New way to control Pellet Hop gunk!

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zentropy said:
Wondering if anyone has had a filter basket made for a 10 gal electric BoilerMaker.
Click to expand...

I'm considering something very similar with a BoilCoil installed. Potential issues I see is the diameter of the basket would be about 11" and you'd need to raise the basket up above the dip tube. Would that be enough volume for grains?
 
I used mine for the first time on Sunday. Awesome purchase. The only interesting thing i found is that after chilling the rest of the wort down to 55, the wort in the filter was still about 85. No issues - just kinda cool.

I'm now wondering how large i could get away with and still filter fruit pulp. I've been thinking about using a smaller one to rack off pulp heavy meads, but i want to get a mesh wide enough that i can get good liquid flow (i use a vacuum pump to rack).
 
kcmobrewer said:
Heady topper clone. Worked like a charm. Don't know the exact amount of hops. But I'd say around 8 ounces or so.

View attachment 225014View attachment 225015
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Hey kcmobrewer - very impressive. Just so I know what I'm looking at though - that's an 8" diameter screen - but what's the height and is it 300 or 400?

I'm looking for one for exactly the same reason you do. I use a CFC so I don't need clarity - I just want good flow. I don't really care if there's some trub in the fermenter. Usually I'm fermenting in a conical and I'll dump that stuff after the first 5-7 days.

I have the option of going 6" diameter by full kettle height (19") or doing 8" diameter and staying above the electric heating element at 14". I like doing whole hops when I can get them but end up using pellets sometimes anyway.

I'm a little concerned about the 8" diameter messing with a full rolling boil. OTOH, I'm thinking that if I can hang the 8" diameter screen over the electric element, I'll get a little additional vertical circulation within the hop screen itself.

Am I over thinking things? (yes, but isn't that what we're here for??? :)


EDIT: and while we're overthinking things:
6" dia X 19" height = volume of 2.33 gallons
8" dia X 14" height = colume of 3.05 gallons
...so if one were thinking of getting max capacity for bigly hopped beers, the 8" would be better...
 
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philipmeese said:
Hey kcmobrewer - very impressive. Just so I know what I'm looking at though - that's an 8" diameter screen - but what's the height and is it 300 or 400?

I'm looking for one for exactly the same reason you do. I use a CFC so I don't need clarity - I just want good flow. I don't really care if there's some trub in the fermenter. Usually I'm fermenting in a conical and I'll dump that stuff after the first 5-7 days.

I have the option of going 6" diameter by full kettle height (19") or doing 8" diameter and staying above the electric heating element at 14". I like doing whole hops when I can get them but end up using pellets sometimes anyway.

I'm a little concerned about the 8" diameter messing with a full rolling boil. OTOH, I'm thinking that if I can hang the 8" diameter screen over the electric element, I'll get a little additional vertical circulation within the hop screen itself.

Am I over thinking things? (yes, but isn't that what we're here for??? :)


EDIT: and while we're overthinking things:
6" dia X 19" height = volume of 2.33 gallons
8" dia X 14" height = colume of 3.05 gallons
...so if one were thinking of getting max capacity for bigly hopped beers, the 8" would be better...
Click to expand...


I want to see some talk about the vertical circulation and if it will keep my wort in the pot and not splashing out
 
MX1 said:
I want to see some talk about the vertical circulation and if it will keep my wort in the pot and not splashing out
Click to expand...


Based on my brewing i don't think you'll get much vertical circulation, but you shouldn't have a boil problem either. My boil was plenty big enough with a 6" - an 8" would have been fine, but it wouldn't fit inside my immersion chiller. With the chiller and the screen i still got a good rolling boil going. It didn't splash out around the screen at all. Bare in mind my pot has a 14" diameter, so if yours is a lot more narrow things might be different.

On vertical circulation - I've noticed (and others have posted) that the boiling wort will go up and around the filter instead of directly through. I seemed to get really good hop utilization - the oils diffuse out fine, but the liquid itself doesn't move drastically. Case in point, when i chilled my wort with the immersion chiller the wort outside the screen was about 55 but the inside was around 95-100 and still steaming.

So, 8" is probably fine, but I wouldn't go as large as full pot diameter.
 
So, having the screen over the element should not effect the boil then?

