Just finished my HopBack

[Toecutter]

just finished my homemade HopBack. Items needed

1. Asparagus steamer $25 from bed bath and beyond
2. 2 bulkhead fittings, $11 ea from bargain fittings
3. 1 ball valve from bargain fittings
4. 2 cam locks from bargain fittings

I plan on using mostly pellet hops contained in a paint strainer bag in the hopback.

question for those using a hopback. I brew 10 gallon batches. how many oz of Hops are you using for aroma ? I usually use cascade, amarillo, and centennial for flavoring,

 

[Duckfoot]

LOL.... I grabbed an asparagus steamer for the same project... Let me know how it works out for you...

 

[Paul07293]

ingenious! does the lid fit tightly or do you have a way of securing it?

 

[Toecutter]

ingenious! does the lid fit tightly or do you have a way of securing it?

It has a glass lid and it fits kind of loosely. I will need to fashion an o-ring or some type of rubber gasket to seal it tightly.

I also added a SS street elbow, plan is to tie a hop bag to it with a ziptie. Wort will enter the chamber, directly into the hop bag, and steep a little bit before going through the pump to the plate chiller.

 

[Dgonza9]

Very nice design! What's the difference between using a hopback like this and tossing hops into the kettle at flameout?

 

[Toecutter]

Very nice design! What's the difference between using a hopback like this and tossing hops into the kettle at flameout?

Supposed to do a better job of trapping Hop Aroma in the wort. i'll find out with my next brew

 

[63belair]

Very nice! Did you use a 20% off bed bath and beyond coupon?

 

[Toecutter]

Very nice! Did you use a 20% off bed bath and beyond coupon?

Absolutely, and got them to take an additional 20% since it was the display model and the last one they had

 

[Atl300zx]

what are you doing to keep the hot wort from splashing into it when filling? I added a piece of high temp silicone hose to drop the wort about 1" from the bottom of my hopback to minimize hot side aeration.

 

[Bugaboo]

Don't worry about hotside aeration. I no-chill brew and splash hot wort in my corny with a 2 foot drop no difference in taste

I'm interested in doing this project just to filter trub out before it enters my keg. Maybe incorporate the scrap ss mesh that I have lying about.

 

[GreatWetNorth]

You could also try filling it from the bottom up by swapping the inlet and outlet. To my mind this might make it more effective.

Put a 90deg fitting off the BK (pointing down) into a piece of pipe about the same length as, or a little longer than, the steamer which then feeds another 90deg fitting which feeds the bottom 'port' of the steamer.

This way you know the entire thing will fill with wort before it drains, so you get effective and consistent contact with the hop bag. And you can adjust how long the wort gets to steep in the hops by regulating how quickly or slowly you drain the BK. Plus, if you are concerned with hot-side aeration (I'm not, but some are) this should eliminate it.

Just an idea.

 

[dstar26t]

You're going to have trouble with all pellet hops. I used half and half (pellet/whole) before and had trouble draining. Usually use 4oz whole for a 12 gallon batch.

 

[Atl300zx]

You're going to have trouble with all pellet hops. I used half and half (pellet/whole) before and had trouble draining. Usually use 4oz whole for a 12 gallon batch.
]

Got any details on your high/low sensors? i would love to not have to manually control this.

 

[camiller]

Got any details on your high/low sensors? i would love to not have to manually control this.

Seems like a float valve, like the Blichman autosparge would work, but would need a shorter arm for the float.

 

[dstar26t]

Got any details on your high/low sensors? i would love to not have to manually control this.

http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/The-Liquid-Level-Doctor

I was also using the Hopback as a Grant. The grant is where the level sensors worked. They don't work for the hop back, the pump never turns off since the lower sensor is always touching wet hops.

 

[Atl300zx]

i primarily use mine as a grant...the hopback was just a bonus

 

[Toecutter]

You're going to have trouble with all pellet hops. I used half and half (pellet/whole) before and had trouble draining. Usually use 4oz whole for a 12 gallon batch.

Did you use a hop bag ?? My plan is to zip tie a hop bag over the street "L" I have attached to inside inlet. This should work kind of like a tea bag, so to speak.

 

[Toecutter]

Alright, so I brewed today, and used this for the 1st time. Mixed results. I zip tied a hop bah over the 90 dg street elbow i have for an inlet inside. I esed 2 oz amarillo pellet hops. It worked ok, no clogging, just a slower process, and constant adjusting the ball valve to get the right flow,so it doesnt spill over, we will see how the beer turns out.

BTW- i was Morebeer the other day, and they are using this same steamer,but they have someone welding SS 1/2 couplings on it. and their selling it for $80

 

[Boultman]

Anyone ever trying a basket or Y-strainer for a hopback? I was thinking you could put the hops in the ss basket and run wort through it. You can get different mesh sizes and use it as a hopback and strainer at the same time. Similar to this.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/BANJO-Y-Strainer-3DTZ9?cm_mmc=GoogleBase-_-Plumbing-_-Filtration-_-3DTZ9&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=3DTZ9

I can get these through my business for about $15.00 for the 1.00" NPT size.

 

[dstar26t]

I used my bigger grant (modified corny) as a hopback on my last hoppy beer which was this years homegrown hop IPA.

10oz in the hopback for a 12 gallon batch