I really don't love my Hop Stopper. Anyone else?

[ryanj]

A couple of months ago, I bought one of these for my Sanke keg converted kettle:
https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com...-screen-only-for-converted-sanke-kegs-keggles

I was really excited because I heard a ton of amazing reviews and I was tired of using my homemade hop spider. After using it on two brews now, I am sad to say that I am more frustrated than happy.

1. For starters, I have to turn my pump WAY down when I'm recirculating or chilling. I mean...WAY DOWN. Anything over 1GPM and the whole screen will collapse. I thought my pump was low enough this last brew, but I was wrong and completely crushed the structure of my Hop Stopper.
2. It took me 15-20 minutes to get all of the fine hop material out of the screen. I ended up having to take a brush to the screen because using a sprayer just didn't work. What's worse is that hop material got pushed through the screen and stuck inside. Also, there was a ton of hop material stuck in the "folds" of the Hop Stopper. I know it doesn't have to be immaculately cleaned, but this was a lot more work than just "spraying it off".
3. The fitment to the bottom of a Sanke keg is not ideal. The Hop Stopper that I purchased is designed for a Sanke keg, but the screen had a flat bottom. Sanke kegs have domed bottoms. I was instructed to not worry about it and the screen would flex. Of course it did, and it fit "ok", but I still got a ton of hop material under the screen that created a concrete like packing to the bottom of the screen. Again...it was horrible to clean.

Am I alone here? Has anyone else had any similar experiences with this product? I want to like it, but I feel like this thing is more work than it's worth.

 

[Jag75]

I have the spider but dont use it anymore. Its definitely more of a pain. I use bags and think it's better by far. However I just put a false bottom in my Grainfather to assist the filter and bingo! Lots of hops , no problems with draining.

 

[ryanj]

I have the spider but dont use it anymore. Its definitely more of a pain. I use bags and think it's better by far. However I just put a false bottom in my Grainfather to assist the filter and bingo! Lots of hops , no problems with draining.

I should clarify: I have a HOME-MADE hop spider. It consists of a flange with a hop bag attached to it.

The bag isn't super fun to clean, but it's a LOT easier to just lift the whole bag out of the kettle and dump the contents down the sink/in the trash.

...the hop stopper, not so much.

 

[day_trippr]

Didn't you start a thread on this a couple months ago?
In that thread I stated I bought the original Hop Stopper (nee 1.0) many years ago from The Electric Brewery and used it exactly once.
It's been in a box ever since. I'm not sure I could morally give it away, even...

Cheers!

 

[ryanj]

Didn't you start a thread on this a couple months ago?
In that thread I stated I bought the original Hop Stopper (nee 1.0) many years ago from The Electric Brewery and used it exactly once.
It's been in a box ever since. I'm not sure I could morally give it away, even...

Cheers!

It's possible I did, but I don't really recall.

I guess I should have listened to your advice. It's weird because so many people have nothing but good things to say about this product, but that just hasn't been my experience.

 

[day_trippr]

Under an electric element - so there's no risk of scorching the kettle bottom - and not recirculating free swimming pellets - might be the magic conditions that allow the Hop Stopper to work well.

Unfortunately, I run a gas-fired herms, the Stopper has to sit with the pickup tube near or on the bottom, and I frequently recirculate the boil kettle with late/post-boil hop pellets. My 1.0 plugged up quite thoroughly with half the batch still in the kettle. Not fun.

Add to that I was always concerned about scorching under the Stopper - the one time I rested my SS spider on the kettle bottom it left a thick scorch right under it - but there isn't much of a choice there...

Cheers!

