DIY Hop Filter Video

[Bobby_M]

Well, I also have 3-piece ball valves that I've never serviced so I'm going to take it all apart, apply teflon tape to the NPT connections again and tighten the hell out of the ball valve bolts. I think I'll try testing the leak theory by filling with 3 gallons of water and putting paper towels over the mesh. If the connections are tight, it should collapse the hose but not fill with air.

 

[Homercidal]

McMaster-Carr has window screen. 7 Feet x 24" 304 Stainless for $25 each. 316 Stainless is $30 each. You can also get it in larger rolls...

McMaster-Carr

 

[gmarcek]

You could try installing the diptube without the mesh, then plug the diptube with your finger once the pump is primed.

 

[Bobby_M]

McMaster-Carr has window screen. 7 Feet x 24" 304 Stainless for $25 each. 316 Stainless is $30 each. You can also get it in larger rolls...

McMaster-Carr

You don't even need that much. They sell stainless mesh in 12 x 12" and 12 x 24" pieces for less than $10.

 

[Ryan_PA]

Hey Bobby, I just got done a 10G batch with recirc. I used teflon tape on the threads and cranked the be-jesus out of the hopstopper. I also added a hop sock to the return port to grab more cold break. That really did the trick. THe flow never stopped or even slowed. I know it could be annoying to add the hopsock to every brew, but at least for bigger batches, I think it is in my new process.

 

[phillc]

Bobby_M: I would like to say thank you for your very informative video. Following your instructions, I made my own hop filter using 30x30 316SS mesh and stainless wire from McMaster Carr. I put it together some time ago, but have been on a brewing hiatus for some time. Well, last night it got put to the test and I am extremely satisfied with the results.

The brew was an IPA with 5oz. of pellet hops in the kettle.

Installed Filter (post-brew. Not completely cleaned up yet):

Coated in hops:

Showing the flow. This was taken seconds after the previous picture:

Setup:

I never saw even the slightest little bit of non-liquid material in the flow to the fermenter. My plate chiller had 0 issues. Cleanup was a breeze because all of the solids remained in the kettle!

I need to re-do my dip tube because it left about a half gallon of wort in the kettle, but that shouldn't be an issue.

As I stated before, extremely satisfied.

 

[Bobby_M]

Hey Bobby, I just got done a 10G batch with recirc. I used teflon tape on the threads and cranked the be-jesus out of the hopstopper. I also added a hop sock to the return port to grab more cold break. That really did the trick. THe flow never stopped or even slowed. I know it could be annoying to add the hopsock to every brew, but at least for bigger batches, I think it is in my new process.

Ryan, I totally missed this post. I'm glad you've had success. I still have to figure out where my siphon break is happening. I'm going to teflon tape the heck out of all my threaded connections and maybe replace the stainless ferrule with a silicone ORING since I won't have to tighten down so hard.

 

[Bobby_M]

Bobby_M: I would like to say thank you for your very informative video. Following your instructions, I made my own hop filter using 30x30 316SS mesh and stainless wire from McMaster Carr. I put it together some time ago, but have been on a brewing hiatus for some time. Well, last night it got put to the test and I am extremely satisfied with the results.

The brew was an IPA with 5oz. of pellet hops in the kettle.

Installed Filter (post-brew. Not completely cleaned up yet):

Coated in hops:

Showing the flow. This was taken seconds after the previous picture:

Setup:

I never saw even the slightest little bit of non-liquid material in the flow to the fermenter. My plate chiller had 0 issues. Cleanup was a breeze because all of the solids remained in the kettle!

I need to re-do my dip tube because it left about a half gallon of wort in the kettle, but that shouldn't be an issue.

As I stated before, extremely satisfied.

Awesome. I thought I was looking at a picture of my own kettle there for a second. That's exactly how I was hoping it performed and was disappointed with mine for a while. It's perfectly clear now that I have an air leak somewhere between my siphon tube and pump that I need to fix. Thanks.

 

[phillc]

Ryan, I totally missed this post. I'm glad you've had success. I still have to figure out where my siphon break is happening. I'm going to teflon tape the heck out of all my threaded connections and maybe replace the stainless ferrule with a silicone ORING since I won't have to tighten down so hard.

I purchased a jar of food safe paste on thread sealer. I use a bit of tape and this stuff and NEVER have a leak. I can find out the brand if you like...

 

[Whiskey]

Bobby_M, are you using the McMaster Carr QD's that seem to be popular here? When I was testing my system I found that at least my kettle side QD's will pull air from the connection if a clog is formed. There do not leak under pressure, but as soon as a good vacuum is started I get a steady stream of bubbles in my tubing. I also have a three piece valve on my kettle so we may be having the same issue.

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of finding. I plan to temporarily plug my siphon tube and pressurize my system to 5psi and do a soap bubble test. I might try replacing the gaskets in the QD with a softer piece of silicone tubing if that's the culprit. I also recently found that my bolts on the 3-piece valve were a bit loose but I hadn't brewed since snugging them. In any case, pulling air in on the input side of the pump in all cases is going to be a problem so I need to work on it.

 

[Whiskey]

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of finding. I plan to temporarily plug my siphon tube and pressurize my system to 5psi and do a soap bubble test. I might try replacing the gaskets in the QD with a softer piece of silicone tubing if that's the culprit. I also recently found that my bolts on the 3-piece valve were a bit loose but I hadn't brewed since snugging them. In any case, pulling air in on the input side of the pump in all cases is going to be a problem so I need to work on it.

It appears to only occur when I pull from the kettle, however, I only use the QD's when circulating for my IC and pumping to the fermentor.

I will put the hose nipple back on my kettle, and put a short piece of tubing in between the kettle and the QD to see if I get bubbles before or after.

