New way to control Pellet Hop gunk!

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I use one of the bigger filters (6") during recirculation to clean up the break material. I found that my 4" filter was clogging so I went with the 6" one and am happy after one brew...sample size too small to mean anything. I used the 4" one yesterday to recirculate through my plate chiller and I was EXTREMELY happy with how little (NONE!) break material ended up in the screen on my carboy funnel. I usually get enough break material on that screen to clog it 6-8 times for a 10 gallon batch, meaning I have to stop, clean the filter, start filling, rinse and repeat. Yesterday it was fill one carboy most of the way, move to the other, top off the first (foam from filter so had to let that die down), then top the second. Basically filled two carboys with clean wort as fast as I could pump. Yesterday I filtered about 1/2 the time through the 4" but later decided to filter through the hops in the 6" one. It filled up near the top once, but I sprayed the outsides of the basket down with the wort a bit to knock hop/break material off and was able to resume recirc through the larger basket...this made me happy!! I only had about 4 oz in the basket as I had 8 oz of leaf hop which I just tossed into the boil, so I definitely want to try this with a big IPA w/ all pellet and see how it goes. Push comes to shove, I reuse my 4" guy as a break filter and give up on recirculationg through pellets. Best case, I can recirculate through the pellets and capture break...that is what I am hoping for! I took some pix I will try to post if I ever get out of work...

I assume you used a pump to recirculate your entire kettle through the 6" filter?
 
Yep. I know people worry about clogging it with hop or break material, but I have never had that issue. I take it apart after just about every brew session and it has been spotless when I run it through the filter. There is only one area I would ever worry about clogging and I don't think anything less than a large hunk of gunk would be able to stop that up (I have done it before and had to disassemble the pump to unclog) as the pressure moves things through at a pretty good clip. In other words, small particulates are moving too fast to clog the pump in general. It would either take a large amount of small stuff at once or a few big particles to have a chance at clogging the pump.
 
Some pix from yesterday's Zombie Dust brew day. First, the grain I caught from the MLT into the boil kettle:

w7k5zc.jpg


Next, rockin' the new spider in the boil:

332qper.jpg


Contrast these next two pictures! First, in the main part of the kettle:

149zimb.jpg


Now inside the spider:

2m76fkl.jpg


There is about 5 degrees difference between the main part of the kettle and inside the spider. Not sure what to think about this, but thought I would share. As long as it is hot enough to isomerize the alpha acids, which it is, I think all is good.

PS - can you smell the citra? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!
 
I use one of the bigger filters (6") during recirculation to clean up the break material. I found that my 4" filter was clogging so I went with the 6" one and am happy after one brew...sample size too small to mean anything. I used the 4" one yesterday to recirculate through my plate chiller and I was EXTREMELY happy with how little (NONE!) break material ended up in the screen on my carboy funnel. I usually get enough break material on that screen to clog it 6-8 times for a 10 gallon batch, meaning I have to stop, clean the filter, start filling, rinse and repeat. Yesterday it was fill one carboy most of the way, move to the other, top off the first (foam from filter so had to let that die down), then top the second. Basically filled two carboys with clean wort as fast as I could pump. Yesterday I filtered about 1/2 the time through the 4" but later decided to filter through the hops in the 6" one. It filled up near the top once, but I sprayed the outsides of the basket down with the wort a bit to knock hop/break material off and was able to resume recirc through the larger basket...this made me happy!! I only had about 4 oz in the basket as I had 8 oz of leaf hop which I just tossed into the boil, so I definitely want to try this with a big IPA w/ all pellet and see how it goes. Push comes to shove, I reuse my 4" guy as a break filter and give up on recirculationg through pellets. Best case, I can recirculate through the pellets and capture break...that is what I am hoping for! I took some pix I will try to post if I ever get out of work...

Just to clarify - you run the wort through the pump only into the filter? Then when you are satisfied, you run the worth through the plate chiller?

This won't clog the pump?

Thanks!
 
After the boil, I connect my plate chiller and pump and recirculate through the filter. I have had zero problems with my 40 plate chiller and zero problems with my SS chugger pump. I flush the plate chiller afterwards and it runs clear after about 20 seconds. I run hot water through both directions (wort in and wort out) for at least 1-2 minutes. I then filll it with sanitizer, let sit, drain, and then resanitize right before the next time I use it. No problems. What ends up in the carboy is pretty much free of any gunk, whether it be hop particles or break material.
 
Wow, it took me 4+ days to get through this entire thread. :drunk:

Some observations ...

