Hopster Hopscreen

Total cost was about $100 for materials and took about 3 hours and 4 bottles of Pliny to make. A little pricey - but well worth the effort.

Parts:
6" section of 10" ID 304L Stainless Pipe (10 guage wall)
24"x24" sheet of 8x8, .032 304L Stainless Mesh
(3) 3/8" 18-2 Stainless studs - 6"
(9) 3/8 18-2 Stainless nuts
(1) 10" Stainless Hose Clamp
Handfull of Stainless Rivets

That is amazing!!! Can you give a step by step? Is all that stuff available at Lowes or HD?!

Hell no, that's definitely a mcmaster.com type of thing.

What's the mesh size?

Mcmaster.com sounds right. You got a link to those items? Especially that Hoseclamp. Awesome build.

I see the mesh size in you listing Omit this question.................

I am thinking he is a whole hop user pellets would not work well I guess.

Lets see more pics of your rig! From your gallery it looks pretty freakin sweet.

subscribed, cool hopster hopscreen. I like

Amazing! This looks great!

I am doing the exact same thing! Just waiting on my mesh. For my tube I actually am using a cut section from an old defunct corny keg for mine. My pal who is getting my mesh (forget the size but it is VERY fine for pellet hops) has some process where they seam and sew it together. Obviously you are much further along than I am!

Impressive Hopscreen!!!


May I ask what the rigging is in the foreground of photo 4? I want one and I have no idea what it does!!!!

Very impressive. Looks incredibly well made

Nice build. I like the way you put it together.



Here is a couple of shots of the one I made about 5 years ago. Mine is made of perf screen material. It has .037" diameter holes in it. Mine is tall enough to sit right on the bottom and stick out just a bit. The nice thing about mine is the boil is focused up through the center of the cylinder.



The bottom is made of the same material as the sides.



This is the same material I made my false bottom out of.

Wedge – Measure you kettle free space (space above siphons, plumbing, etc…) to determine how wide/long you want to build it. I choose 10” for a couple reasons. First, I wanted it as big as possible so the hops could freely move around during the boil. Second, my kettle top opening can accommodate up to a 12” OD pipe, but I have fill tube plumbing that sticks out a couple inches from my sidewall.

Once you determine the best size, order up the pipe from your local steel supply or fabrication shop – I couldn’t find a section cut of 10” at McMaster Carr. 304L is common and you only need a 3” min section to make this work. You can probably get a better deal if you buy your mesh from them as well. McMaster’s stainless mesh prices are a bit high. One thing to note is that you can make (2) Hopsters per 48” sheet from McMaster- if you order from them go in with someone else and split the sheet. I ordered the stainless studs and nuts from McMaster.

I used 8x8 mesh because I brew almost exclusively with whole hops and I also have a finer mesh screen on my siphon to stop any small stuff. I’d recommend a finer mesh if you use pellets or are looking to use this as your only screen. What’s cool about this setup, is that you can quickly pop the hose clamp and switch out to a finer/coarser mesh basket in less then a minute.

The most time consuming part of the assembly is rolling the screen. Finer mesh is easier to roll than mesh with thick wire and lots of open space. Use your pipe to roll/form the mesh sidewall around, until it overlaps about 1.5”. Put the pipe clamp on it to hold the screen in place around the pipe at the top. Drill a hole, place a rivet, repeat… all the way down the sidewall. Pay especially close attention to make sure mesh lines up in a straight line all the way down your sidewall.

Before placing the last couple rivets, trace an outline of the circular pipe onto a piece of remaining mesh. Cut it exact or 1/16” larger than the opening because you want it tight. Shove it into the bottom end of the mesh cylinder and stitch it up in there with stainless wire. Roll the bottom of the stainless mesh to eliminate sharp points. Next, drill (3) holes in your pipe to mount the studs and test fit. Hopefully, it fits great, if not, release the clamp and trim off the top if it’s long. If it ends up being too wide you’re pretty much screwed by this point so try not to let that happen ;>)

That’s it.

