Your other option is a hop missile or rely on the false bottom.
I would think that your hops utilization would be worse than a spider doing it that way. You would have minimal wort circulation around the hops unless you used the pump to pour it back in the top as you boil, but they say to NOT use the pump during the boil due to very shortened pump life span. I use pellet hops commando and I whirlpool during the chill, pull my chiller, whirlpool 5 more minutes, then let it settle for 5 minutes. I get an extremely small amount of hop matter that makes it past the false bottom, barely enough to cover the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket fermenter. I would think the false bottom would work well with whole hops.
Thanks for the reply. How was it determined that using the pump for boiling wort is bad? It sounds like one of those accepted facts that seems reasonable but may not be true. The pump is rated for boiling liquid. It may wear out faster because it gets used more, but I'd have to see some proof before I'd believe that using it to pump boiling wort could damage it.
I use it to pump wort into the hop spider when using pellet hops. I figure it could help with utilization by supplying "fresh" wort, and it would remove any bits of grain left from the sparge. I haven't noticed any cavitation problems so far.
Nice! Thank you! Also, would it work without the hop spider? I am reading both that it does and does not clog the pump if hops are directly chucked in.
I started with a robobrew 3 and just used the bottom plate and didn't have a problem with hop blocking, you will get trouble if you have the recirculation tube in the grain and you turn the pump off. It siphons back and sucks the grain up the tube which causes trouble.
I use a Brewzilla 3.1.1 and throw my hops in commando, don't have too much problem with blocking the pump. If it does block, simply put some air pressure backwards through the pump and it will clear easily. DO remember, however, to always pull the recirc tube up out of your wort prior to turning off the pump because it will siphon back down through the pump if you don't, and if it happens to be laying in grain, you will suck a bunch of grain into the pump, and then you have an issue.....
Got it. I was just wondering if I need to invest in a hop spider or if I could just use a hop bag that I had (or not use anything at all). Looks like it isn't necessarily required as long as I take care of the recirculation bit. Thank you!
Super! Thank you so much for the tip. Appreciate it!
I just ordered mine from Amazon for $329. It says Robobrew, but it was the Brewzilla 3.1.1 when I got it.
Full disclosure: I have a pre-order in on a Gen 4 and I'm coming from a 3 vessel HERMS.
I use a large nylon bag for my hops. You can get the smaller reusable ones too and just use multiple. I like the bags because you can squeeze the wort out of them before transferring. Every drop counts!
Wow. That's a great deal. I'm now contemplating what kind of complex nonsense I could pull off with TWO Brewzillas.......
1. Whirlpool arm not needed, but I like having it. I think that whirlpooling during chilling helps to cool the wort, no testing done or evidence, it just makes sense to me that it would.
(First post).
No mess so far…. Just disconnect from the return pipe, lift, invert the wort drops out. It’s usually too hot to pull the dust cap off. Wort into fermenter via tap, yep..
My brewhouse efficiency is usually 73-83%.
Slide the flap under the pipe first and hold it in place while sliding the other side under it. Fasten the Velcro in the middle and work your way out.
Tried this for a Fuller's LP clone and it worked pretty well. The flow decreased at one point but the pump was easy to clear with a little backflow. The clone recipe called for a large late hop addition and a 30 minute whirlpool. I think I may have been better off using the spider for that part because the hops settled quickly and didn't get much circulation. The Brewzilla whirlpool arm isn't long enough, IMO.
Thanks, GoodTruble. I'm surprised at how high your brewhouse efficiency is!
I whirlpool via a 90 degree and small pipe fitted onto the inside of the tap and then initially ran the recirc pipe back through the tap in reverse. Later converted to a larger ball lock as a replacement and fitted a three way half way up the metal recirc pipe so I could divert to whirlpool or over the top or both. This does mean I can have whirlpool on during mash which mixes the dead space between the malt pipe and the vessel wall. This improves efficiency.
So you sometimes do a mash, save it later for the boil, do another mash, then add both for the boil all on one brewday?