 

[Blazinlow86]

I don't think your experience with the hop stopper is exclusive. I considered one when I first built my setup and when I researched it seemed some loved it and others hated it. I didn't wanna fiddle around and wanted to be able to chill my whole batch quickly and evenly as I prefer hop forward stuff so I went with a whirlpool setup instead. Cheers

 

[ryanj]

I don't think your experience with the hop stopper is exclusive. I considered one when I first built my setup and when I researched it seemed some loved it and others hated it. I didn't wanna fiddle around and wanted to be able to chill my whole batch quickly and evenly as I prefer hop forward stuff so I went with a whirlpool setup instead. Cheers

...this is the one reason why I dislike my keggle. That domed bottom doesn't allow me to whirlpool and collect wort from the side of the vessel without leaving a ton of wort behind. I usually just split the distance on the dip tube and deal with a little hops in the fermenter.

 

[augiedoggy]

I remember seeing this thread before as well but I am just going to point out the obvious here. Theres no free lunch when it comes to a solution to this.. Whether its a true stainless hop spider or bag or multiple spiders or dams , dip tub filter or a good old fashioned whirlpool, The all have their drawbacks and limitations. if there really was some superior solution that worked best in all situations then it would be well known.

Personally I used to use one large stainless hop spider with a motorized stirrer stick inside it which worked well to "whirlpool" the hop inside the hop spider and keep them suspended.. this seemed to work great but then I got the idea to use multiple spiders for beers with more hops, this seemed to really work just as well. since I use a plate chiller and tiny tan dc 24v pumps I needed good trub free wort or close to it so I added about 30inches of stainless braided line off of my diptube (from a dishwasher supply line) thats seemed to work well for me but I wasted beer. in the end I found I could shorten the braided line to about 10 inches and I still had such little trub that it worked very well. I never whirlpooled nor needed it.
At the brewpub its a totally different story of course... we use bags and whirlpool. I also flush the plate chiller and have the luxury of taking it apart and cleaning the nastiness out (oh yeah dont fool yourself here they get nasty on the inside no matter how well you flush and rinse after use).

 

[augiedoggy]

...this is the one reason why I dislike my keggle. That domed bottom doesn't allow me to whirlpool and collect wort from the side of the vessel without leaving a ton of wort behind. I usually just split the distance on the dip tube and deal with a little hops in the fermenter.

A Ton or wort? you mean the 8 oz in the dome if there was no trub? why not just spent the extra 50 cents in ingredients, adjust your batch size for this and call it a day? if not you can always just make a diptube to collect the wort from any position at the bottom of the the keggle, either way the domed bottom is actually helping keep the solids towards the center.. Its ideal really. I brew about 100 gallons weekly on a 3bbl system and even then the system is designed to leave a couple gallons behind in the domed bottom. the drainis in the bottom but almost all the way up the dome at the edge of the kettle... again its all compromise here. anything more efficient likely requires more effort and time than its worth.

 

[stickyfinger]

I got the hopstopper 1.0 and didn't really like it. I got the hopstopper 2.0 several months ago and it is doing what i want it to do. i have a kal clone boil kettle with flat bottom and the smaller size HS 2.0. It lets me drain an amazing amount of wort out of my super hoppy brews without much issue.

I never recirculate through it. that is a mistake imho. instead, i added two additional ports in my kettle that i use for any recirculation operations.

 

[SEndorf]

I got the hopstopper 1.0 and didn't really like it. I got the hopstopper 2.0 several months ago and it is doing what i want it to do. i have a kal clone boil kettle with flat bottom and the smaller size HS 2.0. It lets me drain an amazing amount of wort out of my super hoppy brews without much issue.

I never recirculate through it. that is a mistake imho. instead, i added two additional ports in my kettle that i use for any recirculation operations.

^^
This

I recall that old thread. The Hop stopper 1.0 was a complete disaster. I can't believe that was ever released for sale.
Now using version 2.0, which works as expected. Nothing left in the BK but a thick layer of semi-wet hop mush.
It would have been nice if SI offered a significant discount for 2.0 with proof of purchase of 1.0

 

[johnwpowell]

I collapsed mine on the first brew pumping through the plate chiller.

 

[Shmeffrey]

I have the hop stopper 1.0 and don't use it anymore. I prefer my hop spider.