Hope this helps. If you’re interested in building one but need help finding parts or have questions on assembly, PM me, I’d be glad to help.

Hawgbranch - McMaster’s item number for a 10” worm drive stainless hose clamp is: 54155K44. The clamp that I used was left over from a different project and is a quick release item #: 5215K15. At $44 per, it’s a nice option but not worth the extra cost IMO.

Brew-boy – yep, I almost exclusively use whole hops. I’d recommend a finer mesh screen for pellets. I’m thinking about making a finer basket that I can quick change to when using pellets. I also use a finer screen on my siphon.

Pickles – thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it. If you can wait a week, I’ll try and get some new shots up after I get my BCS and control box mounted later this week. I’m just finishing an upgrade and have the pumps, plumbing, etc… pulled out. I’m hoping to get it put back together before next weekend.

Lonnie Mac - using an old corny is a damn good idea and can cut the cost nearly in half. I wish I had thought of that sooner :>) Can you post some pics when you complete it? I’d definitely like to see it.

GreenMonti – That’s a sweet hopscreen. I like the way it sits in there at the bottom without any studs to hold it up. It makes top access easier as well vs. stud mounted. Very nice build.

anyone build this type of hop stopper and use it for pellet hops? Im thinking about replicating what looks like an awesome hop stopper but wanted to see if anyone has had any problems using all pellets as that is what I primarily brew with. Thanks in advance.

I bought the 20x20 s mesh from Mcmaster and it works just fine. I've used all pellet, cones, and a mix. I would make it hange close to the bottom to make the boil really move the hops.

Do you know the mesh size by chance or better yet have the McMaster part number? Do you use this hop stopper exclusively or do you also have a screen over your dip tube?

Biscostew said:

Do you know the mesh size by chance or better yet have the McMaster part number? Do you use this hop stopper exclusively or do you also have a screen over your dip tube?

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9226T001 for the mesh and there should be enough to make the bottom. I just bought some stainless wire 9882K31 and wired it together. Stainless rivets would have been the way to go, but I already had the wire.

I don't use anything over the dip tube. I have a 1/2" 90 degree fitting with a 1/2" nipple and ran it to the corner of the kettle and cut the bottom of the nipple out. I also shaped the end to fit the kettle wall. I joined it to the coupling in the kettle with a stainless union. I put a whirlpool fitting into the kettle and use my pump. Followed wayne1 on here on the design. I went through hop-clog termoil for so long. I tried the bag and hated the way it worked. Made a hopstopper and didn't like where it sat in the middle of the kettle. I still need to fab a new top section like the pig. I just have mine hanging from my "spider" I used for my bag. My last brew had 9oz of pellets and I had no trouble at all. IMO this is the only way to go for hops. Makes IPA brew days go off with out a hitch. Hope it works as well for you if you make one.

DogHouse thanks for all the info, its greatly appreciated. I will let you know how things go after my build and first brew are complete.

Bobby_M said:

Hell no, that's definitely a mcmaster.com type of thing.

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Thought I'd share what I found to use in my hop spider that might save some folks on $- stainless steel pastry/tart ring. I use this just to weigh down the strainer bag because my spider is a stainless steamer basket, but they are heavy duty enough for a hop spider build like this, I think.

Don't get me wrong, I luvz me some McMaster, but no need to pay $44 for this. This one is a great price @ ~ $18 depending on the size you want. There may be other brands that are heavier gauge, dunno.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GBN1DG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


Oh, and I also found pretty decent prices for small sections of stainless mesh or perforated metal at www.smallparts.com also owned by amazon.

That's awesome. I made a simple spider out of brass rod, bent and brazed. $5. And it works. SUre is not as good looking as that. Maybe when other projects are complete, I'' make one out of stainless like that!.

Look for industrial kitchen supply stores. I have one here in sacramento. Great source for stainless shapes, DIY stuff. I think its called West Coast Kitchen Supply.

