BIAB/keg/plate chiller questions...

[etoews]

so i've been brewing biab for quite a few batches now with the mash/boil being done in my converted keg and plate chiller. great brews so far, but have an engineering issue i'm trying to work around.

i have been using a bazooka filter in the bottom of the keg screwed into my 1/2" ball valve that leads to the chiller. the idea behind this is my trying to keep as much of the hop material as possible out of the chiller. great in theory, but it has played hell with my bags and now the filter is pretty twisted up and time for a replacement. so was looking for ideas...

again, the main point here being the plate chiller. if i had an ic i wouldn't really be worrying about this. i have toyed around with big paint strainer bags but those can be weak and break/burn anyway. and do NOT want to go to something like the teaball.

is there any sort of filter type thingy that anybody knows about that could either go inside of the keg or, failing that, outside of the keg but prior to the chiller? thinking maybe a similar mesh size to the bazooka filter as anything much finer and could see big problems with.

anyhow, thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[rockytoptim]

I use this nylon filter bag in my keggle. i use the 100 micron version.

http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=NYP2S

I get no hop debris when i back flush my plate chiller.

 

[wolfman_48442]

I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag with a DIY hop spider, and I don't get any noticeable hop debris when back flushing. There may be a bit of stuff that gets into the chiller, but I am a firm believer in cleaning stuff ASAP.

 

[Golddiggie]

I've been bagging my hops (pellet hops, using the nylon hop bags) with great results so far. But, I'll be making a hop spyder before the next batch, so that it's easier (on me) to add hops. I'm going with a 6" diameter ring, going down to a few inches above the bottom of the kettle. That should give me plenty of space for the hops to run around in while the boil is going on. My tailor will be making the hop bag, and I just need to source the support parts and I'll be in business.

 

[wolfman_48442]

I was totally paranoid about the bag not opening properly to let the hops roam free since my spider is only a 4" to 3" piece of HVAC, but I found that the bag mesh is fine enough to restrict the flow of water enough to keep the bag bloated and fully extended.
I don't really have a way of validating whether or not this is lowering utilization, but the beers have been darn nice to me and my fellow drinkers

 

[etoews]

thanks for the advice guys. for what it's worth, i also use a hop spider for my boils and believe it or not quite a bit of material gets out of the 5 gallon paint strainer bag.

and wolfman i noticed that you are pretty disciplined about cleaning right away. i too am also a cleaning fanatic so maybe i'll just have to continue on with my 'clean beer gear takes precedence over wife and small children' philosophy on brew day i've got quite a few brews through this chiller and have not detected the slightest hint of any contamination...

p.s. for you guys that are planning on making these hop spiders you might want to consider giving the arms a pretty good bend if you are doing your boil in a keg. otherwise that bag sits up pretty high... i'll see if i can find a pic of what i did to mine and post it.