Hopcar Mk3 45l

[Covrich]

Just got mine last week after making the decision to upgrade from outdoor brewing on a gas burner. really impressed so far heats liquor up really quickly and the accessories are really handy. It will save me time over using the gas burner aswell and its far cheaper than propane

A few things and its probably because I got a bigger model on the upgrade but when the baslet is submerged in the pot I found it was insufficient water for a normal mash and sparge , my mash would be like a flapjack left out on the kitchen side for a day.. so I ended up with a small sparge.. Probably will forget the sparge and full volume it as my efficieny was consistent as before anyway and I like the recirculation during the mash aswell.

Whirlpool arm - on the premiswe that I read if you don;t use the hop spider / basket you will get a clogged pump I used the basket.. but with that I dont see much point in the arm unless I am just moving wort around during the cooling phase.. or should I have dumped teh arm in the spider?

 

[AdeDunn]

I don't have a hopcat (I have a Klarstein), but if your spider is the same mesh size as mine (300 mesh) be very very careful recirculating through it whilst cooling. I'm not the only one who has noticed this happen either, but as you cool the spider will start to clog more, and eventually will fill up and overflow, dumping the hop matter into your hopcat. You could probably get away with it to begin with (been there, done that) but keep a weary eye on it to watch for the spider filling with wort, and whip it out when it starts to.

My understanding of whirlpooling is to get all of the other trub into a cone in the middle of the boiler, so that when you come to transfer the wort is free of trub. In my experience though you need a fairly strong pump for it to work properly, otherwise you can get more effect just doing it by hand with a paddle. HOWEVER it's a good way of accelerating cooling by aiming it at your immersion chiller if that's what you are using, it's probably more useful for this IMHO than putting it in your hop spider to be honest.

 

[Covrich]

Thanks, that is what I did to be honest used to to aid cooling and I also stirred and agitated the spider to get the wort moving around, as I feel hop spiders and bags can reduce hop utilization.. Id rather keep the spider and do it that way to keep teh pump going rather than clog it all up.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Thanks, that is what I did to be honest used to to aid cooling and I also stirred and agitated the spider to get the wort moving around, as I feel hop spiders and bags can reduce hop utilization.. Id rather keep the spider and do it that way to keep teh pump going rather than clog it all up.

I’ve only not ordered a Hopcat because I’m still torn between this and the Brewzilla. Does the 45l Hopcat come with. False bottom?

 

[foxy]

Just got mine last week after making the decision to upgrade from outdoor brewing on a gas burner. really impressed so far heats liquor up really quickly and the accessories are really handy. It will save me time over using the gas burner aswell and its far cheaper than propane

A few things and its probably because I got a bigger model on the upgrade but when the baslet is submerged in the pot I found it was insufficient water for a normal mash and sparge , my mash would be like a flapjack left out on the kitchen side for a day.. so I ended up with a small sparge.. Probably will forget the sparge and full volume it as my efficieny was consistent as before anyway and I like the recirculation during the mash aswell.

Whirlpool arm - on the premiswe that I read if you don;t use the hop spider / basket you will get a clogged pump I used the basket.. but with that I dont see much point in the arm unless I am just moving wort around during the cooling phase.. or should I have dumped teh arm in the spider?

I don't think you took into account the dead space in the kettle. But, with you on the full volume, you will lose on efficiency but easily make it up with extra grain. I don't know if you got a top screen with yours, I didn't, but they are pointless anyway. Can't think of a reason for having one the grain bed is the filter, plus you can give a regular stir without it.
The whirlpool arm is no use when throwing the hops in loose, unless you have another pump around and can attach it to the tap with some silicone hose.

 

[AdeDunn]

I do have another pump, but don't use it as to me it defeats the object of getting an all in one machine. I know it's not the same machine, but betting that none of them have pumps up to the job of properly doing a whirlpool at this kind of price point. I don't have a whirlpool arm either though, so moot point, even though I have the parts to make one up myself (did it before for my old rig). I have absolutely no trouble getting clear wort just using a hop spider, giving it a good whirl with a paddle, then letting it stand for 10 minutes or so before transferring now. As I say, I know it's not the exact same machine, but the basic design is pretty much the same, stainless steel cylinder with hidden elements in the bottom.

As to utilisation, yeah, I bung some extra in to offset the spider, .5 to 1g does the job usually for each variety. Same as if you get lower BH efficiency you add more grain. It's no biggy. Got an IPA and a pale ale that to me taste as hoppy as all heck, my wife says the same. Some full on hop heads might not agree, but as home brewers our aim is to please ourselves right? Unless competition brewing...

 

[Covrich]

I don't think you took into account the dead space in the kettle. But, with you on the full volume, you will lose on efficiency but easily make it up with extra grain. I don't know if you got a top screen with yours, I didn't, but they are pointless anyway. Can't think of a reason for having one the grain bed is the filter, plus you can give a regular stir without it.
The whirlpool arm is no use when throwing the hops in loose, unless you have another pump around and can attach it to the tap with some silicone hose.

I always full volumed mash'ed before anyway in a 50L pot.. The height the grain basket sits at just doent leave enough for the grain to sit nicely in the bigger boiler. Yes I do have a top "sparge plate as they called it" I agree might not bother with it and yas you say gives more chance to stir the mash without it. I still hit 72% same as I used to get without fine milling so for me thats okay as I know what I a going to get.

Other than recircint th wort I cannot see the point of the whirlpool arm anyway.. I used the normal bendy pump arm to transfer into my FV

 

[AdeDunn]

"Proper" whirlpooling, with a good powerful pump or with a good stirring with a paddle, is supposed to create a vortex effect in the wort before you transfer to FV, leading to trub and hop matter settling out in a nice little cone in the middle of the boiler, so you can then pull the wort from the outside of the boiler all nice and clear. I've even seen photographs of it done with chugger pumps and similar where it really did seem to work. They could then use pick up tube type setups to drain wort right down to the bottom of their boilers.

From what I've seen of most AIO machines though, the pumps are designed to recirculate during the mash, and that's about it. They just don't have the oomph to whirlpool, I know mine doesn't. Mine certainly can't handle solids as the design of the impeller mount means it catches solids and clogs up. My mini mag pump handled them much better, and almost had the power to whirlpool, almost, but for a proper vortex you really do need a decent amount of flow.

The whirlpool arm arrangements though are perfect for directing wort over immersion chillers imho.

I use my recirc arm with a bouncer filter and a 2nd length of silicone hose to transfer into my FV. Gives me a bit more leeway.