Hop Rocket

I have not been satisfied with my hop flavor and aroma lately. I add hops late in the boil, around the last 1010 – 15 min for flavor and 1 – 5 for aroma but I am looking for a bigger hoppier beer. So, I was thinking about getting the Hop Rocket from Blichmann. Anyone have one and what do you think, does it work? I would appreciate any comments you can share with me regarding usage.

Thank you in advance,

Oh and I made a killer Black IPA (AG) that my friends tried now I need a guard dog chained to my fridge.

hop backs , essentially what the hop rocket is, are great for getting that fresh hop flavor and smell in your beer. The hop rocket from blichmann also acts as a coarse filter. If you got the money it is a good product, although there are some DIY plans floating around the internet

Congrats on brewing a grand IBA.

I don't own a hop rocket, but it seems well engineered and can be used for a variety of purposes. I'd put it somewhere on my dream gear list.

Keep in mind though that many, many homebrewers achieve huge hop flavor and aroma without the aid of a hop-back device. "Burst hopping" -- adding reckless weights of hops in the last 10 minutes of the boil and to the fermentors -- sure does work for my big, green, juicy hopped IIPAs. Expect to use around 1/2 lb of American high alpha hops in the boil (with all but an ounce added at 10, 5 and 0 minutes) and another 1/4 lb. as dry hops.

What kind of hopping rates have you been using?

My IPA was an all grain 10 gallon batch using the following hop schedule:

Centennial 4 OZ whole 10.3% a
added 2 oz at 60 min
added 1 oz at 30 min
added 1 oz at 5 min

Nugget 2 OZ whole14.8% a
added 2 oz at 60 min


Cacade 2 oz pellets 5.4% a (Dry hops)


My original gravity was 1.068
Final gravity was 1.10

Great hop bitter flavor but very little aroma and the characteristic cascade flavor.

DaltonBrewer said:

My IPA was an all grain 10 gallon batch using the following hop schedule:

Centennial 4 OZ whole 10.3% a
added 2 oz at 60 min
added 1 oz at 30 min
added 1 oz at 5 min

Nugget 2 OZ whole14.8% a
added 2 oz at 60 min


Cacade 2 oz pellets 5.4% a (Dry hops)


My original gravity was 1.068
Final gravity was 1.10

Great hop bitter flavor but very little aroma and the characteristic cascade flavor.

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Using conventional hop additions (boil, flameout and dry hop), you're going to need to add a lot more than 4 oz per 5 gallons to get big hop flavor/aroma. I'd also recommend dialing back the 60 minute addition to no more than 25 or so IBUs. Let the rest of the bitterness come from large additions at 10, 5, 2, 0 etc. Dry hop heavy. You can't just acquire huge green juicy hop flavor/aroma out of thin air -- it takes a lot of hop material. I recommend using pellets do to less losses from hop leaf absorption. 1/2 pound of whole hops sucks up a lot of wort!

If I were to use the same hops you had for your batch, I would have gone with a hop schedule similar to this:

1 oz nugget at 60
2 oz nugget, 3 oz centennial at 10
1 oz nugget, 2 oz centennial at 5
1 oz cascade, 2 oz centennial at 0
2 oz cascade, 2 oz centennial 7 day dry hop

I have a hop rocket and it works very well. I added quick disconnects and run hoses from my pump to the hop rocket and from the hop rocket to the heat exchanger. It doesn't clog or leak. It cleans easily. And the IPAs I have made with it have been better than what I can buy.

meadowstream said:

I have a hop rocket and it works very well. I added quick disconnects and run hoses from my pump to the hop rocket and from the hop rocket to the heat exchanger. It doesn't clog or leak. It cleans easily. And the IPAs I have made with it have been better than what I can buy.

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I have the same setup and it works great. They key is not filling it too quickly and compacting/plugging it. Between hop-bursting and using this inline before my heat exchanger, I get huge hop flavor and aroma in my beers. I have also used it as a filter with rice hulls and it works well for that too, however a good whirlpool seems to work just as well for that purpose. If your question is whether it works well and is worth the money, I would say it definitely is, however it is not the only way to get better hop flavors in your beer.

The coolest hop rocket use involves the recently released RIMS accessory - you can use your hop rocket to go electric! I am already electric, but that accessory is very affordable and brilliant!