Prototype Previews: Hopback and Heat Stick

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Bobby_M

Bobby_M

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Hey, check these upcoming products out!

Here's a mini hopback designed to hold exactly one ounce of leaf hops. It has integrated camlocks just like our RIMS units. It can be set on a flat surface or mounted to your brewstand as shown in the pic.

hopbackproto2.jpg

hopbackproto.jpg


Here's a purpose-made heatstick with minimalist parts. Yes, we've all seen the units built with drain pipe but I'm sorry I don't roll like that. We start with a 2" sanitary flange and weld a block off plate on the back (along with an internal sturdy grounding lug). A vertical tubing for electrical connection and handling is welded to the top of the canister. The element is installed into a 2" TC cap threaded to 1" NPS and that clamps on to the enclosure with a silicone gasket in place. At first release it will be a hardware only solution, you add your element and cord. We're still working on ways to clip it to your kettle and how to integrate an RTD or thermocouple right into the unit so it moves with the stick from vessel to vessel.

heatstick.jpg



As always, we appreciate your feedback.
 
I don't have a full breakdown of my costs on them yet, but ballpark $80 or so. We still have a lot of testing to do so modifications required may move the price around a little.
 
Love both the additions!

Dang it, where was that heatstick design like 2 months ago! I like the idea of the heat stick, but never liked the "homemade"-ness of the DIY solutions. I like that all stainless/TC version a LOT better!

Will the neck length be user definable for deep pots?

Bobby, with all your toys you're rapidly approaching the "shut up and take my money" portion of my brain.
 
The prototypes have at least 24" of vertical clearance for around a pretty tall pot or a converted keg. I thought hard about making it adjustable but I'm able to specify a much more robust tube if I have the manufacturer do the bending.
 
Perfect.

Dang it, seriously - where was this like 2 months ago. :) Looks great, Bobby. With an RTD option on the side it'd be perfect.
 
Hopback looks really nice. Hopefully its available soon, looking to order a bunch of camlocks from you in the near future.
 
I would be curious on how well your hop back can double as a filter; filled with rice hulls instead of hops.

It would also be neat if you had some options.
I would like the female camlock on top and the option to move the outlet 180degrees from the inlet so I can hang it off the BK.

Looking forward to seeing these in production.
 
mredge73 said:
I would be curious on how well your hop back can double as a filter; filled with rice hulls instead of hops.

It would also be neat if you had some options.
I would like the female camlock on top and the option to move the outlet 180degrees from the inlet so I can hang it off the BK.

Looking forward to seeing these in production.
Click to expand...

With the standard false bottom separation plates, the small holes should be enough to create a nice filter with rice hulls. Due to the smaller size of this unit 3" diameter x 6" between the plates, I don't know how much particulate it can take. These are all things I hope to find in testing.
 
WI_Wino said:
Any ideas on how much the heat stick skeleton will cost?
Click to expand...

Not ready for that yet. I can tell you that my goal is to make it cost less than the sum of parts using off the shelf TC parts. I've seen units with a 2" TC elbow, 24" spool, and another elbow up top. If I can get my price a few % under that, I'd call it a success. I could make them pretty cheap as shown, but I need to work out the RTD and kettle clip. Another issue is cable strain relief or similar treatment for the end of the tube. Who knows what those items will add to the cost.
 
If the tubing is of the appropriate ID and you could tap the end to whatever threads count/pitch used by electrical boxes then you could use off the shelf stress relievers. Just an idea. Or if the tube is too wide, weld in a plug and tap that?
 
My Question revolves around the minimum diameter pot this could be used in. It is hard enough to pass a 4500 element through a nearly 16 inch diameter pot... So I am wondering what the additional distance is with the TC housing and cap?


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
If you could make that hop back a hopback/filter that could triclover onto a keg flange that would be awesome
 
Bobby,
I am in the market for a hopback soon so this is good news. Can I make one suggestion? Have a version with a triclamp joint in the middle of it. So, if you are making a bigger batch, I do 13 gallons sometimes, a piece of pipe could be inserted to make it bigger to hold more hops. I know this would make it cost more but I would be willing to pay for it for the flexibility. I have been looking at the ones of Stout Tanks and Blichman. I have been debating on the size do to this, what would be best for 5 gallons would not work for 13 and vise versa.

Just my opinion but if you did it I will buy it.
 
I can see that heatstick as being a real game changer for electric brewers. It makes going to electric REALLY easy and with it being mobile, can cut your costs by 1/2 for the element components! This solution also removes the rusting concern since you can bring it out and dry it with ease. If I didn't just buy a knockout punch, weatherproof boxes, a special size locknut and o-ring, and put 2 elements in my kettle I would definitely go this route! That would cut all of that crap out!
 
If you don't supply an assembled electric device you won't have to deal with getting it approved by an independent testing lab (UL, TUV, etc.). Could you bump up the tube size enough to accept a weather-tight cable strain relief designed to thread into a 1/2" knockout?
 
Bobby_M said:
Hey, check these upcoming products out!

