Trub/Hop Filter from BrewersHardware

[Mike3701]

How's cleaning this thing?

 

[bull8042]

How's cleaning this thing?

Extremely easy if you have a water hose.....or sink. They are very easy to clean thoroughly since they come apart via a single clamp.

 

[TrickyDick]

I think I might have to break down and get one. Too bad they don't come with SS QD fitting (ROFL!)

 

[pola0502ds]

I have some bad news. At least i think it is. I brewed 2 batches yesterday. A cream ale and a APA.

The APA had 12 ounces of hops in it. The filter COMPLETELY filled up with hops, it was so full that my pickup tube and plumbing to the filter was filled up with hops. So after I got it into the carboys and after everything settled, I had about a 1 1/2 thick of hops and hot break in each carboy. Not what I was expecting.

The creme ale, this one only had 2 ounces of hops and it did not filter any of the hot break. After I got it into the carboy and after everything settled it looked as if I never used the filter.

So, this thing should not be used on big hoppy beers. I will still use it so I don't have to whirlpool, let it sit for 20 minutes, and then chill.

The other thing I absolutely hate about this filter is that it takes FOREVER to get a good flow rate..

Overall, i still like it.

 

[TrickyDick]

Thanks for the info!

I intend to continue using the HopBlocker in conjunction with the trub filter if/when I buy one. I also plan to continue using pellet hops in hop sacks. This might help alleviate some of the problems pola0502ds reported. Could you give us any details on the 2 brews? use of hop spider or hop bags, pellet or leaf?

TD

 

[pola0502ds]

I used just pellets for both brews. However, I don't think if the hops being contained would make a difference.

1.) This filter does not filter out hot break
2.) In the APA, even though the filter got most of the hops and filled up completely, I could still see a large amount of hot break in both carboys.

 

[pola0502ds]

Here are some pics of the filter from the APA, 12 ounces of hops. Still a lot of hops in the 2 carboys and a crap load in the keg after pulling everything out.

 

[amsped180]

What kind of recipe did you do for the APA? It looks like you must have gone with a ton of low alpha acid hops, and if I remember correctly, did you add them all really late into the boil? If you don't mind, could you post your hop schedule? When I used the filter (granted I've only had one trial so far) I did a brief whirlpool and didn't even really wait very long for everything to settle. My kettle has no attachements inside (dip tubes, bazooka screens, hop blockers...) I was left with a healthy cone of hot break/hops inside the kettle, and the rest remained trapped in the filter. What I did notice is that after everything was pumped through the plate chiller to the conical that I did have a minimal amount of cold break settled into the cone. For my purposes, I just open the valve and dump whatever is in there, then pitch my yeast. Do you use a plate chiller, or is it an immersion coil? I'd be interested to see how everyone else's systems are set up in regards to this equipment. Kettle features, chiller style, pumps, placement of the filter, fermentation equipment.

 

[pola0502ds]

I use a therminator. I use a dip tube that is bent at a 90 and aimed at the side wall of the keg.

2oz centennial hops & 2oz amarillo hops at 20 min
2oz centennial hops & 2oz amarillo hops at 10 min
2oz centennial hops & 2oz amarillo hops at 0 min
for what it's worth, 2 ounces of citra dry hoped

I bought this filter so I didn't have to whirlpool.

Anyway, don't take anything I said the wrong way. I am still going to use it and i do like it. If hops and hot break get into the fermenter then some is actually a good thing.

 

[TrickyDick]

I'm pretty sure if you used the fine nylon hop bags, that you'd get far less hop material in the trub filter.

That photo looks like a huge hop pellet with a hole in the middle! Some claim you get lower utilization with a hop bag. Wonder if the huge amount of hops used is contributing to the flow rate.

I'm not sure if the trub filter was really designed to filter out 12oz of pellet hops! I'm surprised anything go through that stuff!

Mostly I'm interested in this filter because I too hate whirlpooling, and it never really seems to work well for me, and also because I want to protect the therminator from clogging with more than just the HopBlocker - removal of the hot break would be nice too, though personally I've made some great brews even when all the hot break made it into the primary.

TD

 

[drmark50]

This question is for those who have the filter - why not put the filter after the pump? I just got the filter and that's what I plan to do. I figure since I want my wort traveling through my plate chiller slowly to just push it through them both with the pump. I will be brewing next week - will see how it goes.

