Blichmann Boilermaker and Shirron Users please Help!!! :)

[albysurfin]

Hi There,
I have a new Blichmann 20 Gallon, Boilermaker BK, and Shirron Plate Chiller which is Gravity Fed. I brew 10 Gallon batches, usually super hoppy IPA's.
I brewed an IPA Yesterday with 19 ounces of pellet hops. I used about 4 different Nylon Bags. I used a SS Braid attached to the Diptube. The first 5 Gallons did all right, the next 5 gallons were miserable!!! Ended up having to pump it out with Auto Siphon. A Couple of Questions for you:

-Does using the paint strainer bag method hold back more sludge from the pellet hops than the individual bags? Would using 2 paint strainer bags help?

-I was going to try to build my own hop stopper or Hop Taco with stainless steel mesh from splatter screen but is a bit difficult with the standard Blichmann Dip Tube( Since it is oriented so close to the side). Has anybody done this successfully? Do you have any pictures?


Any Solutions you guys are using that works with high loads of pellet hops, so I can just open the valve and drain into wort chiller and into the my two 6 gallon carboys without clogging in the kettle or the wort chiller??


Thanks in Advance for your Help, This problem is driving me crazy!!!


Brian

 

[Layne]

I am interested in this also.

 

[albysurfin]

Yeah it is a little Frustrating especially considering the money spent on both, It was pretty much the same amount of time with my old beat up brew keg and Immersion Chiller and just siphoning out trub and everything and just letting it settle out in the carboys.

 

[Sawdustguy]

Hi There,
I have a new Blichmann 20 Gallon, Boilermaker BK, and Shirron Plate Chiller which is Gravity Fed. I brew 10 Gallon batches, usually super hoppy IPA's.
I brewed an IPA Yesterday with 19 ounces of pellet hops. I used about 4 different Nylon Bags. I used a SS Braid attached to the Diptube. The first 5 Gallons did all right, the next 5 gallons were miserable!!! Ended up having to pump it out with Auto Siphon. A Couple of Questions for you:

-Does using the paint strainer bag method hold back more sludge from the pellet hops than the individual bags? Would using 2 paint strainer bags help?

-I was going to try to build my own hop stopper or Hop Taco with stainless steel mesh from splatter screen but is a bit difficult with the standard Blichmann Dip Tube( Since it is oriented so close to the side). Has anybody done this successfully? Do you have any pictures?


Any Solutions you guys are using that works with high loads of pellet hops, so I can just open the valve and drain into wort chiller and into the my two 6 gallon carboys without clogging in the kettle or the wort chiller??


Thanks in Advance for your Help, This problem is driving me crazy!!!


Brian

This is just my opinion but even with hop filtering I think gravity draining your BK through a plate chiller with that amount of hops is asking for trouble. Gravity just does not provide enough flow to push enough of the debris through the chiller. Maybe someone else will chime with an idea but I think the only chance you have is with a pump.

 

[AiredAle]

I built a hop stopper for my kettle when I began using my Shirron. I was worried about plugging the chiller with hop debris. Like you, I found out fast that using all pellets led to very slow gravity drainage after the hop particles built up on the hop stopper surface.

I tried using a mixture of whole and pelletized hops, hoping that the whole hop cones would help to build a more permeable filter bed on the screen. This worked well, and I can drain a ten gallon brew by gravity in 20 minutes or so. I haven't measured, but I would guess I use 25% whole hops by weight.

 

[albysurfin]

Are you using a Blichmann brew kettle? If so do you have any pictures of your hop stopper install on the factory dip tube??

 

[Ranger9913]

As I have posted many times before on here, ditch the Shirron now and save yourself the future troubles. I have gotten mine to work but it now requires a 2hr 400 degree bake before every brew.

 

[AiredAle]

My hop stopper is installed in a standard keggle, with a weldled 1/2" coupling. I also have a smaller kettle with a weldless fitting. The hop stopper connects to the kettles via a 3/8" copper tubing compression fitting to 1/2" male adaptor. I'll try to take pics if you want but it may not be of use if you have some other arrangement on the Blichmann.

 

[Lonnie Mac]

As I have posted many times before on here, ditch the Shirron now and save yourself the future troubles. I have gotten mine to work but it now requires a 2hr 400 degree bake before every brew.

Why? Rinse it out after brewday, drain it and put it straight into the freezer. Thaw it out an hour before brewday, recirculate boiling wort through it for five minutes and then chill as normal.

I do hit mine in the oven at 500 for an hour too, but only about every 5 to 8 batches...

Never had a problem using hop bags...