Hop Rocket/plate chiller question

So I was gifted a Blichmann hop rocket for my birthday and a shirron plate chiller!! I have no idea how to use it!! Well I understand the concept but I am trying to answer some questions before I ruin a batch of beer with it.

a. Will I need a pump or will gravity work?

b. I have never filtered my beer. Will the hop rocket or plate chiller clog if I dont? If it will clog can you recommend a good way of filtering?

My current setup is a cooler mash tun and a 15 gal. brew kettle and an immersion chiller.

I did some research and found that some use gravity but I couldnt tell if they were filtering or not. Any input would be greatly appreciated!!

Cheers

 

Hop Rocket needs 4' for gravity according to Blichmann.

also:
* The HopRocket™ can be utilized as a general strainer/filter but it is NOT intended to filter all the sediment and particles of your brew pot while using at a hopback. The large quantities of pellet hops, trub and other debris will plug and compact the hop bed stopping flow. The installation of a prefilter in your pot is recommended to prevent excessive quantities of material from entering the hopback. As such, recirculation whirlpool immersion chilling systems should not be utilized with the HopRocket™.

 

I watched the video and read the website, I was just looking for some actual hands on experiences. Thanks

 

the chiller is AWESOME! it cools my 10 gal batches down without any issue. It can be gravity fed or pumped. The only challenge is getting the garden hose attached without a leak

 

bmunos- are you doing any filtering in your boil kettle? and are you using gravity?

 

bump for someone out here using this setup!!!!

:rockin:

 

Hands on - if you don't filter your output to a plate chiller you will have failure.

 

samc- is using hop sacks or the "hop spider" sufficient enough or should I also be doing some other type of filtering?

Thanks in advance.

 

Paint strainer bag or similar works well. You still need to do a proper flush cleaning in both directions with a good clean chemical - PBW, Oxiclean, or some other cleaner. I still get the occasional bits and pieces coming out of mine, most of which is break material from the boil.

 

ok cool. I appreciate your insight. ever used the hop rocket? is gravity really gonna work on this? I am leary for some reason....

thanks