Lil' Sparky is tha Man!

[EarthBound]

Thanks for sharing Catt22. You've definitely come up with a good idea that I have not seen before. Steve, did you mean to suggest adding a bazooka under the FB? I haven't thought of this yet, but I'll probably give it a try. The bazooka would filter out what the FB doesn't. The bazooka shouldn't get clogged because the FB would've filtered most of the hops. The bazooka would be utilized while the FB is being lifted by the rod. Right?

 

[Catt22]

Earthbound,

Thanks for the kind words. Using a secondary screen under the FB is an interesting idea. There's little room under my FB and I'm sure a Bazooka screen would not fit. One could make a screen shaped differently that may work though. I'm thinking maybe a disc shaped SS screen (like a flying saucer shape) to fit the pickup tube. I don't think it would need to be very large, maybe a 4" diameter or so. This auxiliary screen would trap nearly 100% of anything that makes it past or around the FB and would allow my "lift 'n flow" work with plate chillers too. I'm going to build the saucer screen and experiment with it a little. Great idea EB!

 

[Sawdustguy]

Cat,

You have a very good idea but I will stick with my Lil' Sparky filter and Therminator because of the speed of chilling. Instead of using a paint strainer I use a 100 micron polyester tube filter. I have not detected a loss of hoppiness in the dozen or so beers I have done to date using the filter and knock on wood no chiller clogs yet either.

 

[Catt22]

Cat,

You have a very good idea but I will stick with my Lil' Sparky filter and Therminator because of the speed of chilling. Instead of using a paint strainer I use a 100 micron polyester tube filter. I have not detected a loss of hoppiness in the dozen or so beers I have done to date using the filter and knock on wood no chiller clogs yet either.

How does the 100 micron filter compare to the paint strainer bags? IOW, is the mesh opening larger? Does any of the hop debris escape through the filter? It's been my experience that with any kind of filter it's either to fine to permit a good flow through or it won't stop the finer stuff from passing. I was trying to figure out a way that I might adapt Blichmann's Hop Blocker thingy or build something similar myself. That's kinda how I came up with lifting the FB after it caked up with debris. So far, it's working really well for me, but I'm not using a plate chiller either. The CFC I built is plenty fast if I can maintain a high flow rate. That's been the glitch until I came up with this solution.

I was extremely disappointed in the hop utilization with the paint strainer bags, especially when using it with pellet hops. The hop debris would literally coat the inside of the bag solidly.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I think you would lose that bet. Pellet hops will blind a bazooka T, an SS braid, or most any type of screen in a heartbeat if you are pumping the wort fast while circulating back to the BK in a loop and it most certainly will be a showstopper......

You're totally right. I think I was smoking crack when I posted.

I guess I was imagining letting the pellets settle and keeping the bazooka tee off the bottom, and scraping the tee with a spoon if you needed to. I forgot how tenacious and gunky the fine hop particles can be though....it cements itself right into the screen! This is one reason why I primarily use whole hops now.....

 

[Catt22]

You're totally right. I think I was smoking crack when I posted.

I guess I was imagining letting the pellets settle and keeping the bazooka tee off the bottom, and scraping the tee with a spoon if you needed to. I forgot how tenacious and gunky the fine hop particles can be though....it cements itself right into the screen! This is one reason why I primarily use whole hops now.....

I think this is one of the reasons that Blichmann pushed to develope his hop blocker gizmo. Prior to that, the best thing he had available was basically a Bazooka style screen. He came up with a shield that fit over it to help keep it clear of the hop debris. It did not work all that well with pellet hops and only marginally better with whole hops or a combination of the two. A friend of mine has that set up and I've observed it in operation. Not necessarily a bad solution, but not the end all either IMO. Circulating the wort changes the whole ball game entirely and for the worse. Now I'm thinking a miniature Bazooka T attached to the pickup tube below the FB may be the way to go. That, or maybe my saucer screen idea. Now I've got to scare up some screen and SS wire to sew one up and give it a try. Might be awhile until I can get to it though.

 

[Sawdustguy]

How does the 100 micron filter compare to the paint strainer bags? IOW, is the mesh opening larger? Does any of the hop debris escape through the filter? It's been my experience that with any kind of filter it's either to fine to permit a good flow through or it won't stop the finer stuff from passing. I was trying to figure out a way that I might adapt Blichmann's Hop Blocker thingy or build something similar myself. That's kinda how I came up with lifting the FB after it caked up with debris. So far, it's working really well for me, but I'm not using a plate chiller either. The CFC I built is plenty fast if I can maintain a high flow rate. That's been the glitch until I came up with this solution.

I was extremely disappointed in the hop utilization with the paint strainer bags, especially when using it with pellet hops. The hop debris would literally coat the inside of the bag solidly.

