Boil Kettle filtration

[BillyBock]

Ok, so I've been looking around for awhile and not finding what I want, so I am asking all of you. What is your preferred method for separating liquids from solids as it pertains to going from the boil into the chiller? I am finally making some headway on my Brutus 10 build and I got stuck on this. Whirlpool? Screen? I am leaning towards a side pickup for a whirlpool as I would think a screen would get plugged up pretty fast. Never done an AG brew yet. Still doing extract on the stove and using 3 sieves to filter out hop material.

 

[berrywise]

Why choose just one? I use all of the above and then some. A good false bottom in your mash tun for starters. I then use an 8x16" hop screen in the boil kettle (20gallon). My boil kettle is bottom drain from the very side, I have a small little trub dam that blocks trub from dropping in the drain while I whirlpool.

 

[SteelManCM]

I use a side pickup tube. I then installed a bazooka screen over the pickup tube. Of course I hat to take the bazooka screen apart, but that gave me a closed nipple I could use somewhere else...

ANYWAY...for my hops, I use 4" spice balls and don't get a lot of residue in the BK, but if I do, the screen takes care of them. Been getting some pretty clean wort lately.

 

[prcbrewer]

I use mesh bags in my BK and it keeps out pretty much all of the hop residue. Even if you were to transfer your wort to the fermentor with all of the proteins and hop particles, it will end up settling out. I usually just stick to using the hop bags, and whatever else is left in the BK, I transfer to the carboy. Haven't had a bad batch yet. It all settles out nicely. The only time I would worry about getting all of the trub out before transferring to the carboy is if you are aging the beer in the carboy for a long time (more than a month or so). Then I would try and hold as much in the BK as possible. If not, just rack to another carboy in secondary. This should be fine for making good beers. Trub and proteins in the carboy is pretty much inevitable. Hope this helps.

 

[BillyBock]

I decided to build a side pickup for sure. You see, I have a Therminator that I would like to keep as much hop residue out as possible. The spice balls sound like a good idea combined with the screen on the pickup. I was also thinking of some sort of tall mesh cylinder to hang from the side of the kettle?? Anybody seen anything like that?

 

[prcbrewer]

I believe there's one called the hop spider. Also, there are stainless mesh cylinders that you can buy that hang on to the side of your BK. They are pretty spendy though.

 

[SteelManCM]

The spice balls I use are Stainless. I'm not sure if the chains that come with them are, so I take them off. The 4" x 4" spice ball can handle about 2 oz of hop pellets. The 3" x 3", about 1.5 oz. Smaller than that can handle a smaller ratio. The 1.75" tea ball infuser can only realistically handle about 1/4 oz of pellets. Once the pellets soak up wort, they expand like crazy! I put 1/2 oz in a 1.75" ball and after the boil, I opened the infuser to be greeted with a perfectly formed hop ball. My fear is a dry center, so I tend to undersize the amounts now.

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004X4LGIO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[BillyBock]

Do you think using things like spice balls or a hop spider affects your hop utilization? I guess that would be a real subjective thing. Unless you did back to back brews with the same ingredients/temps/times etc, would you be able to tell any differences. Just curious, though.

 

[SteelManCM]

I honestly don't think so. During the boil, the spice ball travels throughout the Brew Kettle and "spreads the love".

 

[eko]

I use a side pickup tube. I then installed a bazooka screen over the pickup tube. Of course I hat to take the bazooka screen apart, but that gave me a closed nipple I could use somewhere else...

Would you mind attaching a picture of this bazooka + pickup tube setup? Or giving a little more detail about what you use for bazooka screen and how you attach it over the pickup tube? I currently strain on the BK output, on the way into the fermenter. But I run through a pump + CFC and worry about clogs & cleaning. I've been thinking about adding a bazooka screen to the dip tube itself so the straining happens before leaving the BK, and am looking for ideas how others have done this.

 

[SteelManCM]

I'll have to try to remember to take a picture tonight. Basically, I got a premade bazooka screen, took the clamp off and removed the close nipple. Then I put a stainless screw hose clamp on the end of the screen. Slide it up the tube to the bend and tighten the clamp.

 

[kombat]

I was also thinking of some sort of tall mesh cylinder to hang from the side of the kettle?? Anybody seen anything like that?

You mean like this?

I got mine from Chad at Arbor Fabricating. I actually found him here on HBT. He's made similar custom screens for many other members. You just send him the dimensions of your brew kettle and he'll custom-make it out of stainless steel screen. Mine's the 300 micron screen and it's perfect for containing pellet hops.

 

[SteelManCM]

Wow! I did remember!