Here's a mini hopback designed to hold exactly one ounce of leaf hops. It has integrated camlocks just like our RIMS units. It can be set on a flat surface or mounted to your brewstand as shown in the pic.

hopbackproto2.jpg

hopbackproto.jpg


Here's a purpose-made heatstick with minimalist parts. Yes, we've all seen the units built with drain pipe but I'm sorry I don't roll like that. We start with a 2" sanitary flange and weld a block off plate on the back (along with an internal sturdy grounding lug). A vertical tubing for electrical connection and handling is welded to the top of the canister. The element is installed into a 2" TC cap threaded to 1" NPS and that clamps on to the enclosure with a silicone gasket in place. At first release it will be a hardware only solution, you add your element and cord. We're still working on ways to clip it to your kettle and how to integrate an RTD or thermocouple right into the unit so it moves with the stick from vessel to vessel.

heatstick.jpg



As always, we appreciate your feedback.
Click to expand...

Any thoughts about making a larger size hopback as well? I like your build over Morebeers or Stouttanks, but they have the size advantage.
 
Day freaking one on the heat stick. Great, simple design! As far as thermocouple mout goes... how about some sort of hose-clamp-ish design that extends horizontally from the base wire-tube and is adjustable for height... will allow the user to adjust the probe to sit in the center of thermal mass. Def dont want it near the element... and allowing it to remain adjustable will allow for different boil volumes.

God i could use this next weekend... building two new sticks... makes me want to wait!
 
I like the hop back. Specifically if it can handle pellet hops and break as a rice hull filter. Have considered getting a hop rocket for years for a sealed hop back but have always decided it was too pricey and overkill. Would it be possible to order without the camlock fittings? I have tri-clamps on my system and would prefer not having mismatched fittings.
 
I'm considering making a few hopbacks with triclovers but it kind of ruins the compact design I'm going for. I have a couple units for my buds to try out before I go into full production. I'm rather sure they will perform fine but I need to play around with the perforation size on the inlet side. Right now I'm using 3/32 holes just like what false bottoms use. I need to confirm it works.

The heat stick is going to be more challenging because I want it to have a nice mount/clamp design. For the thermocouple, I think running it down the tube and into the enclosure will be best. I'll probably use a pressure fit split ring of metal on the inside that will hold a bare junction against the side. It's not going to be super fast, but the enclosure is going to be whatever temp the surrounding liquid is. Price? Ugh, that's hard to figure out. If I were selling as is, as shown, probably $45.
 
Bobby_M said:
I'm considering making a few hopbacks with triclovers but it kind of ruins the compact design I'm going for. I have a couple units for my buds to try out before I go into full production. I'm rather sure they will perform fine but I need to play around with the perforation size on the inlet side. Right now I'm using 3/32 holes just like what false bottoms use. I need to confirm it works.

The heat stick is going to be more challenging because I want it to have a nice mount/clamp design. For the thermocouple, I think running it down the tube and into the enclosure will be best. I'll probably use a pressure fit split ring of metal on the inside that will hold a bare junction against the side. It's not going to be super fast, but the enclosure is going to be whatever temp the surrounding liquid is. Price? Ugh, that's hard to figure out. If I were selling as is, as shown, probably $45.
Click to expand...


I like the compact design as well. Just looking for a 1-3lb hop addition option. That would probably cover up to 15 gallon batches.
 
I'd like to buy the heat stick enclosure as it is shown.

I've been debating installing the silver soldered tri-clamp ferrule to my propane/elecrtic system... but this is so much more elegant. Just add it when needed, store it when not.... It is exactly what I'm looking for. When can I buy one that looks just like that with no probes or other doo-hickeys hanging off it?
 
Bobby_M said:
I'm considering making a few hopbacks with triclovers but it kind of ruins the compact design I'm going for.
Click to expand...

This is for a brew magic that uses the 1/2" tri-clamps. A 1/2 MIP or FIP threaded end is the most I would ask. A 1/2" blank end (ferrule/barb, etc) is the least I would ask.
 
Although it would be difficult, maybe a conversion kit to adapt your large RIMS tube setup to a hopback?

Don't know how practical it would be for those that already own one of your RIM's setups, but you'd already have the tube/connectors fabbed up - you'd just need a way to get a filter in place.
 
I think maybe you could pack the RIMS with hops, but I fear there isn't enough surface area on the leading pack of hops and it would clog quickly. It's only 1.5" TC afterall. The new mini hop back is 3" TC.
 
I'd be very interested in the heatstick. Hell, a hopback would be fun too!
 
The heatstick is going to be a game changer. Straight up. Tons of people are going to buy those once you get them to market. Myself included. Interested to see how this progresses.
 
Bobby_M said:
Hey, check these upcoming products out!

heatstick.jpg



As always, we appreciate your feedback.
Click to expand...

Bobby - Thanks for shipping this so fast. I received it this morning. Holy Crow - this thing is built like a tank. I really didn't expect such a solid, clean, and beautiful hunk of metal. Everything is wonderfully thick and sturdy.... wow... I'm impressed, this will be the heatstick that gets passed from generation to generation!

Quick question: I'm new to tri-clamps so I'm wondering how you know that you've tightened the thumbscrew enough when you put it all together? Any guidance is appreciated N_G.
 
Yakima 300

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