You're all a bunch of hopheads!

marcb makes a heckuvalot of beer! :tank:

You're all dedicated to the craft and sharing info & results. :mug:

I need to get one of these baskets! Has anyone purchased one who has a Sabco keggle? What works best given the false bottom and raised pickup tube?
 
so to be clear, that path is: BK valve out --> pump --> plate chiller --> basket filter --> main kettle?

Exactly. Also remember that pellet hops are in the filter, so there is little other than break material going through the pump and chiller and that gets cleaned up after about 20-30 minutes of recirculation.
 
I have to admit, I ordered one of these last night. I've recently returned to the brewing fold and am using hop bags to hold my hops and this just seems like a much better solution.
 
I only had about 4 oz in the basket as I had 8 oz of leaf hop which I just tossed into the boil
the leaf hops didn't clog your valve? do you have a bazooka screen on there?

Exactly. Also remember that pellet hops are in the filter, so there is little other than break material going through the pump and chiller and that gets cleaned up after about 20-30 minutes of recirculation.
got it. any concerns that the break material might end up clogging the plate chiller?

seems like a great way to filter out the break!
 
I do have a bazooka on the boil kettle all the time, so they deal with the leaf hops effectively. Break material is really tiny and the holes they have to run through in the pump are pretty large. I can't imagine them (or hop pellets) clogging the pump as it is running at full tilt when I recirculate. As for the plate chiller, I am not worried about it clogging at all. I sometimes wonder if I should "cook" it like others do, but so far I have just filled it with StarSan for about an hour before I chill and have (fingers crossed) never had an issue with bugs. I don't throttle the flow down when I chill (maybe I should?) so those tiny bits of material are moving damned fast through the chiller and don't seem to build up. After about a few minutes, most of it is filtered and inside the basket. At the end, I see nothing on the filter going into the carboy. Color me happy about that!
 
I do have a bazooka on the boil kettle all the time, so they deal with the leaf hops effectively. Break material is really tiny and the holes they have to run through in the pump are pretty large. I can't imagine them (or hop pellets) clogging the pump as it is running at full tilt when I recirculate. As for the plate chiller, I am not worried about it clogging at all. I sometimes wonder if I should "cook" it like others do, but so far I have just filled it with StarSan for about an hour before I chill and have (fingers crossed) never had an issue with bugs. I don't throttle the flow down when I chill (maybe I should?) so those tiny bits of material are moving damned fast through the chiller and don't seem to build up. After about a few minutes, most of it is filtered and inside the basket. At the end, I see nothing on the filter going into the carboy. Color me happy about that!

Your method sounds perfect for what I am wanting to do also. Thanks for all the details! I'll be getting a 6" filter as my next big purchase. How tall do you think it really needs to be? My kettle is only 12" deep.
 
I have an 18"ish kettle and I got the 6x14. I don't fill my kettle to the brim as I don't want (more) boilovers. So I have my filter drop down 1.5" so that it is close to the surface of the wort at first boil. I would suggest you keep it off the bottom of yor kettle as well. I am guessing a 6x10 would work well for you...
 
Anyone use a Blichmann Boilermaker as their BK? I have a chad-filter that I'm happy with, but am considering experimenting with using it instead as a post-chill filter.

For example, I'll just toss my pellets loose into the BK and boil free-ball style. I use an immersion chiller/whirlpool to chill so I don't really need to worry about clogging anything except my pump. Then, I'll simply put my wort outlet through the chad-filter before pumping to my fermenter.

My question is: Does anyone know if the wet pellet moosh will clog the Blichmann diptube inside the kettle? It's a true 1/2 inner diameter opening, so I *assume* it will be fine, but I don't want to mess with it if someone already knows it will clog.

Thanks!
 
Anyone use a Blichmann Boilermaker as their BK? I have a chad-filter that I'm happy with, but am considering experimenting with using it instead as a post-chill filter.

For example, I'll just toss my pellets loose into the BK and boil free-ball style. I use an immersion chiller/whirlpool to chill so I don't really need to worry about clogging anything except my pump. Then, I'll simply put my wort outlet through the chad-filter before pumping to my fermenter.

My question is: Does anyone know if the wet pellet moosh will clog the Blichmann diptube inside the kettle? It's a true 1/2 inner diameter opening, so I *assume* it will be fine, but I don't want to mess with it if someone already knows it will clog.

Thanks!

I typically do a whirlpool rest and then pump out of a 15G Blichmann. I stopped using any type of screen because I haven't had any real luck stopping them from clogging. The (pellet) trub has no problem making it through to the carboy. I usually let it all settle for an hour and then transfer to another carboy and pitch.

Your idea does sound good, filtering after the kettle, as long as the filter doesn't totally fill up with trub.
 
