How do you keep trub out of your CFC?

I just got a CFC from NoCLueBrewMaster, which incidentally is a great guilt item, and I use a 15 gal pot for my boil which just a ball lock spigot. I dont have a dip tube or anything. I also use a hop bag for all of my hops additions. I do not use a hop bag for my Irish Moss addition though. My question is how do you guys keep trub out of your CFC? And what is the easiest way to run starsan through it without a pump?

With a mesh filter. Check out the Hopstopper, and the Bazooka screen.

I keep the hops out with one of these. The trub makes it into the carboy. It doesn't hurt anything. Actually, the cold break (most of the trub) doesn't even form until the wort passes through the chiller.

To sanitize, you'll just have to siphon the starsan through it from a bucket sitting up higher.

Whirlpool for me. I syphon starsan through mine to get it sanitized.

Thanks for the help!! Im just gonna keep using my nylon bags for hops and hopefully the Irish Moss does not cause an issue.

Thanks for the props Chris. I'm glad you like your new CFC.

Lil' Sparky said:

I keep the hops out with one of these. The trub makes it into the carboy. It doesn't hurt anything. Actually, the cold break (most of the trub) doesn't even form until the wort passes through the chiller.

To sanitize, you'll just have to siphon the starsan through it from a bucket sitting up higher.

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This had to be the best thing I have built yet. One of the reasons I am leaning towards a CFC. Thanks HBT!!!

Is there a DIY to build that strainer?

It's built from threaded rod, PVC piping, and a strainer bag.

I'd say get a piece of PVC, and match that diameter of the piping to the hose clamp you will use to keep the strainer on the pipe. Drill 4 centered holes off the circumference of the pipe 90 degrees from each other and insert the threaded rod and attach with the applicable bolts.

If you have an autosiphon you can use that to pump star-san through it.

I have a question regarding the paint strainer... I do 5 gallon batches in my keg. Will the paint strainer be big enough to reach the wort for a 5-6 gallon batch?

bigben said:

I have a question regarding the paint strainer... I do 5 gallon batches in my keg. Will the paint strainer be big enough to reach the wort for a 5-6 gallon batch?

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I use the 5 gal paint strainers from lowe's and they hang down approx 17"-18" from the pvc coupler.

bigben said:

I have a question regarding the paint strainer... I do 5 gallon batches in my keg. Will the paint strainer be big enough to reach the wort for a 5-6 gallon batch?

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No sure but I imagine it will be pretty close but what you could do is just buy a longer piece of PVC pipe and cut it to size, maybe 6" or 8" long so that the bag hangs lower in the pot.

I use a giant fine mesh hop bag. It hangs down all the way to the bottom of the keggle.

I also like the hop sock filter that uses a five gallon paint strainer and hangs over the kettle. However, I also found that when I went to a larger boil kettle (26 Gallon!) that I needed a way to make it movable to different wort levels depending on the batch size.

Here are some pictures of what I came up with:





I notched the aluminum tube so that it fit over the sides of the kettle or the keggle and used 1/2 inch copper pipe hangers that allowed me to move the hop sock up and down depending on batch size. It works very well, though I find that if you use a large number of leaf hops it helps to have a weight to go in the bottom of the bag to keep it submerged. Additionally, since it has two pivot points, the sock can be rotated up and pulled to the side of the kettle to load the hops. Avoids having a bunch of steam in your face/hands while loading hop additions.

... and yes, I removed the labels before I used it. I brewed with it the first time at Big Brew 2008 and it garnered a lot of positive comments from folks who suffer from the hop clogs in their hoses and/or CFC's. I will say that if you use pellet hops, it is advisable to use just a touch of leaf hops to act as a bit of an additional filter bed in the bottom of the bag.

Hopstopper, it rules.

Hopstopper does kick arse. And I siphon my star san via gravity from the bottling bucket, through the cfc, and into my carboy. Kills a few birds with one stone.