 

[zymurgy101]

This question is for those who have the filter - why not put the filter after the pump? I just got the filter and that's what I plan to do. I figure since I want my wort traveling through my plate chiller slowly to just push it through them both with the pump. I will be brewing next week - will see how it goes.

I asked that one a few pages back; here's the response:

I don't know? It seems like that would work that way you are push it through the filter instead of pulling it. I guess it would work, I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't. I know for sure though that I would NOT connect this filter directly to the pump without having something else support it. It doesn't weigh a lot but to the pump head it would feel like it weighs a ton and I would be afraid of snapping the threads off. I already did that once tightening to hard on them. That would be my only concern.

I'd think would work great connected with quick release fittings and silicone hose. Good luck with brew day and let us know how it works!

 

[amsped180]

Well, I finally got around to kegging the first two ten gallon batches I produced using this in line trub filter. I am extremely impressed with the outcome of both. To set the scene, I brew 10 gallon AG batches. I have no dip tube, hop blocker, or any fitting on the inside of my kettle just a simple bulkhead with a ball valve in it. I set up my rig as follows: BK> SS TC elbow>In line filter>March 809>40 plate chiller>conical. The two batches I completed were an APA using all loose pellet hops (I think it was 6 oz) and a Belgian Stout using all loose pellet hops (don't remember how much). For each brew I did encounter a bit of bubbling back into the kettle as I opened the ball valve between the kettle and the filter to purge the air. After this occurred I ran the boiling wort through the entire settup and back into the kettle in order to sanitize everything for about 10 minutes. When I was ready for flameout, I killed the propane, and whirlpooled the wort for about one minute. I cover the kettle at this point and allow it to settle for about 10 minutes. The filter performed like a champ, if anything held up my run off time it was my chiller. Once pumped to the conical I allow the wort to sit for about ten minutes with the dump valve open (hose still hooked up). This allowed for any trub/cold break that made it through to drop out. There was little to no material that dropped out either time. I like to harvest my yeast and since I have employed the use of this filter, I get nothing but clean yeast sediment. After packaging, each beer is fantastic and I put my stamp of approval on the BrewersHardware in line trub filter!

 

[Mike3701]

How's the flow coming out of the filter? I'm worried about running my pump dry if the filter clogs.

 

[Mike3701]

This question is for those who have the filter - why not put the filter after the pump? I just got the filter and that's what I plan to do. I figure since I want my wort traveling through my plate chiller slowly to just push it through them both with the pump. I will be brewing next week - will see how it goes.

Did you brew yet?

 

[drmark50]

Did you brew yet?

I did and it went great. Running the wort through the pump first to push through the filter and the paltr chiller worked flawlessly. Primed the pump and the filter filled fine. I had run star San through first so the filter was full with that - pushed it out with the wort.

I brewed a rye beer so only had a few ounces of hops AND I used a spider. I am paranoid about getting debri in my plate chiller. I did also use the additional fine filter (I think it's 2 micron) - which appears to be brittle but held up very well. The fine filter filled up, but very little material overall. My kettle itself had essentially no hop material either at cleaning time. I saw no debri when I back flushed my plate chiller. It was a very smooth operation.

I mounted the filter in the vertical position and did not have to do any repositioning. The pump did not seem to have any trouble pushing through the filter. However I had very little material in there.

On my next brew I am going to leave out the hop spider and see how the filter works. I am going to guess that if the hop bill is only a few ounces one can throw it all in the kettle (of note I do 10 gal batches).

 

[amsped180]

I brewed this past saturday using my filter again. Same set up BK>Filter>Pump>Plate Chiller. When running the ball valve all the way open on the output side of the pump I can't get my wort down to 70 so I have to close it quite a bit. When running it all the way open I would pull air bubbles through the filter and it would make the pump cavitate, but with a little attention paid to the flow post pump I eliminated this problem. Other than that, another flawless brew.

 

[Mike3701]

Any benefit to mount it Vertical over horizontal?

 

[amsped180]

Personally I mount mine at a 45 degree angle to the floor. I think if you were to mount it completely horizontal you would have issues purging the oxygen on the inside and this may cause flow issues. The only reason I mount mine angled in such a way is to have less of a turbulent initial flow into the unit, but it seems to also work fine just vertically.