I have an 18"ish kettle and I got the 6x14. I don't fill my kettle to the brim as I don't want (more) boilovers. So I have my filter drop down 1.5" so that it is close to the surface of the wort at first boil. I would suggest you keep it off the bottom of yor kettle as well. I am guessing a 6x10 would work well for you...

I currently own a 4x10" filter. Do you think it would be big enough to support filtering the entire break plus hop material if i through that in the main boil also? I would be chilling the entire batch before going through a pump and back into the filter. The other option is to buy a 6x10" filter and use that solely for break material after the chill.
 
I had clogging issues with the smaller filter, however if I understand what you are asking you want to toss hops in the boil and then filter through the hop spider, right? I have never done that as I usually put pellets into the filter during the boil. It might work well, based on what I am seeing with break material. Can't hurt to try and then report your findings back here. Worst case you would have gunk in your carboy...probably won't clog anything, especially if your pump is going full tilt.
 
I had clogging issues with the smaller filter, however if I understand what you are asking you want to toss hops in the boil and then filter through the hop spider, right? I have never done that as I usually put pellets into the filter during the boil. It might work well, based on what I am seeing with break material. Can't hurt to try and then report your findings back here. Worst case you would have gunk in your carboy...probably won't clog anything, especially if your pump is going full tilt.

Do you have a 400 or 300 micron filter? And the other question is what kind of pump can I get away with since I won't be pumping until it's cold? I'm thinking a full blown march pump is more (expensive and necessary) than I would need for this purpose.
 
I have both 300 and 400 micron, but the small one is 400. I have chugger pumps w/ SS heads. What pump were you thinking of using?

I wasn't sure exactly but I don't need anything too crazy as I'm only going to be using it for post chill pumping. I did a little research last night but I'm not sold on anything yet. The less expensive it is the better for this particular purpose I think.
 
Keg dry hop filter:
anyone use this while carbing?
anyone used it while serving?


Is there any hop oils left on a hop after its been boiling for 20 minutes? I know isomerzation is still happening, but are all the alpha acids free-floating at this point? I wonder if I could take a basket out, dump the hop gunk, wash it off, and then recirculate and use it as a break filter...
 
Is there any hop oils left on a hop after its been boiling for 20 minutes? I know isomerzation is still happening, but are all the alpha acids free-floating at this point? I wonder if I could take a basket out, dump the hop gunk, wash it off, and then recirculate and use it as a break filter...

That is kind of the idea I had also and intend to use in my next boil only I'll remove the filter after the boil is over. Any last 5 minute additions I'll put in the boil itself. After the chill I'll be attempting this method.

I have a pump on the way now but won't have it by tomorrow when I brew again so I'll just be gravity feeding into my HLT kettle that I'll sanitize prior to transferring. Standby for results...
 
Neat, I picture:

- recirculating to remove hot break before first addition
- remove and wash
- all hops added, if too many hops are needed, remove gunk and wash and then keep adding hops.
-at flameout remove and wash, throw back in hot wort to sanitize for use as cold break filter.
 
So - I've used both the 4x10 hop spider and the carboy dry hopper recently. Some of my thoughts are below.

Hop Spider: This is a handy tool to have around whether you use pellets or leaf hops in your boil. I did notice the temperature difference that I've seen mentioned in another post. While the boil was going, the inside of the hop spider was reading 207-208 degrees. I doubt it makes a difference, but you never know? In addition to using it to keep the hops in control during the boil, I used it to filter the mash runnings. That went pretty smooth, but there wasn't much grain bits to catch so I doubt I'll do it again. I also used it to filter break material when transferring from kettle to fermentation bucket. It clogged up pretty quick from the break material, though, so for more than 5 gallons it may not be a viable option as it is time consuming to keep from overflowing.

Dry Hopper: I was able to pack in only 0.5 oz of leaf hops before I was worried about the middle of the packed hops not getting wet. If I tried to pack in 1 oz, like someone mentioned can fit in there, it would have been extremely tight. At 0.5 oz of leaf hops, it worked well. The hop aroma was present in the beer and all hops were wet. The worst part of this was getting all the hops out afterwards. I need a corkscrewed barbeque skewer or something to drive in and pulls bits of hops out because they certainly don't just wash right out.

Overall, I am totally happy with the money I spent on these products.
 
So - I've used both the 4x10 hop spider and the carboy dry hopper recently. Some of my thoughts are below.

