SwAMi75
Well-Known Member
I got a Hop Stopper from Dennis (tnlandsailor), and just finished up my first batch with it. I used it in my converted keg, connected to a weldless ball valve.
Service was awesome....it shipped the day after I ordered it, and UPS got it here quick. Dennis also supplied me with the proper fitting to adapt it to my valve. All I had to do was ask.
It seems very well made, and is a very clever little piece of gear. I did have to cut off some of the tubing to center it up in my kettle, but that just required a cheap little tubing cutter and 2 minutes. The supplied instructions are pretty well written.
It performed just as advertised. I brewed a stout, which only used 2 ounces of pellet hops. Not exactly a big challenge, but having seen how it works, I have no doubt that it'll stand up to my next big IPA.
Now the not so good:
First, you can't get an immerison chiller all the way down into the wort because of it. Of course I foresaw this, but it's still a pain. Seems to me the only way to efficiently cool a batch with it installed would be with a counterflow chiller, or some other more elaborate setup.
The second problem is adding extract or some such to the boil.....the Hop Stopper covers much of the bottom, and this stuff settles under it, and will scorch. It just so happens that I used lactose in this batch, as well as a secret ingredient (ORRELSE and I are having a competition), and I had some scorched gunk left over in the bottom of the kettle. In hind sight, I should have pulled the screen off and just used the dip tube for this batch since it didn't have a buttload of hops, but I thought I'd mention it for those who might be interested.
Overall, I think it's a damn good piece of equipment, and am very pleased with the service I recieved. The cooling problem will require some adaptation on my part. I don't think the scorching problem will be an issue with 95% of my brews, but would be a big issue for an extract brewer.
Service was awesome....it shipped the day after I ordered it, and UPS got it here quick. Dennis also supplied me with the proper fitting to adapt it to my valve. All I had to do was ask.
It seems very well made, and is a very clever little piece of gear. I did have to cut off some of the tubing to center it up in my kettle, but that just required a cheap little tubing cutter and 2 minutes. The supplied instructions are pretty well written.
It performed just as advertised. I brewed a stout, which only used 2 ounces of pellet hops. Not exactly a big challenge, but having seen how it works, I have no doubt that it'll stand up to my next big IPA.
Now the not so good:
First, you can't get an immerison chiller all the way down into the wort because of it. Of course I foresaw this, but it's still a pain. Seems to me the only way to efficiently cool a batch with it installed would be with a counterflow chiller, or some other more elaborate setup.
The second problem is adding extract or some such to the boil.....the Hop Stopper covers much of the bottom, and this stuff settles under it, and will scorch. It just so happens that I used lactose in this batch, as well as a secret ingredient (ORRELSE and I are having a competition), and I had some scorched gunk left over in the bottom of the kettle. In hind sight, I should have pulled the screen off and just used the dip tube for this batch since it didn't have a buttload of hops, but I thought I'd mention it for those who might be interested.
Overall, I think it's a damn good piece of equipment, and am very pleased with the service I recieved. The cooling problem will require some adaptation on my part. I don't think the scorching problem will be an issue with 95% of my brews, but would be a big issue for an extract brewer.