Hop Quesadilla

[milldoggy]

And wow... Glad I saw these PVC connectors. Many thanks to this thread!

By the way, what size PVC elbows did you use?

3/4 cpvc. I think cpv has a dif od than pvc. They work great and make cleaning/soaking easier. That is 1 in vinyl. For BB, I use a 3/4 drill bit(spade or hole saw, maybe I used smaller can't remeber) and cut a stopper. Let's me use 1 in blow off on BB.

I just started using oxyclean free and amazed how well it cleans the blow off tubes.

 

[milldoggy]

So brewing last weekend, found a trick to manage flow near the end. If you use silicon hose, watch the hose from the bk to the pump. You can see the liquiid in it. When you can see air in the tube and the wort trickling down it, slow the pump till it starts building up. So use the space in the tube as a way to manage the flow when it slows.

I also build a new dip tube. Instead of the bottom of the tube being straight down and slotted, I put a T on it with two small pieces. The smooshed down the two small pieces to allow the level to go lower. This way there are two channels into the tube and it faces sideways, not sure how it will work, but will let everyone know. I had to put the T in the stopper, then slide in the dip tube and snug fit them. I put an oring on the dip tube so it made a tight fit where the t slide on.

 

[Dukeman9988]

So brewing last weekend, found a trick to manage flow near the end. If you use silicon hose, watch the hose from the bk to the pump. You can see the liquiid in it. When you can see air in the tube and the wort trickling down it, slow the pump till it starts building up. So use the space in the tube as a way to manage the flow when it slows.

I also build a new dip tube. Instead of the bottom of the tube being straight down and slotted, I put a T on it with two small pieces. The smooshed down the two small pieces to allow the level to go lower. This way there are two channels into the tube and it faces sideways, not sure how it will work, but will let everyone know. I had to put the T in the stopper, then slide in the dip tube and snug fit them. I put an oring on the dip tube so it made a tight fit where the t slide on.

I was thinking about using a T also, let me know how that works out

 

[lonepalm]

Scribed nice work!

 

[milldoggy]

Not a great pic, but here is my new dip tube

 

[milldoggy]

Horrible pic, but I think the tee drained better. I only used 4oz of hops today though. My site guage was a tad above 12 and I pull 5.75 in each carboy. The flow seem restricted during the whirl. I could not crank it at full blast. I also notice some really hard build up by the tube when I was cleaning. I think the difference is that this tube is real close to the bottom, pressing almost. I looks like having to close to the bottom, restricts flow and causing things to gum up in there. So going to cut it shorter next week and see if flow is better. My guess is the stopper likes some clearance underneath it, so if you are getting bad flow with one, try shorting your dip tube.

 

[kevink]

Milldoggy,

Do you have slots in your dip tube like this?

Edit- Never mind. I see that you put a T inside.

 

[milldoggy]

Tried a new dip tube, more clearance under it. Not sure it was any better. Initial flow was great. I gravity feed most of the wort. Just did not suck down to the level I was expecting.

 

[castermmt]

I made this following with some info I got from Bobbym. I just made it square to give me a little more coverage. It works perfect, I'm very happy with it. I went through the same learning curve you are and do exactly what your doing now by slowing it down at the end.

 

[l3asturd]

I made this following with some info I got from Bobbym. I just made it square to give me a little more coverage. It works perfect, I'm very happy with it. I went through the same learning curve you are and do exactly what your doing now by slowing it down at the end.

I dub thee Trub Pillow.......no no....Trub Assassin....because it puts trub to sleep....and you use pillows when you sleep....?

 

[eastoak]

i wish i would have seen this thread earlier...

 

[truebe]

anybody with a gravity system actually try this? i was all excited to make one before this thread but now I'm questioning if i should even bother.

 

[eastoak]

anybody with a gravity system actually try this? i was all excited to make one before this thread but now I'm questioning if i should even bother.

it would be interesting to see if it would work with just gravity. since it can tend to clog with a pump i doubt it would work well with just gravity. if you use an immersion chiller the clogging will be worse so have your auto siphon ready.