 

[drmark50]

I do not get any cavitation no matter the flow out of my pump since I have it before my filter. On Thurs I will brew another batch with close to 6 oz of pellet hops - I plan not to use a spider this time.

Here are some pics from my first brew with the filter.

 

[Landshark67]

Saturday was my first stuck cfc situation. I got a little reckless with the hops in an IPA. Ended up transferring the beer into a sankey, lifting the sankey into a trash can (cleaned and sanitized) full of ice water. All is well with the beer but my lower back is FUBAR.

Ordered the hop filter on Monday!

Picks of my whole hop chute coming soon!

Brew on

 

[Mike3701]

I would like to blame everyone in this thread for making me finally buy one. Now I can't wait to get it.

 

[amsped180]

You will have 0 regrets! Just think about all that money you will save on muslin hop bags lol

 

[brewinginCO]

How would this work without a pump.

I use gravity to transfer wort from the brew kettle to carboy through a ball valve. Could I simply place this inline? I'm worried because some of the pictures look like it is quite full of hops and would take some serious pressure to move the wort through.

 

[amsped180]

I think without a pump you would absolutely be fine on brews with only a few ounces of hops. Some of the higher hop usage styles may begin to present issues. I use mine after the BK but before my pump. I believe that once you get the flow going it begins to create a siphon which is further propelled by the pump. The siphon alone would probably be enough on the less hoppy beers

 

[microbusbrewery]

I would like to blame everyone in this thread for making me finally buy one. Now I can't wait to get it.

Ditto for me. I'm finishing up my rebuild of my HERMS system. I'm upgrading from an IC to a 40 plate CFC from duda diesel but I hadn't put a ton of thought into a pre-CFC filter. After reading these posts and the tests on the brewershardware site, I ordered mine and I can't wait to try it out.

 

[amsped180]

Your welcome, you won't be dissapointed!:rockin:

 

[pola0502ds]

I do not get any cavitation no matter the flow out of my pump since I have it before my filter. On Thurs I will brew another batch with close to 6 oz of pellet hops - I plan not to use a spider this time.

Here are some pics from my first brew with the filter.

Is it just me, or is this guy using the filter backwards? The trub should be on the outside of the filter not the inside. I confirmed that we derrin at brewers hardware.

After using this filter about 8-10 times now I am not pleased with it at all. I am working with derrin now to figure out what my problem is but I am getting such small flow rates coming out of the filter. I have the filter before my pump but this weekend I am going to switch it up.

Is anyone else having problems with flow rates?

 

[bull8042]

Is it just me, or is this guy using the filter backwards? The trub should be on the outside of the filter not the inside. I confirmed that we derrin at brewers hardware.

After using this filter about 8-10 times now I am not pleased with it at all. I am working with derrin now to figure out what my problem is but I am getting such small flow rates coming out of the filter. I have the filter before my pump but this weekend I am going to switch it up.

Is anyone else having problems with flow rates?

Yes, he has his filter plumbed backwards.

As for flow rates, mine varies to some extent and I can't exactly find a common correlation, pellet vs whole vs old, etc. I have plugged my filter on one occasion, but it was nearly full of sludge. There is no way to fault the filter if you cram more material in it than it can hold. I have considered coming up with some type of "pre-filter" to catch the bulk of the junk so that this one can filter only the finest stuff. However, it is far easier to just use a hop spider and not worry about it.
One has to consider that everything has its limitations to some degree. I think the best thing to do is find an approximation of the volume of hop sludge that is going to result from the amount of hops being used. And if that is greater than the volume between the filter screen and the outer wall of the tube, then a hop spider should be used. Regardless of how well it is designed and built, expecting to stuff 10 lbs of crap into a 5 lb bag just is not going to work.
I would also add, the flow seems to have a pretty strong bearing on how soon the flow will diminish and to what degree. Flowing too fast creates a lot of turbulence inside the filter. Instead of allowing the material to settle in the bottom and work its way up, it immediately coats the entire surface of the filter creating smaller pathways for the wort to flow through. This will lead to plugging much more quickly. This is of course my opinion, but seems to hold true with each use.

 

[microbusbrewery]

Mine came today! Man, this thing is pretty massive...it definitely adds some bling to my rig. Just wondering what size batches everyone is brewing, especially for the guys that have managed to clog the filter. My system is set up for 5 gallons,so for those that have had problems I'm just wondering how much volume you're putting through it.