Hop collection/ wort chilling solution for 1BBL setup

[kennyconley0269]

Hey all,
I am moving from a 5 gallon setup to a 1BBL setup and I am looking for advice from someone who is experienced with brewing on this scale. I am planning to chill using a plate chiller. My concern is if I am just throwing hop pellets into the kettle that they are going to clog the chiller. I feel like just throwing them into the kettle is going to give me the best hop utilization, but am also considering using a hop spider, which is what I would normally do with my 5 gallon setup (although hop utilization does seem to be an issue with this.) It seems they don’t really make hop spiders large enough for 1BBL kettles, so I would imagine that this is not the way it is usually done. I have seen recommendations on using a counter flow chiller instead of a plate chiller to reduce clogging risk, but I have also read that these systems can also get clogged and are impossible to unclog when they do. Does anyone familiar with brewing on this scale have a technique that works well for them? Thanks I’m advance

 

[Wayne1]

The design of your kettle will have a big impact on how you handle your hop load. With pro sized kettles, most will have a dished or slight cone shaped bottom. This is to allow the trub to settle in the bottom while the upper edge of the dish should remain clear, after whirlpooling. You would want to draw the clear wort off from the upper edge of the kettle bottom and then through your heat exchanger. Small plate heat exchangers are prone to clogging with high hop loads. For a 1 bbl size, I feel a counter flow exchanger would be a better choice.

The Brutus Pro by Exchillerator would be one that should work for your needs.

FWIW, I brewed on many systems from 7-50 bbl. I never used a hop spider or bag. A good whirlpool and drawing off above the settled cone worked just fine.

 

[Want2Brew]

I brew 20 gallon batches in a 30 gallon kettle, it measures 18” across as I recall. A good whirlpool and drawing the wort from the edge and slightly up from the bottom of the kettle does the trick for me. In my old kettle, I had a homemade hop dam, it worked pretty well but I don’t believe it’s necessary if your kettle is set up properly.