25 replies to this topic

[Stout_fan]

... I could see using the hop back/grant if you had a counterflow but if you're using an IC it seems as if you could get the same effect by using a flame-out addition.

Well, with a hop back, the isomerized wort goes right into the chiller within seconds it is at 70 degrees or cooler. No aromatics can escape as there is no atmosphere to escape to. A flame out addition still is open to the air and looses some aromatics. At HB comps this guy with a hop back would always smoke me on aromatics. Turns out his secret weapon was a hop back.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Well, with a hop back, the isomerized wort goes right into the chiller within seconds it is at 70 degrees or cooler. No aromatics can escape as there is no atmosphere to escape to. A flame out addition still is open to the air and looses some aromatics. At HB comps this guy with a hop back would always smoke me on aromatics. Turns out his secret weapon was a hop back.

how does a hop back compare tastes wise to dry hopping? pretty similar or a different animal?

[Salsgebom]

I am getting ready to build a hopback for the brewery out of a 1/2 bbl keg. The hot wort will travel through it on the way to the heat exchanger. Currently we have to whirlpool for 30 minutes after flameout to settle out the hops and proteins or else it would all clog the HEX. I'm still loving the aroma on the APA I just brewed, but I'm hoping I can get an even better aroma with the hopback.

[MolBasser]

Sounds like a poor man's hopback.

This.And I sure as hell am not pouring boiled wort over spent grains. Sounds like a recipe for contamination.I guess if the grains are out and it has been cleaned and sanitized it is no big deal.This is NOT dry hopping. Boiling wort over hops =/ dry hopping.It will in no way reproduce the effect of dry hopping.BrewBasser

[Salsgebom]

Sounds like a recipe for contamination.

I am a bit worried about this with my hopback idea, too. The initial wort that enters the keg of hops will cool down below sterile temp by the time it exits. If there's bacteria in the keg, I think it will get swept all the way into the fermenter.So I am thinking about setting up the hopback inline with the whirlpool with valves that allow me to switch between regular W.P. and hopback infused W.P. After the initial W.P. is settled and ready to transfer, I will set a gentle flow through the hopback and back into the kettle until a thermometer on the outflow of the hopback reads 180+, at which point I'll switch the flow towards the HEX.I'm kind of breaching out of homebrewing here, but you could set up the same thing on a homebrewery too. Thoughts?

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

This.And I sure as hell am not pouring boiled wort over spent grains. Sounds like a recipe for contamination.I guess if the grains are out and it has been cleaned and sanitized it is no big deal.This is NOT dry hopping. Boiling wort over hops =/ dry hopping.It will in no way reproduce the effect of dry hopping.BrewBasser

It makes me a little sad I can't try this out. I'm not really willing to go CFC in my home setup - you guys that can do this are lucky b/c I think it sounds pretty goddamned awesome.