SVBS and hop pellets

[beerdoog]

Anyone have ideas on how to improve hop exposure during boil and whirlpool in a recirculating system like the SVBS from SsBrew?

They recommend using hop spider, which I’ve done but I feel like I get a muted quality to the beer with these. I’ve tried a few different sizes.

I finally tried just throwing the hops directly into my SVBS for whirlpool. This was a 15%oatmeal grist/wort so was already sticky, and I used 6oz pellet hops for the whirlpool.

This resulted is basically a ‘stuck’ whirlpool - the hop/trub gunk plugged up the trub ring to the point that there was little flow during the whirl. The hops also collected around the temperature sensor so the SVBS wasn’t aware of correct temp.

I’m trying to figure a way to get good hop exposure during the boil and whirlpool but still keep the recirculation system free of clogs. Was considering adding some external hop-rocket type of system or if adding a false bottom over the trub ring as a prefilter may work.

Was wondering if anyone has experience with this or some suggestions.

 

[kevin58]

I always add up to 20% more hops when using a hop spider. Take good tasting notes and adjust the next brew. Hop bitterness is such a subjective characteristic you pretty much need to take the published IBU of a recipe as a guideline that you then adjust to match your personal preference. Get a commercial beer that you like and look up their published IBU and compare it to a beer you made with (supposedly) the same IBU. Then increase or decrease what the recipe or software has published to match that of the commercial.

 

[McMullan]

Ideally, you’d use whole hops in a HopRocket and contain kettle hops in a spider or bag. A decent pump is advisable too. Something like a RipTide.

 

[passedpawn]

Anyone have ideas on how to improve hop exposure during boil and whirlpool in a recirculating system like the SVBS from SsBrew?

They recommend using hop spider, which I’ve done but I feel like I get a muted quality to the beer with these. I’ve tried a few different sizes.

I finally tried just throwing the hops directly into my SVBS for whirlpool. This was a 15%oatmeal grist/wort so was already sticky, and I used 6oz pellet hops for the whirlpool.

This resulted is basically a ‘stuck’ whirlpool - the hop/trub gunk plugged up the trub ring to the point that there was little flow during the whirl. The hops also collected around the temperature sensor so the SVBS wasn’t aware of correct temp.

I’m trying to figure a way to get good hop exposure during the boil and whirlpool but still keep the recirculation system free of clogs. Was considering adding some external hop-rocket type of system or if adding a false bottom over the trub ring as a prefilter may work.

Was wondering if anyone has experience with this or some suggestions.

I had the EXACT same experience the only time that I didn't use a hop spider on the SVBS. One way to greatly increase flow across the hops is to return your knockout tubing into the hop spider. Open the knockout and monitor the flow - if the flow is too high you can overflow the hop spider.

I agree with Kevin above, just increase your hops. Easy solution.

 

[bike2brew]

The hop spider designed for the svbs works well. I may give the knock out recirculation a try next brew. Nice suggestion.

 

[stealthfixr]

In my Brewzilla, I use cheap, muslin bags to contain my hops and use a 95% hop utilization rate in Brewfather. Seems to work well, and easy to clean up afterwards. No clogged pumps. Hops are extremely toxic to dogs, so I am careful to get every bit in cleanup. I also use a Blichmann Hop Rocket with whole & pellet/rice hulls for hopstands, and it works very well with a side benefit of acting like a filter.

If your hop signature or bittering is not where you want it, also consider the age of the hops and the associated hop storage index for that type. Beersmith has a tool to help calculate the effective AA given age and storage considerations. I have been surprised at how much AA some hop types lose, and quickly. Adjusting my bittering hop's AA using this has given me results more like what I was expecting given the IBUs supposedly contributed.