I have already lost a bit of faith in the MC QD's when I saw how restrictive the right angle adapters were. Pulled those things off and my flow rate appeared to double when whirlpooling.

Anyway, I will post my findings back here.

 

[Simphoto02]

Hey all,

I built this sucker and it looks way cool and should work like a champ. I will post the results later, still testing the new brutus 9.5

Anyway I just wanted to post a tip.

Bobby's idea is great. I found one little helpful idea though.

It is something I am sure ALL homebrewers have, simply because we weren't ALWAYS homebrewers....

HEMOSTATS!!!

Use them to hold things together, use the needle to make Several holes and stitch several stitches at a time. Made mine in less time than bobby did on his video.

Great Idea Bobby, can't wait to use it for real.

 

[smatson]

Thanks for the great tutorial! So does this mean that you don't whirlpool? It seems to me like you would have a hard time doing so. Or I could be totally wrong. I just put a spigot in my kettle and it seems like I am going to need some sort of filter. Thanks!

 

[SankePankey]

That's weird, I was just gonna make exactly this. The height is the important part. Thanks for the primer on sewing stainless.

I chose to go a slightly different route since I was given a bazooka screen. Making it about 4" higher than the kettle base and drain. I am also using a piece of 14 X 14 .025" gauge mesh with it. It is similar to the bazooka screen gauge. Stiff and couldn't as be easily bent like what Bobby's using. Just for anyone's reference.... I too spent about an hour trying to find the right piece that had the rigidity and flow I wanted (and price).

Got it at Smallparts.com. Neat source for small quantities of stuff (owned by Amazon).

 

[pjj2ba]

I'm on my second generation homemade hop stopper. My latest version took me all of 2 minutes to make (I already had the dip tube). I took a rectangular sheet of mesh and cut a small X to insert my dip tube through. Then I folded it not quite half and folded the extra over the other side. The dip tube is inserted and the edges are sealed up with a whole bunch of 1.5" SS split rings. I do loose a little surface area, but in exchange I can take it totally apart for easy cleaning. No residue trapped anywhere.

 

[bendavanza]

Speaking of Hemostats, I saw a brewer using a large pair to close one end of his silicone tubing to prevent spills and keep the tube full when switching QD's around.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Any silver soldering I've done was only successful when I remembered to heat indirectly and never burn off the flux. It seems that it would be pretty hard to do that on a mesh. Give it a shot!

I'm really baffled that my pump inlet hose was seeing "air" when the screen started providing a lot of resistance. MAYBE there's a tiny leak that pull air under suction, but it's too small to leak liquid under ambient pressure.

I tried soldering screen with just normal solder (not brazing, so it's alower temp).....any kind of flame will be difficult to keep the screen from overheating. I'd consider trying a soldering iron and maybe just solder at main stress points, etc.

 

[DakotaRules]

So Bobby, I'm trying to make the decision on either a plate chiller or making a CFC. I have been reading a ton of information regarding cold break and pellet material in there kettles. I'm using a keggle with a pickup tube and also a hop bag. I'm worried that if I buy a plate chiller that it will clog up due to cold break or hop material. I just read on one of your posts, if I use a plate chiller, I wont need a pre-filter or hopstopper on my pick tube. If I don't need a hopstopper I will go with the plate chiller as i think I can get a deal on it and it would be cheaper than building a CFC.

 

[kkohlm]

Not to be a jerk, just a math geek. In a 12" x 12" piece of mesh there is 144 in^2

Great build though! I wonder how it compares in performance to the Blichmann HopBlocker

 

[Bobby_M]

I guess it's just a little jerky to mention the error @ 7:22 even though the annotated correction text pops up at the exact moment I say 12 in^2.

 

[kkohlm]

Sorry Bobby, didn't see the on screen correction. Guess I wasn't paying attention

 

[slakwhere]

has anyone tried this with an IC? i wonder how it handles cold break...

 

[Bobby_M]

Cold break is evil. Any screen is going to choke on it but then the whole point of this screen is to prefilter wort for external chillers. I wouldn't worry about cold break getting into the fermenter.

 

[slakwhere]

thanks, bobby.

 

[BrewMoreBeers]

how much better does this work than the Chore Boy that I use as a filter? I just did a batch last weekend with 4 oz of pellets and the Chore Boy filtered almost everything out. I run a 100% gravity system through a plate chiller.

The Chore Boy was caked with hops when i was done.

 

[klyph]

I'll bet you do an amazing Jeff Goldblum impression.

 

[WC87]

7 oz of pellet hops and 1 oz of leaf hops combined with IC cold break just might tax this screen to the limit.

However, with a sanitized mash paddle and a lot of care I was able to extract all but a couple of quarts of usable wort. I figured I would have issues so I adjusted my recipe to account for a boil of 12.5 gals to still leave me with at least 10 gals of wort after boil-off and what I figured to leave behind in the kettle.

Thanks Bobby, good idea and excellent video!

 

[Flomaster]

Bobby is this your preferred method of dip tube / screen you are currently using on your bk

I am still trying to figure out what method I want to go with for my BK.

I have yet to build anything, but i do have 12" of 1/2" soft copper and a 1/2" brass compression fitting.

I only want to build some one once and be done with it, but I have read and seen several option that are a couple years old and wonder if people are still using them or have upgraded to some thing better.

-=Jason=-

 

[Bobby_M]

When I had a plate chiller, I wouldn't use it without a filter like this. I've since swapped over to an immersion chiller just to play around with it and I have since sold the hop filter since it's not critical to filter in that case. I'm still on the fence about going back to a plate chiller but if I do, I'd build something very similar only with a more flat profile similar to the real deal hopstopper.