Right now, I push the limits of my BK, so when I boil, I loose wort up and out of the pot during the first part of the boil.
I have been toying with the idea of getting on of these and ditching the hop bags for good.

For the record, my pots are 18.5 inches across the top and 14.5 inches tall.
Thinking a 6x10 filter should work well for me.

Tim
 
Awesome. Thanks for the observations. Took the suggestions posted by others here and called Chad. He was great to talk to.

My Blingman 20g is 18 inches ID, so I think I'll go for the 8 inch circumference screen for more volume.

I'll be putting my order in this week. Can't wait to brew with this bad boy and get rid of that hop stopper that always added 40 minutes to the brewday and stranded 2 gallons at the bottom of the BK.
 
Sorry to get off topic Marcb but how do you add hops to that thing mid boil? Do you have an arm length leather glove or something? Or maybe a hook?

I'm probably missing some obvious but I had to ask, you caught my curiosity.

For on topic reference, I got a 300m filter from arbor for Christmas and can't wait to try it!
 
burkesw said:
Sorry to get off topic Marcb but how do you add hops to that thing mid boil? Do you have an arm length leather glove or something? Or maybe a hook?

I'm probably missing some obvious but I had to ask, you caught my curiosity.

For on topic reference, I got a 300m filter from arbor for Christmas and can't wait to try it!
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Good eye, left a front hanger off of my original design. I will get that rectified tomorrow and post pics. Doing a big, hoppy pale on Saturday and will post pics.
 
@Marcb

Thanks for this thread and all your help and insight.

I know you had several different prototypes made, is there boneyard somewhere now...lol
 
MX1 said:
@Marcb

Thanks for this thread and all your help and insight.

I know you had several different prototypes made, is there boneyard somewhere now...lol
Click to expand...


Ah, not of these guys. The prototypes have either gone with systems I've sold over the years or ended up with friends.
 
ChocolateMaltyBalls said:
I bet you could build several breweries just from Marcb's kitchen junk drawer.
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It's Funny because it's true!

We're going to do a clean out sale at the brewery this spring or summer to reduce the clutter and raise some operational funds. Stainless is my favorite color.
 
Has anyone had a dry hop filter made for their conical fermenter? I have a 7 gallon SS Brewtech conical and I'm trying to figure out how to design a filter that will work. Any ideas?
 
I used a paint strainer bag, and still had lots of hop crap in the kettle....this is moving up on the list of upgrades....
 
sabitu said:
Has anyone had a dry hop filter made for their conical fermenter? I have a 7 gallon SS Brewtech conical and I'm trying to figure out how to design a filter that will work. Any ideas?
Click to expand...


Do you have tri clover fittings? I would probably have a small stainless hook welded to the bottom of a removable fitting. Chad (arbor fab) also makes dry hoppers that are mesh tubes with silicone stoppers on each end that you can drop into a carboy, should probably work for you too.
 
marcb said:
Do you have tri clover fittings? I would probably have a small stainless hook welded to the bottom of a removable fitting. Chad (arbor fab) also makes dry hoppers that are mesh tubes with silicone stoppers on each end that you can drop into a carboy, should probably work for you too.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have one 1.5" tri clover ferrule on my conical lid. I guess I could have a hook welded onto a fitting that would be inserted into this port. It also fits a carboy bung so his carboy dry hopper would probably work as well.

I may pick up one of his keg dry hoppers and try that while I'm at it. I've never dry hopped in the keg but it seems pretty effective.
 
MX1 said:
I used a paint strainer bag, and still had lots of hop crap in the kettle....this is moving up on the list of upgrades....
Click to expand...

No doubt. The bag just didn't seem to cut it. And it was a PITA to manage, even in a hop spider with a bunch of SS washers in it to hold it down. These filters look to be way easier to manage.
 
Pulling the trigger today:

6x11x300

Just in time for a American Wheat, I am sure my 2oz of hops will push it to the limit...lol

T

EDIT TO ADD: Just got my shipping notice....hellz yeah!
 
marcb said:
Good eye, left a front hanger off of my original design. I will get that rectified tomorrow and post pics. Doing a big, hoppy pale on Saturday and will post pics.
Click to expand...

Marcb,

How'd the new filter work out? It looks bomb-proof just curious how it all ended up working.
 
Hey just wanted to say thanks for all the info here on this thread.