 

[Fly_Rodder]

I have the hop stopper and I'm losing patience with it after three batches. I have a CFC and the whole point of the CFC was to rapidly chill 10 gallons of wort in-line to the fermenter. Having to slow the flow down to a trickle when the mesh becomes exposed to air effectively defeats the purpose. I've lost between 1 and 2 gallons of wort during each batch plus it takes forever. It took me 40 minutes to get five gallons chilled last time. I may as well use an ice bath and spoon. I'm thinking of switching to just a strainer in the fermenter bucket. If that isn't effective, then I'll switch to a hop spider.

I really wanted it to work, but unless there's a special trick, I don't see the point in a mesh filter.

i would be interesting to see if it would work with just gravity

I tried both methods, with a pump and gravity. It worked fine with gravity until it was exposed to air and lost siphon.

 

[brock_gonad]

I have a CFC and the whole point of the CFC was to rapidly chill 10 gallons of wort in-line to the fermenter. Having to slow the flow down to a trickle when the mesh becomes exposed to air effectively defeats the purpose.

This is my nightmare precisely...

I'm in $300 deep on a plate chiller, heavy duty SS quick releases, and custom made wort in/out hoses. The main goal was to shave minutes off the brew day. With decent water pressure I can chill the first 7-8 gallons to pitching temp in ~15 minutes, but I either end up leaving 2 gallons behind, or watching it trickle for an hour.

I'm gravity feeding, which does affect me re: loss of siphon.

However, if the whole point of CFC / plate chiller is speed, I'm not sure I want to spend another $160 on a pump to help me squeeze those last 2 gallons out, but not increase speed.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]
However, if the whole point of CFC / plate chiller is speed, I'm not sure I want to spend another $160 on a pump to help me squeeze those last 2 gallons out, but not increase speed.

Here's the bitch of it: a non-positive-displacement pump such as the March or Chugger will only make the issues with the hop blocker much more aggravating, because that kind of pump can't maintain any suction once the impeller cavitates, which will happen as soon as the flow gets restricted (ala those last couple of gallons).

At that point you'll have no flow from the kettle and you'll have a pump screaming bloody murder at you.

Fun times...

Cheers!

 

[Haputanlas]

Here's the bitch of it: a non-positive-displacement pump such as the March or Chugger will only make the issues with the hop blocker much more aggravating, because that kind of pump can't maintain any suction once the impeller cavitates, which will happen as soon as the flow gets restricted (ala those last couple of gallons).

At that point you'll have no flow from the kettle and you'll have a pump screaming bloody murder at you.

Fun times...

Cheers!

What about creating a hop spider with using this stainless mesh? My problem with the spiders are that they use a material that absorbs liquid and could possibly be absorbing more of the hop oils than desired.

The last two times I used a hop bag, I lost a significant amount of hop character which is why I am so interested in this method.

Maybe this is the best of both worlds?

 

[day_trippr]

What about creating a hop spider with using this stainless mesh? My problem with the spiders are that they use a material that absorbs liquid and could possibly be absorbing more of the hop oils than desired.

The last two times I used a hop bag, I lost a significant amount of hop character which is why I am so interested in this method.

Maybe this is the best of both worlds?

That's been done, and you can find at least a couple of threads covering spiders using stainless mesh in this forum.

As for the loss of character, I doubt it had anything to do with the material of the hop bag. More likely it was due to the lower utilization that is pretty typical of hops constrained in a nylon bag verses allowing them to free-swim in the wort...

Cheers!

 

[Haputanlas]

That's been done, and you can find at least a couple of threads covering spiders using stainless mesh in this forum.

As for the loss of character, I doubt it had anything to do with the material of the hop bag. More likely it was due to the lower utilization that is pretty typical of hops constrained in a nylon bag verses allowing them to free-swim in the wort...

Cheers!

Hmm.. you're probably right about the constraints. If that's the case, what is the downside to a hop spider vs. something like this? Seems like the cleanup would be easier with a hop spider.

 

[brock_gonad]

What about creating a hop spider with using this stainless mesh?