Catt,

My polyester hop filter is much finer than a paint strainer bag as it is 100 micron. Nothing gets out of the polyester filter bag except the wort diluted hop oils, which is what we want. During the boil the hops give up their oils and that is what gives the beer it's hop flavor. The wort diluted hop oils easily permeate the filter but the soild hop matter does not. I made a double IPA late last fall that was as hoppy as any other commercial double IPA I have ever had. It's just a shame that hop extracts are not cheaper. It would simplify alot of our brewing process. http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/805/ http://www.hopunion.com/CO2-hopextract.html

 

[Catt22]

Catt,

My polyester hop filter is much finer than a paint strainer bag as it is 100 micron. Nothing gets out of the polyester filter bag except the wort diluted hop oils, which is what we want. During the boil the hops give up their oils and that is what gives the beer it's hop flavor. The wort diluted hop oils easily permeate the filter but the soild hop matter does not. I made a double IPA late last fall that was as hoppy as any other commercial double IPA I have ever had. It's just a shame that hop extracts are not cheaper. It would simplify alot of our brewing process. http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/805/ http://www.hopunion.com/CO2-hopextract.html

I wonder why my experience with the hop strainer has been so much different than many others. Maybe it's some other factor and not the strainer itself. In any case, I think I've found the solution that works best for me, at least for the time being it does. I may give the paint strainer another try sometime just for the hell of it.

 

[Captain_Bigelow]

I tried mine out today for the first time. It worked great. How are you guys cleaning these? Or are you just putting a new bag on each time you brew?

 

[passedpawn]

I tried mine out today for the first time. It worked great. How are you guys cleaning these? Or are you just putting a new bag on each time you brew?

soak in oxyclean with the pot/keggle.

 

[Grasslands]

I'm assembling the parts for this today. I'd think that BM's single thick arm (long enough to rest inside each keggle handle area) would hold up fine..you just might have a slight roll here & there, but never enough for the pvc coupler to completely turn on its side.

There's a pseudo-hop blocker attached to the dip tube at the bottom of my keggle, but I'm finding that it's hindering the draining suction of the final gallon to half gallon of liquid. I think that replacing the hop blocker with a copper dip tube extension and using the hop bag would be healthy alternatives. I'd rather not worry about siphoning my wort out with a racking cane.

Can't wait!

 

[RiverCityBrewer]

I wonder why my experience with the hop strainer has been so much different than many others. Maybe it's some other factor and not the strainer itself. In any case, I think I've found the solution that works best for me, at least for the time being it does. I may give the paint strainer another try sometime just for the hell of it.

I am having a similar experience that you are having Catt, I use a paint strainer, and for bitting w/ pellets it works just fine. However, I am getting very little flavor and almost no aroma when I put them in the same bag. I do 10-20 gallon batches so the strainer is pretty full of hops at the end of the boil and I have noticed that it cakes the bag up pretty good. I just ordered a FB for my 26 gallon pot and I'm going to try a variation of your method and I'm also going to try using pellets for my bittering charge only and whole for the rest and see how it goes. My last experience with whole was not good as they plugged my pump up pretty quickly while recirculating, but I think that with the FB and a secondary straining device on the dip tube I think I will be ok. Have you changed your method of lift and drain at all since you started doing it? I'd be interested in reading about your experiences with it in the past month or so.

 

[Catt22]

Hey Joe,

I'm also a Cincinnati resident. PM me sometime. Are you a Bloatarian by chance? I am. Anyway, I'm having excellent results with my "lift and flow" mod. I've given up on the paint strainer bags precisely due to the problems mentioned. The bags get clogged up and the flow through is severely restricted. They work well for the initial bittering hops, but not so good for the flavor and aroma additions and the more hops used the worse it was. I have not changed anything with the lift and flow mod and I don't think I will. You should be OK with your FB, but if you are doing the recirculation thing, I suspect that the flow will be reduced substantially if you use a big charge of hops regardless of whether they are pellet or whole. The flow likely won't stop completely, but it will slow way down. That's what I have observed with my system.

 

[Grasslands]

I'll chime in on the need for the clamp to attach to a threaded or rubber surface - my hop bag slipped off in its first go-round. I was brewing a Pliny clone too = lots-o-hop-pellets into the brew. Yayy.

 

[bcray]

I'd like to build one of these too. Since nothing comes in contact with the boiling wort, do I have to worry about getting all SS parts?

 

[bcray]

Bump to hopefully get the SS or not question answered?

 

[Captain_Bigelow]

It doesn't matter if you use SS. Even with the heat from the kettle it is not hot enough to cause any leaching within the 60 minutes or so of the boil.

I used galvenized steel tube for the support arms as that is all I could find.

 

[bcray]

It doesn't matter if you use SS. Even with the heat from the kettle it is not hot enough to cause any leaching within the 60 minutes or so of the boil.