 

[ImNoExpert]

Wow! I did remember!

That is exactly what I'm planning on doing. How does it do with pellet hops? Where did you put your whirlpool port?

 

[SteelManCM]

The spice balls I use are Stainless. I'm not sure if the chains that come with them are, so I take them off. The 4" x 4" spice ball can handle about 2 oz of hop pellets. The 3" x 3", about 1.5 oz. Smaller than that can handle a smaller ratio. The 1.75" tea ball infuser can only realistically handle about 1/4 oz of pellets. Once the pellets soak up wort, they expand like crazy! I put 1/2 oz in a 1.75" ball and after the boil, I opened the infuser to be greeted with a perfectly formed hop ball. My fear is a dry center, so I tend to undersize the amounts now.

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004X4LGIO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't whirlpool. I use the spice balls mentioned in the link above. They pretty much keep all the pellet hop residue contained. The bazooka screen is an extra layer.

 

[ImNoExpert]

Ah, roger that.

 

[batty]

I got mine from Chad at Arbor Fabricating. I actually found him here on HBT. He's made similar custom screens for many other members. You just send him the dimensions of your brew kettle and he'll custom-make it out of stainless steel screen. Mine's the 300 micron screen and it's perfect for containing pellet hops.

+1. Mine is also from Chad, and it's awesome. Easy to use, easy to clean, and I assume it will last forever!

 

[Roadliner]

You mean like this?

I got mine from Chad at Arbor Fabricating. I actually found him here on HBT. He's made similar custom screens for many other members. You just send him the dimensions of your brew kettle and he'll custom-make it out of stainless steel screen. Mine's the 300 micron screen and it's perfect for containing pellet hops.

oooo.. that is soo much prettier than my home made hop spider.. I might have to look into this :rockin:

on that note, I use a home made hop spider I built from a a DIY on here. a PVC piece, 3 bolts, and a strainer bag.. works great for me with keeping the pellet hops under control.

 

[jcoxen]

Has anybody tried one of these in your fermenter? Not usable with a carboy, of course but for those of us who use buckets...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002VMCMYW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[biertourist]

Hop kettle crud was my #1 concern in my 2nd boil kettle build.

I've tried everything -giant tea ball from World Market with stainless scrubbies in it, bazooka screens, whirlpool and Chad's stainless hop spiders.

IMHO, you will find a design that is maximized to work well with hop pellets or whole hops but not often both.

I ultimately chose a whirlpool kettle with a side outlet and pickup in a keggle -the domed bottom of a keggle is much better at creating a nice trub + hop pile that stays behind. Flat bottomed kettles don't work quite as well but don't have as much kettle losses either.

I ALSO bought a stainless hop spider from Chad and my regret is that I didn't buy a taller one in a custom length that goes to the bottom of my kettle. I really don't have enough of the hop spider submerged when I brew a hoppy 5 gallon IPA. It works amazingly well for all beers @ 10 gallons but not so well for 5 gallon batches.

The stainless hop spider also works as a filter again on the way to the fermenter. (Spray it out with my commercial sprayer stainless sink then spray with starsan and put it in my large funnel in my carboy and transfer wort through it.)

-I originally thought that I'd also buy a trub filter to make sure I can get rid of everything because I really just hate crap ending up in my fermenter, but it's completely unnecessary with the combination of stainless hop spider and whirlpool kettle.


Adam

 

[McKnuckle]

I ALSO bought a stainless hop spider from Chad and my regret is that I didn't buy a taller one in a custom length that goes to the bottom of my kettle. I really don't have enough of the hop spider submerged when I brew a hoppy 5 gallon IPA. It works amazingly well for all beers @ 10 gallons but not so well for 5 gallon batches.

While not as sexy perhaps, they work just as well simply sitting on the bottom of the kettle when you have inadequate volume for hanging on the side.

 

[biertourist]

While not as sexy perhaps, they work just as well simply sitting on the bottom of the kettle when you have inadequate volume for hanging on the side.

I might try it but I have an electric element in my whirlpool keggle and I'm afraid of burning hops if the spider is physically touching the element- which it certainly would be doing. Also afraid of it falling over in the boil because the bottom is not flat in a keggle.



Adam

 

[McKnuckle]

Gotcha. I use mine in flat bottomed vessels, and the one vessel with an electric element does allow room for the canister.

 

[Goon]

I use a conical colander with very small holes, which is typically used to separate and press solids from liquids when making home made stocks. I directly drain my wort into it.it also does a nice job of aeration too.

http://m.alibaba.com/product/101118005/Conical-Colander.html?hasRedirected=y

 

[eko]

Wow! I did remember!

Thanks!