PBW isn't working? bring in the flame-thrower.
gawd i love this hobby.
gawd i love this hobby.
New way to control Pellet Hop gunk!
- Thread starter marcb
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Holy crap, batman! A torch, really? I have used mine about 6 times and used sweetcell's once or twice and all I have ever done is spray it off at the sink. I have to use the spray versus the stream setting on my sink, though, so that might be one difference. Also, don't wait to clean it. I clean mine as soon as I can after draining the kettle as the sticky wort is a pain once it dries out. I've done several 1/2 lb of hops boils, all 90 minutes, and this thing cleans up like a charm for me. Hope this helps!!
CadillacAndy
Well-Known Member
sweetcell said:
Hahaha exactly right! I use mine as a mash filter too, and was putting it in when I first lit the flame for the boil. Lots of hot break and grain sludge too.
marcb
Well-Known Member
cadillacandy said:
I'm guessing that's some knarly break material, the hop sludge comes right off. Might want to check your water profile
CadillacAndy
Well-Known Member
It's not too bad, it just gets caked on I guess after boiling for 60-90 mins, even with immediate cleaning. It probably doesn't sit quite deep enough in my kettle too, so as I get boil off, there's rings of break material that is impossible to get out.
marcb
Well-Known Member
cadillacandy said:
So common denominator where I have heard issues cleaning is long boils yet earlier in the thread I document a >90 minute boil (Pliny clone) and I haven't seen the same issue, my filters look close to new and I have used them lots so something else at play here....
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CadillacAndy
Well-Known Member
marcb said:
I was putting mine in before the hot break formed and it started actually boiling. When does yours go in the kettle?
marcb
Well-Known Member
Mine is in the kettle the whole time... and only gets pulled after draining into the fermenter.
Ditto...I actually run my mash out through the filter to catch any wayward grains trying to make their way into the boil. Mine does drop down so it is covered except for the 2" or so that eventually boil off.
Rinse mine out and after a couple of batches I boil mine in oxy free.
jww9618
Well-Known Member
Has anyone used a 8x14 or 10x14 in a keggle? The price isn't much more. Any opinions?
scottvin
Well-Known Member
chads454 said:
Whatever it is I want one.
. From what I've read 16.5 looks good
Carlscan26
Well-Known Member
chads454 said:
No longer than a pin lock keg height...that will cover just about all keg sizes except 2.5gal ones.
Does anyone have the size of this?
marcb
Well-Known Member
Yambor44 said:
Now you guys are just getting lazy on me ; )
A pin lock keg is about 2" shorter than a ball lock keg. So overall height (external) would be close to 23". All kegs have variants though whether the dip tube is in the center or side as well as the depth of the dish bottom. I would recommend getting some measurements to be sure. I've got a buddy that has some pin locks that can take some measurements for us if there isn't anyone out there with ready access to one.....
Based on the pin lock measurement, I would suggest no longer than 17" as you need room to get the lid in and out.
marcb
Well-Known Member
vaheel said:
With my experience for removing hop trub if you are using a plate chiller a 300 is the way to go.
you can read through this thread to get opinions, but they seem to be mixed on the 300 vs 400 debate. i think either one will do. personally i slightly lean towards the 400 but it's not a strong preference.
I do not have a plate chiller yet, but do plan on adding one soon.
marcb
Well-Known Member
vaheel said:
I've got both the 300 and the 400. My goto is the 300.
jww9618
Well-Known Member
Does anybody have any experience with a larger basket in a keggle?
I have used both and see little difference between the two meshes, though there is a tiny bit of difference. What I believe may be more important is the diameter, though this is just conjecture on my part at this point. I am going to order either a 6" or 8" one (still trying to decide) to compliment my 4" one. I use the spider/filter for multiple purposes in my setup. I run my mash through it to get out any bits of grain, I use it to keep hops out of my plate chiller and eventually my carboy, and I try to use it during recirculation to catch break and hop materials. When the 4" doesn't clog, this works wonderfully, but it has clogged at least half the time thus the reason I want a larger one. If the larger diameter has an issue (others on here have not had the same issue with as large if not larger doses of hops, so this is why I am leaning this way...) then I will just use two, reserving one for post boil recirculation. Is this overkill? I dunno, but I would really like to keep as much gunk out of my chiller and carboys as I can so it is worth experimenting with. Good luck with whatever you choose...I am sure you find this a great addition to your brew day just like the rest of us!!
I made strainer 11" in diameter (sankey keg as BK, aprox. 15" wide ) and I have boil over problems with it.
Strainer is big enough to enable boil in it, but vigorous boil takes place between strainer and keg wall, and this is where the problem comes:
space between basket and keg is pretty limited so boil can easily pour over keg side, especially at the beginning and with large pre-boil volume.
I will have to reduce diameter, perhaps to 4-6" just to increase boil surface.
I just ordered one of the 1.5" x 16.5" dry hoppers from Chad. However, I am going to try using it primarily for filtering my wort from the kettle to my Better Bottle. I use an immersion chiller, so I don't need clear wort out of the kettle. I just want it clear in the fermenter. So, I am going to put this guy in the Better Bottle and drain through it.
Some relevant dimensions. Better Bottle opening is about 1.77" ID, so 1.5" is perfect. From the top of the Better Bottle to the bump on the bottom is about 17.75", which means the dry hopper will sit a little over an inch down from the top so with my fingers or floss I can pull it out. Lastly, from the bump at the bottle of the bottle to the bottom of the neck, it is about 15", so I don't have to worry about the filter falling into the BB and being a pain to fish out or even scratching the bottle.
We'll see how it works. Even if it doesn't work for this purpose, I can still use it to dry hop, but I am hoping it can do double duty.
Some relevant dimensions. Better Bottle opening is about 1.77" ID, so 1.5" is perfect. From the top of the Better Bottle to the bump on the bottom is about 17.75", which means the dry hopper will sit a little over an inch down from the top so with my fingers or floss I can pull it out. Lastly, from the bump at the bottle of the bottle to the bottom of the neck, it is about 15", so I don't have to worry about the filter falling into the BB and being a pain to fish out or even scratching the bottle.
We'll see how it works. Even if it doesn't work for this purpose, I can still use it to dry hop, but I am hoping it can do double duty.
I recently did the same concept with my 6x14. Threw my pellet hops directly into the boil, chilled with IC, hung sanitized 6x14 screen onto edge of interior fermentation bucket, gravity drained from top of screen. Worked perfectly for a very clear wort. Knocked down the aeration I usually get from gravity transferring but fermentation started in less than 16 hours.
Glad to hear it worked for you. How hard was it to clean out the strainer afterwards and get it sanitized for future sessions of straining into a fermenter?
I saw a couple people say they had used it as a strainer into a bucket, but since I was using Better Bottles I couldn't find a good option with the standard strainers (closest was funnel with strainer). The dry hopper hopefully will fill that need. If not, the search will continue and may involve a strainer in the kettle and perhaps a screen or false bottom for the kettle to keep out the break. Definitely more complicated and expensive than the dry hopper if it works.
I saw a couple people say they had used it as a strainer into a bucket, but since I was using Better Bottles I couldn't find a good option with the standard strainers (closest was funnel with strainer). The dry hopper hopefully will fill that need. If not, the search will continue and may involve a strainer in the kettle and perhaps a screen or false bottom for the kettle to keep out the break. Definitely more complicated and expensive than the dry hopper if it works.
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