 

[Baglorious]

I've got the 2.0... purchased recently. I am a fan. I read up on it, and saw the positives and the negatives.

In my opinion, they do a pretty good job of explaining that you won't be able to draw much more than 1 gpm when using the hop stopper. That was the main cause of my reluctance to buy.

The solution? More money, of course. (Or, as in my case... other items I'd already spent money on, but happened to mostly have on hand.)

For my recirculation, I bypass the hopstopper. I had the parts to install a fairly low whirlpool port on my kettle... about 4-5 inches off the bottom, so I did so. (Silver soldered the fitting. Easy peasy.) I bought a new diptube for that port (Spike side diptube: https://spikebrewing.com/products/v3-pickup-tube-side), pointed it straight down so that it reaches less than an inch from the bottom, and use that to draw into the pump for whirlpooling. I use counterflow chiller, and return the wort through a whirlpool return much like the "spincycle overboard" from brewhardware (https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/spincycleoverboard.htm). I already owned it the majority of the 'stuff' needed... and thought this solution would work well. And it does.

When I am all done with chilling/whirlpooling, I then connect to my normal valve/diptube, and draw out (at less than 1 gal per minute) through the hopstopper. It works great.

IF I didn't brew inside (electric)... I would just bypass this whole issue by using an immersion chiller, and wouldn't whirlpool. No need with the hopstopper. (I'd just agitate the wort with a gentle stir of a spoon for more efficient chilling with the immersion chiller... just like I used to.)


My opinion is that the limitations of the hopstopper 2.0 are known (and stated by the manufacturer). Mainly, the flow through has to be slow. It works well if you manage the limitations in some way.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Hmmm, I see people working so hard to filter kettle hops and fermenter hops. I guess I'm just lucky. I brew NEIPAs quite frequently with 12-16 oz of hops. I just toss 'em in the kettle and do the same for dry hop additions to the fermenter....just toss 'em in.

How do I mitigate the matter? In the kettle I use an immersion chiller (Jaded Hydra), whirlpool and just stop the transfer to the ferm when/if I start seeing gunk going through the hose. A little hop matter in the ferementer doesn't really matter.

For the fermenter, I just initiate the transfer into a dump bucket until it's flowing clear...usually about a pint or so. I pull the posts out of the liquid connection on the keg and the connector for better flow, then connect to my keg and transfer away. When done, I reinstall the valve in the connector and I'm off and running. O2 exposure you say? I'm not going to worry about the microscopic amount of air that gets in through that tiny opening in the 5 seconds it takes to put the post/spring back in the fitting and screw it on. I have seen zero signs of oxidation since I started this method.

I guess I don't see the point in fighting it. Let those hops roam free!

 

[stickyfinger]

I also installed a separate whirlpool port from the hop stoppper 2.0 drainage port. i love this setup. I can whirlpool as long as I want and then just switch over to the hop stopper 2.0 port for the drainage. I get much less hop and trub into my fermenter. Is that important? I don't know, but people I share wort with sure like not having all of the crap in their fermenters so...

I've got the 2.0... purchased recently. I am a fan. I read up on it, and saw the positives and the negatives.

In my opinion, they do a pretty good job of explaining that you won't be able to draw much more than 1 gpm when using the hop stopper. That was the main cause of my reluctance to buy.

The solution? More money, of course. (Or, as in my case... other items I'd already spent money on, but happened to mostly have on hand.)

For my recirculation, I bypass the hopstopper. I had the parts to install a fairly low whirlpool port on my kettle... about 4-5 inches off the bottom, so I did so. (Silver soldered the fitting. Easy peasy.) I bought a new diptube for that port (Spike side diptube: https://spikebrewing.com/products/v3-pickup-tube-side), pointed it straight down so that it reaches less than an inch from the bottom, and use that to draw into the pump for whirlpooling. I use counterflow chiller, and return the wort through a whirlpool return much like the "spincycle overboard" from brewhardware (https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/spincycleoverboard.htm). I already owned it the majority of the 'stuff' needed... and thought this solution would work well. And it does.