The problem with hop spiders is not the material it's made of.

The problem with a hop spider is that it doesn't do anything about hot break. In my experience, hot break is at least as much problem as the hop material itself. The last APA I did looked like egg drop soup - absolutely stuffed with thick hot break that gathered around the bazooka tube like glue.

I already use a dual stage solution - hop spider plus bazooka tube, and I'm still having issues.

Even if I had this hop stopper in the kettle, I'd be happy to use a hop spider also if I knew that I could get to the bottom of my kettle quickly.

 

[Haputanlas]

I don't want to deal with the pump issues everyone is having and I'd eventually like to get to something more elegant than the hop spider.

It seems to me like this is the best solution I've found so far. Pretty expensive and requires a tri-clover fitting, but seems to be the ultimate solution.

http://www.brewershardware.com/FILTER1-Testing.html

 

[eastoak]

I don't want to deal with the pump issues everyone is having and I'd eventually like to get to something more elegant than the hop spider.

It seems to me like this is the best solution I've found so far. Pretty expensive and requires a tri-clover fitting, but seems to be the ultimate solution.

http://www.brewershardware.com/FILTER1-Testing.html

i like that filter too but i can't imagine it would work with out a pump.

 

[Haputanlas]

i like that filter too but i can't imagine it would work with out a pump.

I don't know, if you angle it 90 degrees like in the article, you'd likely be able to get some decent flow. If the filter is full, then you'd probably have some issues.

The good thing about this though, is that even if you were able to fill this up, you'd be able to quickly clean and resume.

 

[themicahmachine]

For those considering building this, I've found a cheaper source for stainless wire than McMaster. Amazon has "Beadalon Round Wire Stainless 26 gauge 20 meter" for like $7 and it's prime eligible, which means it should also ship free with a $25 order.

I'll be building my own hop filter later this week when the wire comes in, and will post results.

 

[alowell]

That is a little cheaper. The stuff I used was McMaster# 8860K11 Stainless Steel Wire (Type 304), Soft Temper, .015" Diameter, 1/4-lb Spool, 410' Spool for $9.21. Upon recommendation from TomRep. I have used mine twice with 8 oz of hops and it works well so far.

 

[MadViking]

Here's the bitch of it: a non-positive-displacement pump such as the March or Chugger will only make the issues with the hop blocker much more aggravating, because that kind of pump can't maintain any suction once the impeller cavitates, which will happen as soon as the flow gets restricted (ala those last couple of gallons).

At that point you'll have no flow from the kettle and you'll have a pump screaming bloody murder at you.

Fun times...

Cheers!

Why not install a grant in the system before the pump. A small, 1 qt - 1 gallon, stainless pot with a wort in and wort out to pump would allow the pump to have a source of wort without cavitating the pump until the bitter end. It could be controlled automatically with a float switch if you want or just by turning the pump on-off manually.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/rims-system-wort-grant-267596/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/grant-rims-system-232244/

 

[Gothic_Horror]

how do you keep the inside of your boil kettle so clean and shiny? i scrub the cr@p out of my keggle and it wont ever come up like that.

Barkeeper's Friend works wonders.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V72992/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Gavin C]

Great thread. OP. Thanks for showing the build so well.

 

[milldoggy]

Thanks! Thing is still rocking. Did 18.5 oz of hops last week and had OK flow still, 8 oz was leaf.

 

[Neuropel]

This is a great thread! Milldoggy I'm also in Pottstown (met you once at one of the Bruclear meets, but I can't make it to them regularly due to work schedule).
After looking through this thread, I'm wondering if I could incorporate a piece of the same screen in my setup. I use a converted keg currently as a boil kettle, and it uses a perforated stainless plate false bottom that is clamped tight on the bottom with a locking collar on the diptube. It has worked great for leaf hops, but "dust" from pellets tends to get through, which makes it a pain trying to clean up my plate chiller. I'm wondering about sewing a piece of the stainless screen onto the bottom side of my false bottom as just an extra filtering layer? I drain via gravity into my CF plate chiller, and am wondering how slow it would drain through the screen.