Suggestions for a new boil kettle filter?

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hatfieldenator

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I've been using a "hopstopper" hop filter on my boil kettle for quite some time now and I'm not really happy with it because its so hard to prime my pump after the boil. The wort just doesn't want to freely flow. I don't know if its because I don't have the right fit at the bottom of the kettle or something else, but its a real pain to use. Its this one here:(http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/hop-stopper)

Has anyone else had problems with this type of filtration? Another reason I don't like it is because its so hard to clean well.

What do others use to get their wort filtered from the hops after a boil? I brew in a 15 gal keg.
 
Sorry you didn't get any replies...I was hoping someone would chime in. Are you using it on a Blichmann?

I have the Hopstopper too, but I haven't used it with a pump yet. I just got my pump the other day. I originally used it on 10G Blichmann and IC...fail...cold break clogged it. I then used it 3 times with a CFC gravity drain on the 10G and the flow was very slow, but worked. I then used it on a 20G blichmann with gravity drain through a CFC and the flow was incredibly slow filling the second carboy. I ended up giving up and lost about 2G of wort...I was thinking it was the lack of height from the BK to chiller to carboy, but it might've been the hopstopper.

As far as cleaning, I didn't have too many issues. I used the sprayer on my kitchen faucet to knock most of the big hop chunks out, then left it in my BK for a PBW soak. There's a little bit of debris still there, but I'm not too concerned considering it's part of the boil.
 
Used a hopstopper for about two years in a 10g pot with an IC. All gravity.
It worked but the draining was slow.

Switched to a 15g pot (side pickup) with a march pump.
No more hopstopper.
Whirlpool with the pump while the IC cools.
Get a nice cone in the middle of the pot.

Whirlpool appears to works at least as well as the hopstopper in keeping trub out of the fermenter.

For cleaning the hopstopper, I would spray with water, soak for 5 minutes in pbw, rinse, then bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
It got clean enough. Always some bits of hop trub left.

I did not change my brew setup to eliminate the hopstopper.
It just worked out that way. But don't miss it at all.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I use my hopstopper on a 15.5 gal converted keg. I'm thinking of trying a whirlpool next time I brew. It just makes me nervous doing that because I send all my wort through a plate chiller before entering my fermenter. I'm thinking of trying to rig up a 90 deg elbow with a straight peice of SS filter on the end of it, then whirlpooling. This should catch any stray debris while still allowing for more flow.
If all else fails I kind of want to try one of these...http://www.brewershardware.com/FILTER1-Testing.html
 
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