Hop Spider: This is a handy tool to have around whether you use pellets or leaf hops in your boil. I did notice the temperature difference that I've seen mentioned in another post. While the boil was going, the inside of the hop spider was reading 207-208 degrees. I doubt it makes a difference, but you never know? In addition to using it to keep the hops in control during the boil, I used it to filter the mash runnings. That went pretty smooth, but there wasn't much grain bits to catch so I doubt I'll do it again. I also used it to filter break material when transferring from kettle to fermentation bucket. It clogged up pretty quick from the break material, though, so for more than 5 gallons it may not be a viable option as it is time consuming to keep from overflowing.

Dry Hopper: I was able to pack in only 0.5 oz of leaf hops before I was worried about the middle of the packed hops not getting wet. If I tried to pack in 1 oz, like someone mentioned can fit in there, it would have been extremely tight. At 0.5 oz of leaf hops, it worked well. The hop aroma was present in the beer and all hops were wet. The worst part of this was getting all the hops out afterwards. I need a corkscrewed barbeque skewer or something to drive in and pulls bits of hops out because they certainly don't just wash right out.

Overall, I am totally happy with the money I spent on these products.

Neat, that was the 300 mesh on the spider?

I wonder if you did the hot break first before adding hops that it wouldn't clog later on filtering to the kettle.
 
So - I've used both the 4x10 hop spider and the carboy dry hopper recently. Some of my thoughts are below.

Hop Spider: This is a handy tool to have around whether you use pellets or leaf hops in your boil. I did notice the temperature difference that I've seen mentioned in another post. While the boil was going, the inside of the hop spider was reading 207-208 degrees. I doubt it makes a difference, but you never know? In addition to using it to keep the hops in control during the boil, I used it to filter the mash runnings. That went pretty smooth, but there wasn't much grain bits to catch so I doubt I'll do it again. I also used it to filter break material when transferring from kettle to fermentation bucket. It clogged up pretty quick from the break material, though, so for more than 5 gallons it may not be a viable option as it is time consuming to keep from overflowing.

Dry Hopper: I was able to pack in only 0.5 oz of leaf hops before I was worried about the middle of the packed hops not getting wet. If I tried to pack in 1 oz, like someone mentioned can fit in there, it would have been extremely tight. At 0.5 oz of leaf hops, it worked well. The hop aroma was present in the beer and all hops were wet. The worst part of this was getting all the hops out afterwards. I need a corkscrewed barbeque skewer or something to drive in and pulls bits of hops out because they certainly don't just wash right out.

Overall, I am totally happy with the money I spent on these products.


Thanks for the feedback on the Keg Dry Hopper. I bought one but haven't used it yet. The glass carboy dry hopper I have used, but with pellet hops. It did a pretty good job, as we have a great hop aroma and taste in the Rye IPA that we brewed about a month ago.
 
Thanks for the feedback on the Keg Dry Hopper. I bought one but haven't used it yet. The glass carboy dry hopper I have used, but with pellet hops. It did a pretty good job, as we have a great hop aroma and taste in the Rye IPA that we brewed about a month ago.

Regarding the carboy dry hopper:
How many ounces of hops did you use?
Were any of them dry when you pulled it out?
Were the hops tough to get out when you were finished with them?
How well do you think multiple additions would work with the carboy hopper?

I was looking to get the carboy dry hopper but wasn't sure how well it would really work based on some other comments I've seen about it. Thanks!
 
Regarding the carboy dry hopper:
How many ounces of hops did you use?
Were any of them dry when you pulled it out?
Were the hops tough to get out when you were finished with them?
How well do you think multiple additions would work with the carboy hopper?

I was looking to get the carboy dry hopper but wasn't sure how well it would really work based on some other comments I've seen about it. Thanks!

Used 1.5 ounces of pellet hops. Only two pellets were dry, they were in the hollow part of the bottom stopper. Pulled the stoppers out and rinsed the used hops out. Very easy. I am pretty sure multiple additions would work fine in the carboy dry hopper.
 
I've been following this page for something to this effect also. I have whirlpooled with little to no benefit. My only idea was to use a basket style filter over a bucket but I don't own any buckets and like the idea of fermenting in the glass carboy much better. I don't want to have to try and transfer twice either, risking infection that much more. Ideas?

You can do this into a bucket, then funnel into a carboy. You will not risk infection with chilled wort, you will only be adding need oxygen!
 
You can do this into a bucket, then funnel into a carboy. You will not risk infection with chilled wort, you will only be adding need oxygen!

I actually did transfer via gravity from by boil kettle to my hlt (after I sanitized it) through my 300micron filter. It caught a lot of the hot break but was a slow process since the filter was getting clogged. I ran the tube up and down the inside of the filter to remove some of the hot break from the sides and it flowed a lot better.

