21 replies to this topic

[Pseudolus]

I boil in a 20G pot with a 1/2" ball valve. When I use whole hops I attach one of these here in-kettle screen thingies. Works great for whole hops, clogs up to uselessness with pellets. When I do use pellets I leave that screen off and use bucket filters from USPlastic . These work OK, but clog quickly and have to be repeatedly swapped out and cleaned. A PITA, plus I'm concerned with all the swapping that I might be compromising my wort microbially. When I use a mix of pellets and whole it's a real clusterfarg - put the screen in and the pellets clog it up, take the screen out and whole hops stop up the ball valve. Not good times.I'm thinking there's got to be a better way. What do you folks use? (Solutions that require a minimum of being able to build stuff myself especially appreciated.)

[chuck_d]

Paint strainer bags. I put the hops in them and then add the bags. I much prefer whole hops though.

[Deerslyr]

I boil in a 20G pot with a 1/2" ball valve. When I use whole hops I attach one of these here in-kettle screen thingies. Works great for whole hops, clogs up to uselessness with pellets. When I do use pellets I leave that screen off and use bucket filters from USPlastic . These work OK, but clog quickly and have to be repeatedly swapped out and cleaned. A PITA, plus I'm concerned with all the swapping that I might be compromising my wort microbially. When I use a mix of pellets and whole it's a real clusterfarg - put the screen in and the pellets clog it up, take the screen out and whole hops stop up the ball valve. Not good times.I'm thinking there's got to be a better way. What do you folks use? (Solutions that require a minimum of being able to build stuff myself especially appreciated.)

I use the screen that you have posted, but I created a pickup tube that goes off to the side and down. After whirlpooling, the cone is in the center and I don't have any problems with the screen clogging. FWIW, I also cut the thing in half so that it would fit. I use pellet form 90% of the time.

[commander flatus]

i have a 1/2" coupling and a 90 degree elbow on the inside with a close 1/2" nipple attached. i have this set up to suction from the inside corner of the kettle. i don't whirlpool - never have thought it's worth the time or energy - i just wind up with a bit of hops and some trub in the fermenter. i don't really worry about it. sometimes i will attach a stainless scrubber to the 1/2" close nipple if it's a trub-heavy or hop-heavy beer. made a belgian white today and that's what i did.flatulently,

[ncbeerbrewer]

I don't use anything, what bad is going to come from transferring some hop matter to the fermenter? I have started to swirl the wort while I chill with my immersion chiller and it has created more or less a hop cone in the center. That has cut down at transfer time. I dont see a reason to filter, its not a commercial brewery and crash cooling will percipitate it out anyways.

[zymot]

I ordered a 24" X 12" 24 mesh (I think it was 24 mesh, maybe 26) stainless steel screen from McMaster Carr. Bent (but not fold) it in half on the 24 inch dimenstion. Next I folded over (a true fold) two of the other edges a couple of times. (I folded a couple times so the bare edge of the screen are inside the fold) Then I cut the open end with some tin snips to wrap around my pickup tube and folded up the excess to keep the bare edges inside.Basically I made a square hop stopper. https://www.ihomebre...the-hop-stopperIt does a pretty good job on pellets. I use it for about 6 oz of hop pellets, after that I use a hop bag for some of the additions.zymot

[Deerslyr]

I don't use anything, what bad is going to come from transferring some hop matter to the fermenter? I have started to swirl the wort while I chill with my immersion chiller and it has created more or less a hop cone in the center. That has cut down at transfer time. I dont see a reason to filter, its not a commercial brewery and crash cooling will percipitate it out anyways.

Perhaps the OP is using a CFC or a plate chiller and wants to keep the hops particles out as best as he can. I know that's my motivation.

[gnef]

If you really want to filter out before draining or chilling, then you need either a 5 gallon paint strainer (I'm assuming you don't make more than a 10 gallon batch) or a diverter plate in your kettle.If you need to keep 'stuff' from your post-kettle, then a 5 gallon paint strainer is what you should use, like chuck_d posted.I think I used a 4 inch pvc connector (I can't remember which one I used, I just stared at all the 4 inch fittings at home depot until one looked good for it), add a large worm clamp (or two), and you have yourself a large hop filter. It will let you put in pellet hops or whole leaf, and get decent efficiency with the size, but when you need to chill and pour off, all the hops stay in the 5 gallon paint strainer. I literally bought everything I needed from home depot. Just figure things out to the way I needed them. I bought some angle aluminum for the horizontal supports.