I used galvenized steel tube for the support arms as that is all I could find.

Awesome, thanks for the reply. Looking forward to this!

 

[julian81]

Just finished reading this whole thread, and it seems like exactly what I'm looking for. I did my first AG brew yesterday (first home brew ever, in fact) and ended up just dumping about 3-4oz of 3 diff hops at 3 diff times in the boil (90min boil) and the amount of hop leaves, and material that it created was unreal. My IC was completely covered when I pulled it out after chilling, and I barely got 2 gallons in the fermentor before my dip tube/valve assembly was completely clogged. I ended up having to sanitize a funnel and strainer and pour the contents of the kettle directly into the carboy, then top off with water to hit my 5 gal. It was a slight disaster in an otherwise very smooth first home brew attempt.

I think I will be heading to the hardware store before my next brew to pickup the parts, and make this Hop filter/spider/bag. I am a little worried about what some people have said in regards to not tasting right, and being under-hopped though. Either way, I think this is definitely going to save my kettle from clogging next time. Cheers to you Lil' Sparky, and ScubaSteve for posting this!

--julian

 

[DrBrewDC]

Hey ya'll!

I have read over 3 different threads discussing the same issues you have here because I am having the same frustrations. I just had a thought and since I have yet to make my spider deally and since the biggest problem I have heard over and over is the effectiveness of the flavor and aroma hops making their mark due to the clogged bag.... I am considering fashioning something similar but rather than one 4 or 5 inch pvc reducer or coupler, use 3 separate 2 inch pieces with their own bags. Wouldn't this solve the issue of clogging up the bag before the later hops are added?

 

[jaginger]

I don't know if you've checked out this thread yet https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/hopster-hopscreen-157529/

It's a vast improvement over the PVC/bag style screen (no disrepect to 'da Man sparky!). You get full boil circluation, no matting and clogging of hops, and a very wide mouth to make additions super easy. I'd check it out before building anything.

 

[DrBrewDC]

I don't know if you've checked out this thread yet https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/hopster-hopscreen-157529/

It's a vast improvement over the PVC/bag style screen (no disrepect to 'da Man sparky!). You get full boil circluation, no matting and clogging of hops, and a very wide mouth to make additions super easy. I'd check it out before building anything.

I like it... a LOT! Perhaps when I upgrade to a keggle it will part of the system. I think for now... with my 5 gal batches... I like the idea of $10 compared to $100.

Any comment on my prior thoughts or separate bags?

 

[BigJay13]

I have one of the lil' sparkys and I haven't used it in a while. I changed my system so I can whirlpool all the break and hop material to the center and draw off the side. When I use whole hops I may use it again so my pump doesn't get clogged.

 

[yipp]

Are you reusing the paint strainer (clean and sanitize after each use) or are you replacing the strainer every brew day?

 

[LuiInIdaho]

I use one of these for my hop additions.

I always clean it up -- wash it in the clothes washer.
When I use it in the boil for hop additions, I don't bother with sanitizing it. I figure that it will be sanitized because of the boil.

If I were to use it for straining when moving the beer to the fermenter, then I would sanitize it.

It works great for a hop sock.

Mark

 

[thirstyutahn]

Is it strange to anyone else that you've got people saying they have done tons of batches and never experienced any loss in utilization and then others that say it couldn't have been worse??

Now I can understand people have different setups but come on, we are talking about something with not a whole lots of variables here. Most everyone is using keggles, mostly 5-10 gallon batches, same hop spider more or less. Could a vigorous boil have anything to do with it? Or maybe some are using different kinds of bags...I'm stumped here.

I have bought everything to make one and will be doing my own tests on a simple pale ale here soon. I went with the kiss method and am gonna rock a copper pipe straight through a reducer. Cost me all of 9 bucks.

Anyone have any ideas on how one guy can say he gets perfect utilization and another saying he gets almost nothing? This makes zero sense to me.

 

[BigJay13]

Is it strange to anyone else that you've got people saying they have done tons of batches and never experienced any loss in utilization and then others that say it couldn't have been worse??

Now I can understand people have different setups but come on, we are talking about something with not a whole lots of variables here. Most everyone is using keggles, mostly 5-10 gallon batches, same hop spider more or less. Could a vigorous boil have anything to do with it? Or maybe some are using different kinds of bags...I'm stumped here.

I have bought everything to make one and will be doing my own tests on a simple pale ale here soon. I went with the kiss method and am gonna rock a copper pipe straight through a reducer. Cost me all of 9 bucks.

Anyone have any ideas on how one guy can say he gets perfect utilization and another saying he gets almost nothing? This makes zero sense to me.

I would like to know the results. I stopped using it because I thought utilization, especially with aroma additions went down because the wort isn't moving through that like it is when the hops are floating freely. What's the recipe you are going to use?