Something I noticed though... Not sure if it was because it was an extract or more because no whirlfloc was used but the hot break was a much finer almost gritty mixture instead of larger cottage cheese like clumps.
 
You can do this into a bucket, then funnel into a carboy. You will not risk infection with chilled wort, you will only be adding need oxygen!
how can you say he won't be risking infection with chilled wort? cool wort is very infection-prone: that's why we want to cool it ASAP, pitch yeast ASAP, and then lock it away in a sealed bucket or carboy: to prevent infection. plastic buckets can get scratches that are hard to sanitize and bugs can hide in those crevasses. there are all sorts of wild yeast and bacteria floating in the air.

i'm pretty sure the risk of infection is relatively low, but you can't say that there isn't any risk at all. your point about aeration is a good one.
 
Thanks for the feedback on the Keg Dry Hopper. I bought one but haven't used it yet. The glass carboy dry hopper I have used, but with pellet hops. It did a pretty good job, as we have a great hop aroma and taste in the Rye IPA that we brewed about a month ago.

I have the carboy hopper, not the keg hopper.

Neat, that was the 300 mesh on the spider?

I wonder if you did the hot break first before adding hops that it wouldn't clog later on filtering to the kettle.

Yes, it was the 300 micron.
 
I actually did transfer via gravity from by boil kettle to my hlt (after I sanitized it) through my 300micron filter. It caught a lot of the hot break but was a slow process since the filter was getting clogged. I ran the tube up and down the inside of the filter to remove some of the hot break from the sides and it flowed a lot better.

Something I noticed though... Not sure if it was because it was an extract or more because no whirlfloc was used but the hot break was a much finer almost gritty mixture instead of larger cottage cheese like clumps.

If you have a helper with you, you can have them take a large sanitized spoon and stir around in the filter while you monitor the siphon/transfer tubing. That worked best to minimize clogging for me.
 
how can you say he won't be risking infection with chilled wort? cool wort is very infection-prone: that's why we want to cool it ASAP, pitch yeast ASAP, and then lock it away in a sealed bucket or carboy: to prevent infection. plastic buckets can get scratches that are hard to sanitize and bugs can hide in those crevasses. there are all sorts of wild yeast and bacteria floating in the air.

i'm pretty sure the risk of infection is relatively low, but you can't say that there isn't any risk at all. your point about aeration is a good one.

Transferring it from kettle to bucket to carboy will not be risking infection, also what about whirlpooling and siphoning? That takes much longer.
 
Can anyone tell me how many oz of leaf hops will fit in like a 6"x10" hop spider?

Not sure, but why would you want to do this? I think the main use for the spider is to keep the finer hop pellet gunk out of your carboy. For leaf, a simple bazooka tube works well as long as it doesn't get clogged. If you whirlpool and have the tube or pickup off to the side, seems that would be a better solution. I would think you could get half a pound in it, but have not done any tests to see. Not trying to rain on your parade either!

Cheers!
 
Not sure, but why would you want to do this? I think the main use for the spider is to keep the finer hop pellet gunk out of your carboy. For leaf, a simple bazooka tube works well as long as it doesn't get clogged. If you whirlpool and have the tube or pickup off to the side, seems that would be a better solution. I would think you could get half a pound in it, but have not done any tests to see. Not trying to rain on your parade either!

Cheers!

That's the point of a hop spider - to be able to remove the hops from the kettle. In addition, I don't whirlpool, I don't have a bazooka screen, whatever that is, and I don't have a tangential inlet.
 
stonebrewer said:
Not sure, but why would you want to do this? I think the main use for the spider is to keep the finer hop pellet gunk out of your carboy. For leaf, a simple bazooka tube works well as long as it doesn't get clogged. If you whirlpool and have the tube or pickup off to the side, seems that would be a better solution. I would think you could get half a pound in it, but have not done any tests to see. Not trying to rain on your parade either!

Cheers!

That's what I use for my leaf hop brews, and it's definitely the best plan. You can dump a ton of hops in and I've never had a clog. What's more, the bed of leaf hops act as a filter and all the break material seems to stick to them. The only problem is that they soak up a serious quantity of wort. I will remedy that by scooping them over to the side of the kettle and pressing the wort out with a sanitized stainless slotted spoon.
 
Here's 4 pictures from my zombie dust brew day. This is a 6x10" 400 micron filter inside a megapot, my immersion chiller fit juuuuust inside next to it.



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There was about a 4" hop trub cake after 3.5 oz of hops I put into the filter. Overall, I am super impressed, I think the 400 is perfect for a setup with an IC.
 
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