I've brewed twice with the new filter that Chad at Arbor Fab built to my specs. I have the 19" diameter Blingman 20g BK, so I went with a 8" diameter by 15" deep filter from 400 micron screening.

It's not just good, it's a total godsend. Getting the last 2-3 gallons out of that kettle has always been a total PITA. I used to have to slow the draw down to a dribble, or perform major in-flight surgery on the dip-tube.

Well, with the new filter, I ran the chiller at max throughput and filled the 5g fermenter in about 15 minutes. I didn't actually time it but there was zero hangup or problem - no clogging in the pump or lines and the wort was clear of any and all chunky stuff.

I selected the 400 micron, so there is some fairly fine break material left in the bottom of the BK, but my decision was to maximize wort flow-through to enhance hops utilization. It will settle out in the fermenter and I use a convolutus CFC, not a plate chiller, so I'm not worried about clogging up the plates.

One last thing: I ordered over the phone with Chad on a Monday. Given it was a custom order, he said he would try to get to it by the end of the week. He finished it and shipped it out Wednesday, and I had it on Friday on time for weekend brew sessions. Great service.

hopsFilterr90.jpg
 
Got my filter in the mail today, it was one of the only good things to happen today.

I can not speak well enough of Chad, I will say that he did the old bait and switch, what we discussed over email, and what he sent me do not appear to be the same item....what he sent was much better!!!!

Thanks

T
 
There's a reason this is titled for pellet hop gunk.

Used the filter (6" x 14") with leaf hops on brew two... did not go as well as planned. I also made the mistake of throwing some leaf directly in the bk and draining was bad news.

On brew 3 I went back to pellet - and I used this to filter the wort between a BIAB mash and the boil. The Irish Red came out almost crystal clear!

So in short, stick to pellet hops for the smaller screens and you should be pretty damn happy.
 
Has anyone done a side by side comparison of using the filter versus free floating hops? I'm sorry if this has already been discussed in the past 124 pages and I missed it...

I'd like to try one of these, just want to make sure I get the same hop flavor (or hoppier flavor!)
 
Zeppman said:
Has anyone done a side by side comparison of using the filter versus free floating hops? I'm sorry if this has already been discussed in the past 124 pages and I missed it...

I'd like to try one of these, just want to make sure I get the same hop flavor (or hoppier flavor!)
Click to expand...

This is just a guess but I figure I lose 10-15% utilization with my hop basket verses without.
 
wobdee said:
This is just a guess but I figure I lose 10-15% utilization with my hop basket verses without.
Click to expand...
during the boil i use a soup laddle or (empty) coffee mug to pour some wort into the mesh filter, which creates some additional circulation within the filter. the idea is to help "wash out" the oils, alpha acids, etc and get them into the main boil where they are isomerized, transformed, volatilized, etc. pretty sure this helps minimize utilization loss.
 
Zeppman said:
Has anyone done a side by side comparison of using the filter versus free floating hops? I'm sorry if this has already been discussed in the past 124 pages and I missed it...

I'd like to try one of these, just want to make sure I get the same hop flavor (or hoppier flavor!)
Click to expand...


theres 3-4 posts at least if you go back through. Maybe try google search to do it more quickly?

I think this will be better than hop bags because you have more room to flow. Worst case use a little more hops. I've found i've lost way less beer to trub after using mine, so i figure it works out.
 
sweetcell said:
during the boil i use a soup laddle or (empty) coffee mug to pour some wort into the mesh filter, which creates some additional circulation within the filter. the idea is to help "wash out" the oils, alpha acids, etc and get them into the main boil where they are isomerized, transformed, volatilized, etc. pretty sure this helps minimize utilization loss.
Click to expand...
I stir the wort/hops inside of my basket to re suspend them since they otherwise settle to the bottom I also raise and lower it like a teabag from time to time...This works very well.

According to arbor the 300micron is recommended for pellet hops and the 400 is better for leak hops but they are pretty close as far as filtering capacity and honestly the way I understand it leaf hps are just as likely to plug a 600 micron screen as a 300 in reality.... the pellet hops is where the difference is...
I used the smaller 4X10 basket for about 8 months and then switched to the 6x14 (I believe) and the larger basket with more surface area helped my hop utilization quite a bit.
 

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