No more clogged poppets and disconnects during closed transfer!

[eric19312]

Tried this guy for first time yesterday and it worked like a champ!

So here is the problem it solved. Closed transfers have been a real PITA for me. Might be specific to my system but I find I get a decent start and then bam nothing is moving. Either the ball lock poppet or disconnect will normally turn out to be the culprit. When I have the problem it is usually with dry hopped beers. Regardless of how good a cold crash I do I end up picking up some hop material and that poppet is instantly plugged.

I tried solving this by using a hop bag for the pellet hops and this sort of worked but created new problems. First the bag of hops would not fit in my 1.5" or so Spiedel port. So I had to open entire fermentor. Giant hole open to the atmosphere and then spend all this time trying to mess around with a closed transfer? In addition that bag of hops once plugged my dip tube.

I could not solve this with those cool SS dry hop tubes due to lack of clearance above my fermentor. Only got about 6" not enough to stand up the tube.

Anyway found this guy $14 on Amazon prime day and decided to give it a go. Batch had 8oz dry hop pellets swimming free. I did do a nice long cold crash at 36F - probably 5 days. Anyway first run was a complete success and I highly recommend trying it if you like me also have clogging poppet issues during closed transfers. Amazon also sells these with smaller ports, one of my previous attempts to improve closed transfers was to switch to half inch lines so I went with this one.

1/2" Hose Barb In-Line Strainer with 50 mesh stainless steel filter screen
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CH29IK2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Menno]

Have you tried this with a juicy very hazy NEIPA?

 

[eric19312]

I don't make NEIPA but I used it with dry hopped IPAs in the range of 2 pounds per barrel hopping rates. I'm not using it anymore as I've gotten better at cold crashing and dumping trub but it's always an option if I get a beer that just doesn't want to transfer.

 

[ITV]

Tried this guy for first time yesterday and it worked like a champ!

View attachment 638758

So here is the problem it solved. Closed transfers have been a real PITA for me. Might be specific to my system but I find I get a decent start and then bam nothing is moving. Either the ball lock poppet or disconnect will normally turn out to be the culprit. When I have the problem it is usually with dry hopped beers. Regardless of how good a cold crash I do I end up picking up some hop material and that poppet is instantly plugged.

I tried solving this by using a hop bag for the pellet hops and this sort of worked but created new problems. First the bag of hops would not fit in my 1.5" or so Spiedel port. So I had to open entire fermentor. Giant hole open to the atmosphere and then spend all this time trying to mess around with a closed transfer? In addition that bag of hops once plugged my dip tube.

I could not solve this with those cool SS dry hop tubes due to lack of clearance above my fermentor. Only got about 6" not enough to stand up the tube.

Anyway found this guy $14 on Amazon prime day and decided to give it a go. Batch had 8oz dry hop pellets swimming free. I did do a nice long cold crash at 36F - probably 5 days. Anyway first run was a complete success and I highly recommend trying it if you like me also have clogging poppet issues during closed transfers. Amazon also sells these with smaller ports, one of my previous attempts to improve closed transfers was to switch to half inch lines so I went with this one.

1/2" Hose Barb In-Line Strainer with 50 mesh stainless steel filter screen
1/2" Hose Barb in-Line Strainer with 50 mesh Stainless Steel Filter Screen: Industrial Plumbing T Strainers: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

I had a similar experience to yours, so I used a bazooka sytle of screen to filter the beer from my fermenter to my kegs.
Even with cold crashing and finning with gelatin, I was still getting some carry over of hop debris into my kegs. I blame most of this due to the fact that I can't see through my stainless steel fermenter to properly dump all the trub (note, I do not have a sight glass). I did notice that there was some hop debris that would float that my screen would catch.
After using my screen, I will most likely use it all the time as a preventive measure.

 

[eldplanko]

You could also try a tri-clamp filter plate: BUNA Screen Gasket | Tri Clamp 1.5 in. 841 Micron (20 mesh) - FDA

 

[eric19312]

You could also try a tri-clamp filter plate: BUNA Screen Gasket | Tri Clamp 1.5 in. 841 Micron (20 mesh) - FDA

Thats a good idea now that I'm using TC. I guess just use it to hold the TC-flare fitting to the racking arm and if it clogs you would remove the TC-flare, rinse and sanitize the gasket, flush the racking arm with a quick shot of beer and hook it all back up. No oxygen exposure and everything stays sanitary.

 

[eldplanko]

Thats a good idea now that I'm using TC. I guess just use it to hold the TC-flare fitting to the racking arm and if it clogs you would remove the TC-flare, rinse and sanitize the gasket, flush the racking arm with a quick shot of beer and hook it all back up. No oxygen exposure and everything stays sanitary.

If you get to the point that it’s clogging, I’d do the triclamp bazooka mentioned above, saw some on amazon with mesh between 30-150 mesh, pick your poison.