When I am all done with chilling/whirlpooling, I then connect to my normal valve/diptube, and draw out (at less than 1 gal per minute) through the hopstopper. It works great.

IF I didn't brew inside (electric)... I would just bypass this whole issue by using an immersion chiller, and wouldn't whirlpool. No need with the hopstopper. (I'd just agitate the wort with a gentle stir of a spoon for more efficient chilling with the immersion chiller... just like I used to.)


My opinion is that the limitations of the hopstopper 2.0 are known (and stated by the manufacturer). Mainly, the flow through has to be slow. It works well if you manage the limitations in some way.

 

[Gozie Boy]

I remember seeing this thread before as well but I am just going to point out the obvious here. Theres no free lunch when it comes to a solution to this.. Whether its a true stainless hop spider or bag or multiple spiders or dams , dip tub filter or a good old fashioned whirlpool, The all have their drawbacks and limitations. if there really was some superior solution that worked best in all situations then it would be well known.

Personally I used to use one large stainless hop spider with a motorized stirrer stick inside it which worked well to "whirlpool" the hop inside the hop spider and keep them suspended.. this seemed to work great but then I got the idea to use multiple spiders for beers with more hops, this seemed to really work just as well. since I use a plate chiller and tiny tan dc 24v pumps I needed good trub free wort or close to it so I added about 30inches of stainless braided line off of my diptube (from a dishwasher supply line) thats seemed to work well for me but I wasted beer. in the end I found I could shorten the braided line to about 10 inches and I still had such little trub that it worked very well. I never whirlpooled nor needed it.
At the brewpub its a totally different story of course... we use bags and whirlpool. I also flush the plate chiller and have the luxury of taking it apart and cleaning the nastiness out (oh yeah dont fool yourself here they get nasty on the inside no matter how well you flush and rinse after use).

I like the idea of a motorized stirrer stick for the hop spider (beats me trying to occasionally stir it over a boiling pot), do you have a reference for this device? Do you use one in each of your (now multiple) spiders, or have you found that you no longer needed stirrers after you went to multiple spiders?

 

[Jayjay1976]

I have a hop basket but its a pain to clean and when it clogs up, it fills with wort that I have to shake out. Lately I just go commando and deal with the excess trub, and I pretty much only hop in the second half of the boil to cut back a bit on what I perceive as the excess bitterness this causes.

 

[kh54s10]

I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag clipped to the lip of the kettle. It is a bit of a pain but I get 5.25 gallons into my fermenter and only about 1/4 inch of trub - max = 1/2 inch of trub at the end of fermentation.

 

[balrog]

I'm a dumper, with simple tastes and an eye on the time.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I'm a dumper, with simple tastes and an eye on the time.

Absent meaningful context, this could be an awesome sentence.

 

[augiedoggy]

I like the idea of a motorized stirrer stick for the hop spider (beats me trying to occasionally stir it over a boiling pot), do you have a reference for this device? Do you use one in each of your (now multiple) spiders, or have you found that you no longer needed stirrers after you went to multiple spiders?

I havent brewed on my home system in a year, and at the brewpub I just use muslin bags hanging in the kettle from a string... the stirrer was homemade and used an hp plotter DC motor with a stirrer attached and controlled by a 24v dc speed controller.. It really did work well to keep the hops suspended in the basket from settling and clogging the basket wall.

 

[Stand]

I use stainless hop spider, and I am fairly happy with the results. I can get about 4-5oz in it without issue, and if I want to do more than that I use bags.

Cleaning isn't bad. I use the hot water coming out of my immersion chiller and blast it off.

I used a honey strainer for awhile that worked great, but when I got a conical I couldn't figure a way to make it work.

Bottom of my immersion chiller tends to catch a lot of the trub.