[gumballhead]

I boil in a 20G pot with a 1/2" ball valve. When I use whole hops I attach one of these here in-kettle screen thingies. Works great for whole hops, clogs up to uselessness with pellets. When I do use pellets I leave that screen off and use bucket filters from USPlastic . These work OK, but clog quickly and have to be repeatedly swapped out and cleaned. A PITA, plus I'm concerned with all the swapping that I might be compromising my wort microbially. When I use a mix of pellets and whole it's a real clusterfarg - put the screen in and the pellets clog it up, take the screen out and whole hops stop up the ball valve. Not good times.I'm thinking there's got to be a better way. What do you folks use? (Solutions that require a minimum of being able to build stuff myself especially appreciated.)

this sounds a bit odd. but I have used knee high pany hose for pellet-hops. and for whole Leaf.all you do is set them up ahead of time and tie them shut drop them in as time requires and they do a great job of reducing the amount of hops in the wort.Like Clint used to say Improvise and Adapt. hoo raa

[Stout_fan]

5 gal hop bag.Worts like a champ.

[cbbrown40]

Paint strainer bags for me and I try to whirlpool.

[tag]

I use the screen that you have posted, but I created a pickup tube that goes off to the side and down. After whirlpooling, the cone is in the center and I don't have any problems with the screen clogging. FWIW, I also cut the thing in half so that it would fit. I use pellet form 90% of the time.

Ditto, except for the cutting part.

[Deerslyr]

Ditto, except for the cutting part.

Mine just wouldn't fit around the curve, so I cut it. As the saying goes though, want not waste not, or something like that. The other half found a good home in my buddies system. For the price of one bazooka screen, two systems are benefitting. FWIW, I have been happy with it's ability to strain.

[Thirsty]

FWIW I paid the jing for the hopstopper a couple years ago, and it is by far bettter than a bazooka tube or anything else I have tried. Granted leaf works so much better and some pellet residue does slip by, but if you get a good initial fit when you set the compression fitting, it will suck every bit of wort you can get out of a batch, and I pump directly into a plate chiller w/o issues.This is after about 10 oz of pellets:I have seen people here also make them out of splatter screens bought for grease control in cooking, and sewed the 2 halves together, that would work too, as long as the P/U tube does not get clogged. For the $$ it has been worth it to not have to worry about that part of the brewday anymore.

[Dave McG]

I made my own from splatter screens a while back, and it worked great for huge amounts of pellets when I used a CFC. However, when I switched to an IC, the combo of pellets and cold break clogged it quick. Now I line my fermenter bucket with a large paint strainer bag, dump everything in there, and slowly pull the bag out. It works easy.

FWIW I paid the jing for the hopstopper a couple years ago, and it is by far bettter than a bazooka tube or anything else I have tried. Granted leaf works so much better and some pellet residue does slip by, but if you get a good initial fit when you set the compression fitting, it will suck every bit of wort you can get out of a batch, and I pump directly into a plate chiller w/o issues.This is after about 10 oz of pellets:I have seen people here also make them out of splatter screens bought for grease control in cooking, and sewed the 2 halves together, that would work too, as long as the P/U tube does not get clogged. For the $$ it has been worth it to not have to worry about that part of the brewday anymore.

[dagomike]

For me, whirlpool + diverter plate + not worrying = ideal solution.

[djinkc]

The closest I've come so far with this is a DIY hopstopper, bag the pellets in a 5 gal strainer bag and give it a little time to settle before transfering to the fermenter. It works pretty well so far.I've tried the diverter plate and even more settling. With the electric element in the way and using an IC I've never gotten a nice settled cone after whirlpooling. It's the cold break that is messing it up at my place..... Maybe a better diverter plate and some patience would help things out here. I get impatient at that point in the brew day.

[brewhead]

what i use

[CoastieSteve]

I run my cooled wort through a stainless steel double mesh strainer as it enters the primary carboy. I place the strainer in the bowl of a funnel. On occassion, I have had to have someone help me with scraping away excess trub in the event that too much hop material clogged the strainer. Works very well, but some trub always makes it through.

[DubbelEntendre]

Just wondering aloud here as I'm trying to solve this problem myself, but could an ideal solution to this problem be something like a hop stopper but with multiple decks at different screen sizes. With the prices on McMaster for SS screens, you could build a 3 deck unit for about the same as the commercial hop stopper. I'm thinking 16 mesh to capture large particles, 26-30 mesh for medium particles and 70 mesh to catch the fines. How quickly would spacing become an issue so you don't blind the screens?