DIY Hop Blocker

[prcbrewer]

Hey Everyone,

I am building a keggle brewing system and had a question about a DIY hop blocker for the boil kettle. I mainly use pellet hops so I will need something that can effectively filer out any hop particles without impeding flow to the fermentor. Does any one have any suggestions and plans for building something like this for a decently cheap price? Would be much appreciated if anyone has any info on this!

Thanks!

 

[aspiffymofo]

I have a SS braid on my dip tube, coiling around the wall of my kettle. It works okay, some particles get through, but I don't worry about it too much. You could also try whirlpooling.

 

[prcbrewer]

Sounds good man thanks. Does the braid work with hop pellet particles? I have heard through various home brew forums that braids don't do so well with pellets.


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[casebrew]

They will all settle out in the primary.

 

[atoughram]

I whirlpool to keep the hops and trub out of my plate chiller. I used to just pump it all into the fermenter and rack it off the trub after a week. That worked well for me.

 

[prcbrewer]

I usually just like to get as much trub out as possible before putting into my fermentor so I don't lose as much volume at racking/bottling. I think I have an idea though. I just bought a 10 inch stainless steel collander off of amazon and will attach it upside down to my dip tube in my boil kettle. Should keep out most of the crap. If not, it was only a $6.69 Project.

 

[aspiffymofo]

Just brewed with pellets on Friday, the braid didn't preform as well as I would have liked. It's more like trying to filter out hop powder. Works great on whole leaf though.

 

[zacster]

I gave up on trying to filter out anything, it just doesn't work that well. But I end up with crystal clear beer every time. It will all just settle out, especially if you keg and use the slow carb method and don't disturb it. Maybe the first draft or two will have some sludge because you pull it out, but by the third you've got it all. I usually let the trub settle in my first carboy and then put it into the fermenting bottle. I guess this only works if you are on 5 gallon batches though because once it gets bigger you have the logistics of transferring large quantities that aren't so easy.

 

[Indian_villager]

Any issues with vegetal flavors from not filtering out hop dust properly?

 

[zacster]

I'm not leaving the hops in, just letting them settle out naturally in the fermenter before transferring to the keg. They are mostly gone by then. I haven't noticed any flavors from them.

 

[sch21c]

I use a hop spider w/strainer bag. I tried just doing a whirlpool which didn't work enough to prevent the plate chiller from clogging up. The hop spider works great. I think a DIY hop spider will run you less than $10.

 

[zacster]

I guess that's another reason I don't bother with any filtering. I'm not using a plate chiller, so there is nothing to clog up. After I use my immersion chiller, I just open up the spigot on my pot and it empties directly into my fermenter. I've never had a clog there, but I never use whole hops in the boil, just as dry hops.