hop back. I think you'd be lucky to get an ounce or two of whole hops in there. Also seems like it would be kind of a pain to fill, but I haven't tried using it that way so I don't have any first-hand experience.

I bought the morebeer hop back a while back when it was the deal of the day. I've only used it twice, but I can tell you it will hold a lot more than 2 ounces. I have homegrown hops that I dry and vacuum pack. On a recent pale ale I had about four ounces in it. The only knock against the morebeer one is my understanding is a hop back should technically be an airtight sealed container and the morebeer one isn't. I think it could be easily modded to be airtight but I haven't had time to do that yet.

thanks microbusbrewery

Anyone have any first hand experience using the Brewer's Hardware trub filter as a hop back?

I'll look for more posts as I'm surprised this thread didn't develop further!

I'm in the midst of building my first "system", and have been hunting hop-backs fairly hard. I have opted for a three kettle HERMS system from Stout. They build hop-backs too. I'm not going for it because I haven't seen an actual photo of one other than plans. I have decided to go with the brewers hardware trub filter into a blichmann hop rocket. At first I (and my wife and peers) thought I was getting a little carried away, but after reading every review of both I could find, I think it's a worthwhile investment.
Mostly because under controlled pressure, I am convinced the BH trub filter's design could handle pellet hops.
When I am wrong about this, I will let you all know, but I think I'm right.
I don't make a lot of money or am independently wealthy or anything, but after reading all the frustrated reviews of cloggage and wort loss, I figure a two stage system might be alright.
I should add that I intend to implement one or both of these devices during whirlpool.

technicoloraudio said:

I have decided to go with the brewers hardware trub filter into a blichmann hop rocket.

Click to expand...

I'd recommend swapping those (go from hop rocket into trub filter). The leaf hops in the hop rocket will work like a pre-filter for the trub filter.

I have a Hop Rocket and use it nearly every brew. I also have the "pancake" filter from The Electric Brewery - I think they call it the Hop Blocker.

Never had a clog in the Rocket ever. It holds a solid 3oz of leaf and could probably do more.

I also use leaf hops almost exclusively.

jammin said:

I have a Hop Rocket and use it nearly every brew. I also have the "pancake" filter from The Electric Brewery - I think they call it the Hop Blocker.

Never had a clog in the Rocket ever. It holds a solid 3oz of leaf and could probably do more.

I also use leaf hops almost exclusively.

Click to expand...

I assume you are using a pump? I have the pancake filter from the electric brewery as well but I do a gravity feed. It does a great job filtering but once the wort level gets below my dip tube the flow slows to a trickle. I have been supplementing it with my auto siphon but this is clearly not ideal.

Gotcha - yes I do use a pump.

The hop rocket is surprisingly not that restrictive of flow. That said - I would have my doubts going all gravity.

jammin said:

Gotcha - yes I do use a pump.

The hop rocket is surprisingly not that restrictive of flow. That said - I would have my doubts going all gravity.

Click to expand...

Do you use an IC or a plate chiller? I feel cold break isn't helping my cause either.

I use a CFC and feel it is a good combo with the hop back. I like being able to cool the freshly hopped wort down to pitching temps immediately. Some say it helps "lock in aromatic compounds".

I have a DIY hop back made from a SS water filter housing, it works al right, but can be a pain to get a good flow through, and it only holds 2oz whole leaf hops, so Im in the market too. Im leaning towards a Hop rocket, but was looking at these from Stout tanks too.

I'm also just considering setting up my kettle to do whirlpool chiller hop stands, and eliminate the hop back all together.

I have a DIY hop back made from a small (3L) pressure cooker that I bought of eBay ($16 with shipping) and some stainless parts from BrewHardware. It cost me about $50 total. I have put four ounces in it without a problem.

I use almost all leaf hops and gravity drain with the help of a wort wizard.

I have a hop back from Stout on order for use with my new EHerms. I'll post more on my impressions of it when I get it in a month or so.

I just ordered a Hop rocket, Williams brewing is having a special enter Z54 at checkout for purchases of $85 or more and get a free 18oz whole hops. (Centennial, Simcoe, and northern brewer 6oz of each). I'll post how i like it after I brew with it in a couple weeks.

Brewed yesterday with the hop rocket at its max capacity of 3oz. I have to say that Blichman stuff just works well. I really had no issues with it. I was running it after the pump and was getting a flow rate of about 1 gallon a minute, and near the end of the run it was maybe 3/4 a gallon/min. One thing I will do for next time is add a Tee with a valve on the inlet to drain the hop rocket before disconnecting it from my CFC...what a mess! All and all I think this was a good investment on the ease of use side, We'll see in a couple weeks how it impacts hop aroma for this beer.

RoundKid said:

I have a DIY hop back made from a small (3L) pressure cooker that I bought of eBay ($16 with shipping) and some stainless parts from BrewHardware. It cost me about $50 total. I have put four ounces in it without a problem.

I use almost all leaf hops and gravity drain with the help of a wort wizard.

Click to expand...

Hey, I just bought one of these. Can you offer some more details about how you constructed yours?