Dog House maybe I was too optimistic to assume I could solve hope debris with just a hop screen, but are you still experiencing enough debris through your screen that it warrants whirl-pooling too ?

What kind of rivets would you recommend? Feeling kinda overwhelmed looking at all the different types of rivets on McMaster Carr.

Have got plans for a plunger/ramrod kind of thing?

I squeeze the crap out of my hop spider bag to get precious wort out of those hops.

That beast looks sturdy enough you could rig up a plunger and wring those babies dry.

Thanks for this! I plan to make this also. I'm so sick of the bag. My bag always fills up with hops and cold break and wont strain. I recirculate back into the bag while I'm chilling and the bag just expands, it fills with break and hop materiel and it wont drain fast enough and then I lose my prime to my pump. Im so sick of this. I hope that the 20X20 screen will end all my hop and break material issues.
I plan on using rivets, I think these rivets will be fine but if there is any objection let me know.
http://www.smallparts.com/blind-riv...=1303094698&filterBy.material_browse=16414661

If you're still using pellets, the break MAY still clog 20x20 mesh. Pellet gunk with break in it is really tenacious.....one thing you can do is scrape the insides of the mesh to keep things draining.

If I can get some of the break out I would be happy I brewed yesterday with no hops and when chilling the wort and recirculating the bag just filled up and didnt even drain. I've tried different bags and have had no luck. Should I go 22 for more drainage or would that be too big?

I'm going to have to fool around with autocad and see if I can get by with smaller sheets and make a couple of different sizes.

DakotaRules said:

Thanks for this! I plan to make this also. I'm so sick of the bag. My bag always fills up with hops and cold break and wont strain. I recirculate back into the bag while I'm chilling and the bag just expands, it fills with break and hop materiel and it wont drain fast enough and then I lose my prime to my pump. Im so sick of this. I hope that the 20X20 screen will end all my hop and break material issues.
I plan on using rivets, I think these rivets will be fine but if there is any objection let me know.
http://www.smallparts.com/blind-riv...=1303094698&filterBy.material_browse=16414661

Click to expand...

I think those rivets are to long. It sounds like the grip is the thickness of material that they should be used for, which for those is listed as .501"-.625".

I don't have any experience with rivets though.

I'm going to try these ones and I'll let you know how they work:

https://www.smallparts.com/blind-ri...=1303316010&filterBy.material_browse=16414661

I have no idea what kind of rivets to get I saw cheap, a smaller diameter, and I'm glad I didn't buy.

ThePig said:

Total cost was about $100 for materials and took about 3 hours and 4 bottles of Pliny to make. A little pricey - but well worth the effort.

Parts:
6" section of 10" ID 304L Stainless Pipe (10 guage wall)
24"x24" sheet of 8x8, .032 304L Stainless Mesh
(3) 3/8" 18-2 Stainless studs - 6"
(9) 3/8 18-2 Stainless nuts
(1) 10" Stainless Hose Clamp
Handfull of Stainless Rivets

Click to expand...

I don't understand how you got a 24" wide stainless mesh sheet around a 10" diameter stainless pipe that has a circumference of about 31"?

any updates on anyone who decided to make this, thinking about making the plunge and wanted to get some updated feedback if possible. thanks.

I've built one. I really like it but I need to make it bigger for recipes with more than ~2 or 3 oz of hops. I'll put up some pics and more info next week, going out of town for the weekend.

I'm pleased with how this went...see pics below.

I've got extra materials and will make somebody one of these or sell the materials if interested.

How much?

I would put some type of band around the top to give it more strength. The strands will be pokinging your hands and flexing when you dump it. I finally found something that fits mine. I'm cutting the top off a cheap stainless pot. I wish I had made mine the full diameter of my kettle. Looks great and I can say that it totally cured any hop problems I ever had. No clogging, even with straight pellets.

jaginger...what size rivets did you use?

John

johnodon said:

jaginger...what size rivets did you use?

John

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From McMaster, item # 97525A410: